Doom 3 Ate my video card!??!

[jg4064]

Ok I just upgraded my computer, and off a 300watt ps I run
-P4 2.4 gig 533 fsb northwood
-256 ram sticks
-Asus p4p800s
-geforce 6800 oc
and other dvd rom and burner drives and a hard drive

Now I'm playin the game and when I use my flashlight and ONLY when I use my flashlight the game will lock up and the sound will start to stutter and then the game will return to normal. That was.. until today when I was playing the game and all of a sudden I wipped out my flashlight and it locked up again....ok Im thinkin....been through this before.....well it goes on, and then out of nowhere my computer just spontaneously reboots and plops an error report on the desktop that the 6800 had failed and that I should update the drivers to it. All of my drivers are current so I know that is not the problem. I call BFG tech support and they tell me to get more fans. So now the questions.....

1)Is it the power...or would other stuff have failed too besides the card when the juice got low
2)Is it really just too hot? It is running the game on medium and I never had issues before the patch......I bought the card for doom 3 about the time it came out. How could it have fatal heat on Doom 3 and not on some of the other next gen games I have i.e. ...far cry and call of duty and warhammer dawn of war....shouldn't I have issues with these games too?
3)Is it both? Or neither and just a shitty card? I thought BFG was a pretty good brand.

Thanks

 

[ThirtySixBelow]

It's not because it is a shitty card, that is a nice one. It probably has to do with it being a little hot but mostly it looks like you are lacking in power. Between the P4 the graphics card and a hdd you are cutting it real thin. You should look into about a 450watt PSU.

 

[Hefemeister]

Sounds to me like your 300watt PSU is not enough I am with ThirtySixBelow in recommending a better PSU. See if you have a friend with a better one to switch out and see if it solves the problem.

 

[killians45]

Agree with most. PSU upgrade number one, fans also. One thing, most newer cards recommend the PCI slot directly below it be empty so thermal convection is maximized.

 

[ShoobieRat]

NVIDIA recommends no less than a 350watt PSU in a system running a 6800.

Second, you have the 6800 overclocked, and the generic 6800 sucked for overclocking.

Lastly, the flashlight in DOOM3 uses dynamic lighting technology. Depending on how you have your system setup, you may be overloading it by using the flashlight. The light is processed differently than within the map/level.

Definately get a bigger PSU (400watt+).
Update all your drivers, directX, mobo drivers, everything.
Get a better heatsink for that card if you're going to oc it, or buy a 6800GT or Ultra, instead.

Also, try buying some more RAM. 512 is pushing it.