PC turns off when gaming.

Computer Forum General Hardware
1

I recently brought a new case (Antecc p180) and I moved everything over from my old PC the new case and everything worked fine.

I decided to play Counter Strike Source and I managed to play for about 10 mins and then the computer turned itself off for no apparent reason. There were no warnings or errors, it was a simply like unplugging it from the wall.

I thought the problem may be CSS so I decided to play another game (GTA:SA) but after a few minuets the same thing happened. It seems to only happen when I play games.
The system has been running for over 24hours and has no other problems, only when gaming.

I thought that the fan on the graphics card (ATI RADEON X1600) wasn’t turning but it was. I checked to see if any connections were loose for the HDD’s (1 80GB running the OS and 2 others for files) but they all seemed fine.

I thought the problem may have something to do with temperature so I started GTA:SA again and waited until the PC turned off. I immediately turned it back on and checked the temperature in the BIOS and it said the CPU was running at 60C and the “System” temp was 42C. It’s set to cut out at 75C so that can’t be the problem.

I’ve updated my display drivers.
I’ve run an error check on all the HDD’s
I’m out of ideas.

Anyone have any ideas what could be causing this or how to fix it?

Thanks

-Cooper

2

What is in your event viewer?

3

Can you maybe try another CPU intensive program, maybe fun F@H and monitor the temperatures with SpeedFan at the same time to give temperature readings when at load (Things may have cooled down slightly from the time of the crash to re-boot and viewing in BIOS)

4

[QUOTE=Karanislove]
What is in your event viewer?
[/QUOTE]

Here’s the system events log: http://www.antoncooper.com/upload/uploaded/events.txt

[QUOTE=Matt555]
Can you maybe try another CPU intensive program, maybe fun F@H and monitor the temperatures with SpeedFan at the same time to give temperature readings when at load (Things may have cooled down slightly from the time of the crash to re-boot and viewing in BIOS)
[/QUOTE]

F@H crashed windows, but I have Speed Fan installed. I’m not sure what each of the temperatures are relating to. Below is a SS. Motherboard is a “PA1 MVP”
http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/9632/fanspeed5ke.th.jpg

Another thing happened. I was doing a scan with Windows Defender (Beta 2) and toward the end the PC turned off in the same fashion.

I’m starting to think it is a temperature problem.

Thanks for the replies guys :slight_smile:

Any other help?

5

Yeah, 60*C and up is considered the danger zone, espeically if that’s your idle temps. How do you have you’re cooling set up?

6

It wasn’t idle temperature, I had been playing GTA:SA for a few minuets. The idle temperature is about 40*C.

I’d consider the cooling pretty good though.
I have 3 120mm case fans and a 80mm CPU fan and heat sink.

I’ve ordered a new CPU fan from Novatech today so I’ll fit that when it comes and hopefully that should make a difference.

7

What PSU are you running? A bad PSU can cause all sorts of problems under stress. If it overheats it ma cut out all together causing a total system crash, bad rails can cause system lockups and sometimes even component damage.

8

I agree with Matt555. Sounds like the PSU could be at fault in the new case. Do you still have the old PSU from the old tower?

If its a temperature problem try running the case with the side off and a desk fan blowing inwards if you have one. Another thing to try might be to reseat the memory sticks. That can cause random crashes if there is any grit or dirt in the sockets.

9

Reseat everything while you’re at it, just to make sure.

10

Thanks for the replies guys.

The PSU was the same one from the old case. I never had any problems with it back then.

LORD, as soon as it gets a bit later in the evening, (it’s a very hot day) i’ll try what you suggested just to check if it is a temperature problem.

If it still crashes, I’ll reseat the memory.

Also, just to check some terms…

bad rails: what the PSU is sitting on?
reseat: take out and put back in?
That right?

Once again, thanks for the help. :slight_smile:

11

Bad rails - the voltages coming from the PSU, a bad 12V rail means that where the PC should be getting 12V it may drop and supply a lot less than that, or it could supply too big of a voltage and cause a power spike.
Reseat - yes take things out and then put them back in.

12

Ok, so I’ve taken the side off, set case fans to top speed. The open side is pointed at my window which is open and there is a cool breeze blowing directly on it. I’ve felt the heat sink and it’s no more then warm. HDD’s are emitting very little heat and the graphics card seems cool.
There is no possible way the temperatures SpeedFan is show are right.
http://www.antoncooper.com/upload/uploaded/temp.jpg
It’s set in the BIOS to turn off at 175F.

With the system how it is described above, I managed to play CS:S for about 20 mins before it turns off. Are there motherboard logs which log events like this?

13

SpeedFan can’t be monitoring your PSU rails correctly - if it is then you’ve got serious problems. Your -12V is at 0.48V and your -5V is at -0.28V.

Also your +12V Rail isn’t too low but it could be higher.

14

Alright, so for some reason the HDD’s are really hot but the CPU, memory and Graphics card are cold. Proper cold as if they’ve not been running.

Is this a problem to do with the PSU rails? If it is, how would I go about fixing it?

15

Were there any programs running when you took the Speedfan screenshot? I dont understand why the CPU usage is so high if the PC was idling. Might not be relevant at all or perhaps a spike.

Do you have another PSU you can try?

If you have 2 memory sticks installed (2 x 512MB for example) try removing one at a time and running them individually. If one of the sticks is at fault you should be able to tell by doing this.

16

Yeah - try what LORD suggested, that’d rule out any memory errors, also scan with Memtest86 - Memory Diagnostic Page and let it run through a few times, it should bring up any RAM errors you have.

I’m still concerned about those PSU rails being so low, could you possibly check them in the BIOS and see what that’s reading?