As I mentioned in the other thread, I installed a new CPU cooler tonight cuz I was so angry about crashes during racing.  The reason I didn't install it a week ago is because it required un-bolting the motherboard and inserting a plastic support underneath the motherboard.  However, my level of frustration after last night was sufficient to get er dun!
The cooler I acquired is the zalman 9500 see here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118003

Good reviews, and if it fixes my problem well worth the $40usd.

The installation was more complex than I thought when I clicked to order it, but really wasn't that bad.

1      Remove video card
2      Remove eSATA header
3      remove sound card
4      remove 9 screws attaching motherboard
5      drink beer, smoke and watch tele
6      pry up motherboard to install plastic support below motherboard, screw upper support to it.  this required about 6 tries b4 success.
7      remove cpu grease from fingers, face and toes (don't ask)
8      try to install cpu cooler to upper support with springy clip and 2 screws.  this took about 12 tries.
8.7   plug in cpu cooler.  nailed it in one! 
9      drink, smoke watch tele
10    re-install 9 motherboard screws, stripped one.  technique perfected on 8th screw, will forget b4 next time.
11    re-install 3 add-in cards and power cables
12    re-install case side panels
13    drink more beer
14    attach all the cables at the back of case
15    try to boot
16    realize one of the hard drives came from connected 
17    remove side panel and jiggle SATA connector
18    boot again, success!!!!   
19    re-setup bios time and settings
20    drink, smoke and post about new cpu cooler on SJ
21    screw up post without saving and re-write steps 3-21 and balance of review     


Overall, this is a cool looking cooler no pun intended.  The install was not as bad as I thought it might be.  If the case manufacturer had made some holes in the panel behind the motherboard it may have even been really simple.   But that's not zalman's fault.

I hope it solves my crashing problem,

Cheers,
Steve!

11    re-install 3 add-in cards and power cables.

 Big grins here also. COOL,-literally.....

 Hope it solves your crashing.

Hey, someone recomended running dxdiag.exe, and I saw this:

"see attached file"


What the hell is this thing doing there.  I've noticed accelerated problems with my system since about that time the file was created....(6/3/9)


So, maybe I did something on that day or this is something that Spybot s&d, AVG (anti-virus) isn't detecting?

I think it's probably something I did, there's no unusual internet activity...


Let me know if you can run "dxdiag.exe" from command prompt in XP and whether you see this item also...

Thanks,
STeve

Hey, someone recomended running dxdiag.exe, and I saw this:

"see attached file"


What the hell is this thing doing there.  I've noticed accelerated problems with my system since about that time the file was created....(6/3/9)


So, maybe I did something on that day or this is something that Spybot s&d, AVG (anti-virus) isn't detecting?

I think it's probably something I did, there's no unusual internet activity...


Let me know if you can run "dxdiag.exe" from command prompt in XP and whether you see this item also...

Thanks,
STeve

http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/dlllibrary/quartz/

Any file you find suspicious you can google and fin info on.
Some is useful some is not.
De-Install your drivers and use driver sweep to clean up. then install the newest from nVidia. or of course for those with ATI/AMD should get drivers from there.

I saw that Quartz had something to do with DX something, so could be a driver issue. Did you install drivers a month ago??? And if i remember right you did not un-install the drivers from last time ???

I hope you get it sorted steve

GOOD to hear!!

I crashed out of the ESJ today, but I had my CPU overclocked to 3.12g from 2.66.  I'm at 2.9 now, but I'm not running any 3d so it's throttling down. 

I bought a can of air today, and removed and blew out a bunch of dust from the GPU b4 overclocking.  I think it would be stable now @ stock speeds.  I'll check it out.

Cheers,
Steve

That graphics card you have still kicks ass, so I don't think you should replace it.  It's very strange that you would suddenly start having cooling issues when it's been working fine now for a long time.  Are there other fans in your case that need a dust cleaning?  If there's a fan on the front of the case it would be an intake fan, and those can get clogged up really badly sometimes.  Mine has an air filter on it and I have to remove it every couple of months and vacuum the pile of dust off.  Also, the fan in the power supply can get full of dust too, I usually vacuum that out once in a while too.

You could try running your pc with the side cover removed.  If everything works ok like that, then you probably have dust blocking some case fans somewhere, or some other air flow problem like ribbon cables blocking airflow.  Sometimes on hot summer days I run my pc with the side cover off because my case doesn't have the best airflow.

You would want to make sure the fans on the bottom area of your case are sucking in air while the ones on top are blowing the air out of your case... makes a difference... they may be reversed... bottoms are blowing and tops are well... err... sucking

 

 

And my temps are over 85c during gaming.  When I'm just internet surfing the GPU is down to 65 or less.

How much over 85 C does it get?  85 is at the high end of the normal operating temps for the 8800 GTX, but it's still normal.