"Hey dad, the computer turned off when I started up Batman."
That's what my son said yesterday.
I THINK my PSU is going out.
I have:
amd 4100
8GB
64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE
The PSU my computer came with wasn't strong enough to run the graphics card, so I got a new one. It's a Thermaltake TR2 600W, which in theory is supposed to be good enough to handle the GTX560.
Everything ran well for about a year. Then, starting yesterday, any game that uses intensive 3d graphics makes my computer shut off. Power down, no message, no warning, no restart. Just off.
Now, this is usually some sort of automatic hardware response to protect computer components. It can happen because of overheating, for instance.
But everything is running quite cool, around 35C.
But I did notice things were dusty, so I got out the canned air and cleaned out the box.
Then I noticed the PSU intake was clogged (the PSU is on the bottom of the case, and the intake sucks up from under the computer, so it wasn't obvious). It was totally clogged with pet fur and dust.
My speculation is that this clog caused the PSU to overheat and some of its internal components to fail. Now it can't output enough watts to handle my graphics card.
So, my theory continues, when I load up a game that requires my graphics card to need more power, the PSU can't handle it, so it powers off.
Does this sound like a reasonable theory?
I have explored other options, such as updating Windows, updating drivers, checking for virus/malware, and even going to a System Restore point from last week (when everything worked).
None of those helped, and none of them raised any red flags.
So it's looking like the PSU, and just to be safe I figure I should get a new one that's a bit beefier than this one.
Problem is convincing my wife this is a priority when we just shelled out $500 for the new XBox. And technically my computer still does everything it's supposed to do EXCEPT play video games.
That's what my son said yesterday.
I THINK my PSU is going out.
I have:
amd 4100
8GB
64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE
The PSU my computer came with wasn't strong enough to run the graphics card, so I got a new one. It's a Thermaltake TR2 600W, which in theory is supposed to be good enough to handle the GTX560.
Everything ran well for about a year. Then, starting yesterday, any game that uses intensive 3d graphics makes my computer shut off. Power down, no message, no warning, no restart. Just off.
Now, this is usually some sort of automatic hardware response to protect computer components. It can happen because of overheating, for instance.
But everything is running quite cool, around 35C.
But I did notice things were dusty, so I got out the canned air and cleaned out the box.
Then I noticed the PSU intake was clogged (the PSU is on the bottom of the case, and the intake sucks up from under the computer, so it wasn't obvious). It was totally clogged with pet fur and dust.
My speculation is that this clog caused the PSU to overheat and some of its internal components to fail. Now it can't output enough watts to handle my graphics card.
So, my theory continues, when I load up a game that requires my graphics card to need more power, the PSU can't handle it, so it powers off.
Does this sound like a reasonable theory?
I have explored other options, such as updating Windows, updating drivers, checking for virus/malware, and even going to a System Restore point from last week (when everything worked).
None of those helped, and none of them raised any red flags.
So it's looking like the PSU, and just to be safe I figure I should get a new one that's a bit beefier than this one.
Problem is convincing my wife this is a priority when we just shelled out $500 for the new XBox. And technically my computer still does everything it's supposed to do EXCEPT play video games.
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