New Graphics Card Crashes Every Game.. Even 90s games :'(

By Tjcrazy
in Hardware Hangout

 Share

Recommended Posts

Proficient

Tjcrazy

Posted
Posted

Hey Guys,

 

So I built an (almost) brand new computer, with a budget of ?400 - I think I did OK! The specs:

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570S

RAM: 4GB (2x1GB sticks) at DDR3 1333MHz

Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 650 (2gb Memory)

Hard Drive 1: 120GB Kingston SSD (Windows installed)

Hard Drive 2: 1TB Samsung Hard Drive @ 7200rpm

PSU: 550W

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate SP1
 
Now, its slightly embarrassing - I fix computers in my spare time when not at uni; but I cant begin to think what my problem could be.
 
Every time I go on a game, I get a 'program not responding' after various minutes. With the two more modern games, I can usually play 5-10 minutes. With the two older games, 30 minutes - 1 hour. I started a thread over at Rome Total War 2 forums about the issue (http://forums.totalwar.com/showthread.php/117408-Rome2.exe-Rome2.dll-Application-Error-Crash-dxdiag-(With-mdmp-file)), but have since realised it might be a more serious issue than just the game.
 
The games: Age of Empires II & Rome Total War too Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag & Rome Total War 2

The event viewer logs vary, but the sources are usually the game exe files:
 
Rome TW 1
Faulting application path: D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Rome Total War Gold\RomeTW.exe
Faulting module path: D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Rome Total War Gold\RomeTW.exe

Rome TW 2

Faulting application path: D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Total War Rome II\rome2.exe
Faulting module path: D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Total War Rome II\Rome2.dll

Assassin's Creed Black Flag

Faulting application path: D:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\games\Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag\AC4BFSP.exe
Faulting module path: D:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\games\Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag\AC4BFSP.exe

So I'm a bit confused. It's not the graphics card overheating, its usually a steady 40-50 degrees, and just in case I use EVGA Precision X to increase the fan speed to Max when playing. All the games are on the lowest possible settings.

Nothing else crashes, just games - so could it be a faulty graphics card?

 

Help from you neowin guys would be great before I post to one of the other forums :/.

 

 

Tim

 

Grand Master

n_K

Posted
Posted

Could be: Faulty GPU (or heatsink/fan), bad drivers, memory timing or redundancy issue, PSU problem (insufficient power or insufficient cooling), other hardware issue (hard drive on it's way out or faulty motherboard).

If your system has integrated graphics, remove the GPU and try games using that (obviously on much lower graphic settings) and see if the problems still happen, if not then you can rule out hard drive, memory, etc.

Proficient

Tjcrazy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Wow - thanks for all the quick replies!

 

Sounds to me like a PSU issue, you're probably not getting enough juice to the card

Thats what I originally thought, but its a pretty decent PSU - and the graphics card isn't crashing/ its the program crashing, still its a potential issue!
 

I used to get application errors all the time when I had faulty RAM. Might wanna run memcheck on them, even if they are new. 

I'll run a memtest this evening and see what the results are.

 

Try running GPU-Z to see how the GPU is performing during play.

I use RivaTuner in the games, the temp never exceeds 50 degrees, and the FPS is usually quite high (60fps) as I'm running the games on low. The GPU utilization fluctuates a lot.

 

RAM: 4GB (2x1GB sticks) at DDR3 1333MHz

 

There's your problem right there. You can't have 4GB of RAM with two 1GB sticks.

Ha, major typo there! I've got 2x2gb sticks - thanks for pointing it out!

 

I had similar problems with my build. I had to back off my memory timings. It wasn't stable at the default XMP settings.

Use a memory tester to make sure.

I'll memtest later

 

Could be: Faulty GPU (or heatsink/fan), bad drivers, memory timing or redundancy issue, PSU problem (insufficient power or insufficient cooling), other hardware issue (hard drive on it's way out or faulty motherboard).

If your system has integrated graphics, remove the GPU and try games using that (obviously on much lower graphic settings) and see if the problems still happen, if not then you can rule out hard drive, memory, etc.

Drivers all seem fine, I've reinstall the nvidia drivers countless times, with clean installs everytime.
Havent changed any memory timings etc
PSU problem is likely! But 550W still seems ample.

Grand Master

n_K

Posted
Posted

PSU might seem ample, but that's at optimum conditions. Using more power = components get hotter, some PSUs are made cheaply and there's insufficient cooling in them, so the parts in the PSU heat up more and as a result, the total amount of power that can be provided to the system drops. What brand is it?

Mentor

StealMySoda

Posted
Posted

Just because you haven't changed your memory timings doesn't mean it can't be the root of the problem. Have you had a look to see what it's running at, does it match the recommended settings from the manufacturer? 

Proficient

Tjcrazy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for all your help guys - sorry for the late reply, I just backed to university this week, so been pretty busy.

 

I ran a memtest last night and got a bunch of errors:
memtest.JPG

Interesting thing is, all these errors occurred on 4162MB or higher; But I've only got a 4040MB of RAM.

Any ideas, or should I just get some new RAM?

Grand Master

riahc3

Posted
Posted

Hello,

RAM: 4GB (2x1GB sticks) at DDR3 1333MHz

 

There's your problem right there. You can't have 4GB of RAM with two 1GB sticks.

These kind of replies dont add anything to the thread and IMO shouldnt be allowed :( Its obvious its a typo.

 

 

Thanks for all your help guys - sorry for the late reply, I just backed to university this week, so been pretty busy.

 

I ran a memtest last night and got a bunch of errors:

memtest.JPG

Interesting thing is, all these errors occurred on 4162MB or higher; But I've only got a 4040MB of RAM.

Any ideas, or should I just get some new RAM?

Get new RAM. ASAP.

Could you gives us the model of your RAM sticks?

Grand Master

riahc3

Posted
Posted

Hello,

Another comment that some have said here: Your graphics card requires 400W min of a PSU. You have a 550W PSU. Im not sure if when playing high end games for a while you are going to have power issues or not...

Grand Master

Praetor

Posted
Posted

test individual sticks to see where is the actual culprit.

 

Also that card is rated at 64W for the Thermal Requirements; minimum PSU is 400W, so a 550 is more than enough for it (http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-650/specifications); riahc3 i think you got confused...

Grand Master

riahc3

Posted
Posted

Hello,

test individual sticks to see where is the actual culprit.

(if) He bought it together, its problable they are all from the same bad batch.

 

Also that card is rated at 64W for the Thermal Requirements; minimum PSU is 400W, so a 550 is more than enough for it (http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-650/specifications); riahc3 i think you got confused...

I dont know; Seems like small leg room in case he goes SLI or something. Nevertheless, thank you for correcting me and I apoligize for the error.
Grand Master

riahc3

Posted
Posted

Hello,

Like what everyone said, I don't think 550W can run that card and your other hardware. Go for 750W maybe?

Yes, by my comment I was not only referring to the card, I was referring to the card and other hardware he had.
Grand Master

Praetor

Posted
Posted

Hello,

(if) He bought it together, its problable they are all from the same bad batch.

 

I dont know; Seems like small leg room in case he goes SLI or something. Nevertheless, thank you for correcting me and I apoligize for the error.

 

I've seen new OEM builds with individual defective RAM (cough *HP* cough) so it's possible.

About the PSU: just by seeing his components IF the PSU is a good and reliable one that really delivers 550W (must see the 12v rail connector) then it got enough juice to power the whole system and still have some left; remember that this card only requires 64W maximum. Also his board can't do SLI :)

Like what everyone said, I don't think 550W can run that card and your other hardware. Go for 750W maybe?

 

If the PSU couldn't deliver enough power then it wouldn't be just the games that would crash, wouldn't it? ;)

Grand Master

Praetor

Posted
Posted

It's your drivers, try updating the drivers, If you cannot get any where with the new release drivers try beta drivers from the Nvidia website.

 

did you guys saw the whole thread? he tested the mems and got errors.

Grand Master

Praetor

Posted
Posted

Hello,

Um, what?

 

His games are the only ones crashing; if a PSU can't power a whole system (because it's asking more then it can deliver) then it won't be just those same games that were crashing but the whole system. A PSU or even Windows won't kill a process because of lack of power.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • The Trump administration doesn't want you to use OpenAI's GPT-5.6 without its approval

      By TsarNikky · Posted

      Why would any self-respecting intelligent person follow any recommendation by Donald's GOP administration? With almost two years of fabrications, deceit, and blatantly illegal behavior, why believe them now? They had best be gone after the November 2026 election, so we'll wait and see.
    • AltSendme 0.4.1

      By Copernic · Posted

      AltSendme 0.4.1 by Razvan Serea AltSendme is a minimal, cross-platform application designed for fast, secure, and private peer-to-peer file transfers. It allows users to send files or entire directories directly between devices without relying on cloud servers, accounts, or any personal information. Everything is encrypted end-to-end using modern protocols like QUIC and TLS 1.3, ensuring both strong security and low-latency performance. Transfers are verified with BLAKE3 for data integrity, and interrupted downloads automatically resume, making the experience reliable even on unstable connections. You can transfer anything—images, videos, documents, and more. Integrity checks are performed on both ends, so your files are automatically verified for correctness during both sending and receiving. AltSendme works seamlessly across local networks or long-distance links, capable of saturating multi-gigabit connections for extremely fast delivery. With built-in NAT traversal and encrypted relay fallback, it connects devices almost anywhere. The app integrates with the Sendme CLI and will soon support mobile and web platforms. Fully free and open-source, AltSendme offers a lightweight, privacy-first alternative to traditional cloud-based services, removing size limits, upload costs, and unnecessary data exposure. AltSendme 0.4.1 changelog: Release Highlights Self-hosted relays: Run your own iroh relay so transfers don't rely on public infrastructure. Includes a full deployment template in deploy/relay/ with Docker Compose for a VPS and configuration examples for production use. Fly.io support: One-click deploy template for Fly.io, including a quick-start config (fly.dev.toml) for testing without a custom domain, plus production setup with Let's Encrypt and your own hostname. Relay settings UI: New Settings → Network panel to choose how AltSendme connects: automatic public relays, custom self-hosted URLs (with optional auth token), or disabled. Test connections, verify latency, and see live relay status in the footer. Disable relays: Turn off relay servers entirely when you only need same-network transfers (e.g. LAN). Direct connections only. No relay hop required when devices can reach each other. Android graduates from beta: Android is now part of the regular release cycle alongside desktop. APKs ship with each version (universal, arm64, and armv7). Other improvements Private relay access control via shared auth token Relay fallback notifications when a custom relay is unreachable Broadcast mode toggle in sharing settings Android release build fixes (split-per-ABI APKs, universal APK preservation) UI polish: mobile safe-area insets, dropzone layout, transfer progress animation Bug fixes for minification-related serialization issues and system tray icon loading What's Changed feat(relay): add relay status functionality and settings UI (a120cdf) feat(relay): implement custom relay server configuration and verification (51276c7) feat(relay): add configuration for private relay access and enhance observability features (48fbabf) feat(relay): enhance relay URL validation, display connection status (d4fffa0) feat(relay): add RelayChangeGuard component and enhance relay-related translations (16ba514) feat(broadcast): add toggle setting for broadcast mode in sharing UI (ca6d977) fix(relay): correct QUIC discovery port, pin image, templatize fly.dev (52a2ba5) fix: More broken serialization due to minification (67491a9) fix(android): preserve true universal APK across per-ABI builds (e9f256f) fix(ui): conditional safe-area insets padding on mobile (1182f0e) refactor(transfer): CircularRing component animation fix (944572b) chore(android): drop x86 and x86_64 release APKs, keep universal+arm64+armv7 (34ada0b) Download: AltSendme 0.4.1 | ARM64 | ~9.0 MB (Open Source) Download: AltSendme for MacOS | Android Links: AltSendme Home Page | GitHub | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Why Delta Chat is the best decentralized messenger you have probably never tried

      By zikalify · Posted

      You are mostly right about the ephemeral nature of it. As I mention in the article, if you dont add a second device or take a backup of your account before uninstalling it, then yes you will lose access to your account. That said, in terms of actual user experience when you sync multiple devices your message history carries across and there's also a Saved Messages chat like there is on Telegram to send messages and attachments between your installs. But yh, what you point out are correct and its not trying to emulate Messenger or Telegram.
    • You've tried DuckDuckGo and Brave Search, now get serious with SearXNG

      By zikalify · Posted

      OK so SearXNG is a meta search engine that you can install locally or use via a public instance. It scrapes other search engines which you choose and then sorts the results. Not as complicated as multiple relays
    • The Trump administration doesn't want you to use OpenAI's GPT-5.6 without its approval

      By excalpius · Posted

      The only difference here is that you think you came up with these reasons. You didn't. These age old fearmongering lies (that were NEVER true) were funded by and the anger stoked by Putin through proxies like Farage (and later in the USA, Trump) and filtered down through the skinheads, Neonazis, etc. until it reached the uninformed, ignorant, and gullible -- never realizing they were being played for fools against their own best interests. Even now, despite all of the EVIDENCE proving that Brexit was a terrible mistake for ALL citizens of the UK and that its supporters were tricked by Putin's proxies into sabotaging their own nation, you're still here defending these well-known lies as if they were ever true. Not only are they not true. They NEVER were. So, when are you going to realize that you were lied to and actually get angry at the liars and charlatans who lied to you, instead of blaming the innocent people they lied to you about?

  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Woland13 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Woland13 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      bernmeister earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Week One Done

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      492
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      224
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      150
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      75
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      71
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!