Serious Computer question for any tech geeks out there (HELP!)

[RaptorART 258]

think i need to now replace my graphics card on my Desktop
While playing LoL (League) about 5 min into the actual game my computer will just randomly go EEEERRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
and the screen will go black, then the display will try and find a signal
the PC stays on while this is happening too, but its crashed
only thing to do is to hold down the power button and do a hard reboot

I can leave my comp on all day and nothing will happen
its only when i try and play a game
and even before the crash happens I'm still at 50-60 FPS
but i noticed that when i try and buy stuff in the game shop, that it will lag for a second and my FPS will drop down to 10-12 FPS when i buy stuff from the shop

I just literally got a new H.D.D like 5 days ago

installed windows 7 on it from a disk

got Windows 7 service pack 1

cleaned my fans, and my Nvidia drivers are up to date
but i did notice that out of ALL the windows updates, the only 2 that failed were for my Nvidia graphics card
Game was running fine last night, i played like 4 games with no problems
meh~

anyone out there a tech geek?

Edited January 13, 2013 by RaptorART

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

That sounds more like a driver problem or overheating. I've been an AMD guy for years, so I don't know what options are in the nVidia Control Panel, but the Vision Engine Control center AMD provides has a section for easy overclocking and fan control. For some reason my driver doesn't want to increase the fan speed beyond 37% regardless of how hot it's getting, so I have to manually increase the fan speed to avoid overheating. Look around for a similar option.

 

Also, does it do this with any other game? If not, then the problem is application specific. You said that things are pretty snappy until you get into the shop. At that point your FPS takes a dive. That leads me to believe there's a problem or two with the game itself, things they've yet to address in a patch. That or there's something nVidia needs to take care of in the next driver update. Windows update usually gets things right, but I don't trust it for video drivers. Check out nVidia's site yourself to see if you have the latest version and if there are any known issues with League of Legends.

 

 

Given all the variables above, I think it's too early to say your card is busted. Try tackling the stuff I've mentioned  with and let us know if you're still having trouble.

[Jadefire 2,797]

Have you overclocked your video card? My computer does something similar if I overclock mine too hard without proper cooling, or otherwise do it improperly.

[RaptorART 258]

what programs can i get from Cnet.com or Download.com that can test my temp for my CPU and Graphics card

that way i don't go out tomorrow and buy a new Graphics card, just to have it be the CPU heat all a long

any help is greatly appreciated!

 

oh and i wiped down all the fans last night as well, still a crash

after downloading an application called HW Monitor

it would appear that my Nvidia fan was always at 10% no matter what, and the temp's lowest was 45 C

then when i loaded my game after a while the Fan power jumped to 97% and the temp rose to 89 C

 

so I'm pretty darn sure its now definetly my Graphics card doing the dmg