My new pc is already crashing!

[Nabil Mana]

Hello - this is my first message (I'm new to this). I'm hoping someone can help me with a problem I'm having with my new pc. I've had it for about 12 days, and unfortunately I'm a complete noob with PCs. I bought a game that I was told was great to play, and a good way of testing my computer's performance; namely Crysis. After installing the game, I started playing and before too long, a little pop-up message came up in the bottom right of my screen warning me of "high cpu usage" . When I clicked into the "details & settings", it said that the game was using "100% of at least one cpu". I have NO IDEA what that means, or how to resolve the issue. Here are the specs of my pc to give an idea of what I'm running.

Case: COOLERMASTER HAF X
CPU: i7-3770k (3.5GHz) 8MB Cache
Mboard: Asus P8Z77-V LX:3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI CrossFireX
Memory: 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz
Graphics Card: 1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570
Processor Cooling: SUPER QUIET 22 dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER
Power Supply:600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Drive: 120 GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD (Game installed here)

I dont' think it's a heating issue; the case has four big fans and the cpu cooler as well. And if that's not enough, I've got a fan in the room the pc is in pointed directly at the pc, keeping everything nice and cool (I presume). I will say this; in the games settings, the graphics are set to very high - is this the cause? I've played it in the optimum settings recommended by the game (high) but even then, the warning came. There are times when I can play and there's no warning, and then times when the game warns me, then crashes altogether shortly after. I have to say, I was stunned when it happened the first time. I was assured the pc I bought was more than adequate to play any of today's latest and most demanding games and yet my pc was crashing with a game that is 5 years old! I have noticed that it tends to happen at certain stages in the game: when a particularly tough challenge awaits (fighting helicopters or numerous people). Is it something that I've done, or is it something I haven't done? I don't have anything else running at the same time time; just the game itself. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated - thanks in advance!

[vanthus]

If you are using Norton antivirus,this could well be the problem,high CPU usage warnings from Norton can usually be safely ignored,but if the game is crashing there may be a more serious problem.If you are using
Norton,temporarily disable it or uninstall & try using microsoft security essentials to see if this solves the problem,if you're not using Norton you can ignore all of this.

[Buzz]

Yeh the CPU is well able for pretty much what ever ya throw at it,. I would like to know the warning type that appears. IE like Vanthus mentioned Norton.

Was the warning from software, like an antivirus or was it a windows/motherboard based warning.

Is your CPU overclocked do you happen to know?

The next time it happens, right click the toolbar and select start task manager and select the processes tab.

Once there press the Memory tab to sort by high / low and see what programs are using the most memory.

[Nabil Mana]

Thanks for your response! As it happens, I do have Norton Antivirus on my pc; I know nothing about computer security so I bought it for peace of mind. So you think that the Norton Antivirus is causing this? I found details of this "essentials" you refer to, and when I went to download it I was warned of a "conflict" with my Norton Antivirus. As I'd already bought and installed the Norton Antivirus (and thus starting the countdown on my year of service), I figured I'd leave it until after the Norton Antivirus had run out, then download it. Won't there be any risks involved if I temporarily disable/remove the Antivirus, and could you please tell me how to do so? Thanks!

[Nabil Mana]

Thankyou for your advice, Buzz (and Vanthus!) In answer to your questions; all I get is a warning of "High CPU Usage" in a small box in the bottom, and a little graph of the cpu usage up until that current moment when I click in to the "Details & Settings" option in said warning box. I do believe now, in retrospect, that it was a warning from my Norton Antivirus and not from my motherboard, but when I first saw the warning pop up, I just closed it and carried on, dismissing it as not important - that's changed! Also, I do not have my pc overclocked. I'll remember (hopefully) the advice you suggested if/when the next warning pops up.Thanks again!

[paul1224]

The warning message definately sounds like a Norton pop up just making you aware that the resources on the PC are being used up quite a bit. This isn't really anything to majorly worry about but if the PC is crashing then that is an issue.

May be better to give us a better idea of what 'crashing' means, does this just mean the game crashes, i.e. won't let you play it or does the whole PC crash, i.e. PC reboots itself, blue screen crash comes up, etc.

I would personally consider making sure that your GPU drivers are up to date via the official nvidia website http://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-uk and if not download the most up to date drivers as these can sort out many crashes/poor performance.

Another option is to simply call PCS and explain the issue and they should be able to troubleshoot for you.

[Nabil Mana]

@paul 1224. Thanks for your advice. To answer your question, the game freezes similarly to a game crash on a xbox (won't play or bring up the menu or anything), except I can still go to the corner and hit the start icon (where I shut down the pc to restart the game that way). Thinking about it, I guess it's more of a game crash than a pc crash (no blue screen as you described) - sorry if I mislead anyone. Will try all suggested methods to fix - thanks also for the link to the GPU update. If the previous suggestions (disabling Norton and so on) don't work for some reason, that just might come in handy for me. Also I've just right-clicked whilst hovering over the Norton logo on the toolbar, and saw several options including "Open Norton Antivirus", "Turn on Silent Mode" and "Disable Antivirus Auto-Protect". Given that the "Open Norton Antivirus" is offered, does that mean my Norton is already disabled - or do I have to hit the "Disable Antivirus Auto-Protect" option? Thanks for any assist on this as all I want is to just play the game problem-free and keep my pc safe. Another thought has just to occurred to me; if the Norton is to blame and disabling it does indeed solve my problem then great but if it's like this on just the campaign, what will it be like when I eventually get to online multiplayer - and will disabling the Norton to be able to play without any problems render my pc vulnerable to any "outside influence" and compromise the security of my pc? Thankyou for any insight that you (or anyone else) can provide regarding these concerns.

[Karnor00]

Norton shows up the warning because some malware can use a lot of CPU time. So if you are experiencing high CPU usage at a time you aren't expecting it then this could be an indication of a problem. Unfortunatly Norton isn't smart enough to realise that high CPU usage when playing a game is perfectly normal.

If you want you can change the warnings under Settings > General > Performance.

[paul1224]

@paul 1224. Thanks for your advice. To answer your question, the game freezes similarly to a game crash on a xbox (won't play or bring up the menu or anything), except I can still go to the corner and hit the start icon (where I shut down the pc to restart the game that way). Thinking about it, I guess it's more of a game crash than a pc crash (no blue screen as you described) - sorry if I mislead anyone. Will try all suggested methods to fix - thanks also for the link to the GPU update. If the previous suggestions (disabling Norton and so on) don't work for some reason, that just might come in handy for me. Also I've just right-clicked whilst hovering over the Norton logo on the toolbar, and saw several options including "Open Norton Antivirus", "Turn on Silent Mode" and "Disable Antivirus Auto-Protect". Given that the "Open Norton Antivirus" is offered, does that mean my Norton is already disabled - or do I have to hit the "Disable Antivirus Auto-Protect" option? Thanks for any assist on this as all I want is to just play the game problem-free and keep my pc safe. Another thought has just to occurred to me; if the Norton is to blame and disabling it does indeed solve my problem then great but if it's like this on just the campaign, what will it be like when I eventually get to online multiplayer - and will disabling the Norton to be able to play without any problems render my pc vulnerable to any "outside influence" and compromise the security of my pc? Thankyou for any insight that you (or anyone else) can provide regarding these concerns.

If it is a game crash then it may be Norton causing the issue but I would definately check out the drivers just to make sure that they are up to date and current as many crashes can be fixed this way when running games.

When it mentions 'Open Norton Antivirus' all it is saying is 'do you want to open up the main Norton interface to view it'. The antivirus should be on and working normally especially as it also gives you the 'disable Anti Virus Auto Protect' option.

I personally would never recommend that you turn off your anti virus as it does open up potential vulnerbilities to your PC, instead I would (if the updating of the drivers doesn't work) consider calling PCS for their troubleshooting tips, and/or contact Norton direct via https://www-secure.symantec.com/nort...ersion=current to see if they can advise you on any settings you can tweak and/or get rid of Norton and use a different provider (Microsoft Security Essentials is a good free option).

[vanthus]

if the Norton is to blame and disabling it does indeed solve my problem then great but if it's like this on just the campaign, what will it be like when I eventually get to online multiplayer - and will disabling the Norton to be able to play without any problems render my pc vulnerable to any "outside influence" and compromise the security of my pc? Thankyou for any insight that you (or anyone else) can provide regarding these concerns.

I meant you disable Norton when disconnected from the Net,to try & confirm or eliminate it as the problem,obviously it would be foolish to go online without protection.