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"Crashing problem"

A week ago now i installed 256mb of ram into my computer raising it to 384mb. I then installed a nvidia geforce fx 5200. When trying to play the BETA version of World of Warcraft the game would crash randomly (anytime and at any place in game), either resseting my computer or turning into a black screen with no sound, which i was then forced to turn off by the power button. It would only happen in that game.

I updated all of my drivers (display, sound, network, chipset, etc), removed the game and installed it several times and even completely reformated my computer (it needed it anyway) and the problem still persists.

For a while i thought i was a victim of a bug that some people have been having, named the "Black Screen of Death". However upon playing another 3D game i found that it also gave me the black screen, but after a longer period of time.

So i came up with the idea that heating may be issue. So i took off my case covers and ran the game (World of Warcraft). This time it crashed but ater a much longer period of time and instead to a graphical glitch where the screen turned into a series of pink rectangles. After resseting my computer i tried the game again. Within seconds it had given me the "Black Screen".

My two ideas are: 1. A bug in the game or 2. A heating issue.

I would like to know if it seems likely that heat is the cause? And that if it is what can i do to cool it down (e.g. what fan to buy, etc). If anyone has any advice or ideas i'd be extremely grateful, becase i'd like to have this issue resolved before the European release next friday.

Thanks a lot

Before you start laying down money for a new graphics card, is there any way you can get hold of another computer to test the card in, to make sure that the card is at fault?

If you do have to replace the graphics card, remember that you only have a 1.2Ghz Duron, so unless you're planning to upgrade the rest of the computer in the reasonably near future I wouldn't bother going massively overboard on the graphics card. Any game that will come close to testing a high-end card will inevitably require a lot more processing power than you currently pack. I wouldn't bother spending more than £60 to £70 on a videocard for that system.

The 9800 is a good card. Obviously X800s and 6800s are better, but for what you're after, a 9800 would be more than sufficient.

Whats the best card for that budget? How much are... Umm... X800's etc?

Mmm..temptation. Do you know if it is a good card from experience?

You can get a lot better than that card for £150.

[URL]http://specialreserve.co.uk/Sapphire_ATI_Radeon_2921_r.html[/URL] - that card is £116 and is ma-huse-ively better than the one you have currently.

I suppose up to £150 odd at the max. As i said im not really needing amazing performance, just something that does the job and doesn't crash on me.

What is your budget?

If you spend little money you will get little performance.

Lol i know ive realsied that. Well one because the game doesn't need high specifications and two it was cheap.

If i was to return it, what card would you sugesst of similar specs or a bit higher, but not for a lot more money?

Its crashing when you are playing graphically intensive applications and you are getting screen corruption. I think its the card, why did you get a FX5200? They are woeful.

A dud? But when im playing the game it works wonderfully. Its just the crashing...