My computer is ONLY randomly shutting off during games. :(

ChibuChan

Honorable
Jan 25, 2014
14
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10,510
Okay so I'm new to this website but I always come her for tech advice and help when something goes wrong. I'm also new to building computers so this is my first custom computer that I've built (built it two weeks ago).

So most of the parts were given to me as kinda of a gift for Christmas/Birthday thing. I was told that if I could fix up an old gaming PC that was BSOD'd I could have it. I took the computer apart and just replaced the bad parts after I found out what was wrong.
my specs are:

CPU: AMD Anthelon X4 965 3.4ghz quad-core
GPU: ATI XFX Radeon HD 5770
Motherboard: Gigabyte-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX
RAM: 2 DDR3 2gb Ram chips (I'm not going to pay over $100 for the same amount just because it was flashy)
PSU: Ultra X4 750W 80+Bronze 135mm fan
HDD/SSD: one 1TB HDD, one external 1TB
Optical Drives: 1 CD/DVD reader and 1 CD/DVD writer/rewriter
Fans: Stock fan over the CPU, 2 Red LED 120mm fans
Case: ThermalTake V3 AMD Black Edition Mid tower

The parts that were given to me looked a bit old... not old like ancient. The parts were from a gaming PC and the parts are still actually very very good now in 2014. I was told that the computer was custom purchased around 2010 or 2009. I know this for sure since when I got the parts it was FILTHY with dust, I went through two cans of compressed air to clean it.

I ran some temperature checks without gaming and with gaming and nothing seemed wrong, my computer isn't over heating or anything. I can do anything and everything else besides gaming. It's strange because it ONLY happens when I play games. I can play anything from League of Legends to something more graphically demanding like Warframe. It wouldn't matter. Sometimes I could go through a whole day or a couple of days and it wouldn't shut off. But sometimes it'll shut off immediately or a few minutes in. Today since I thought it could be a CPU overheat problem I changed out the thermal paste (Remember I just built this computer two weeks ago). Then I un-dusted my GPU. Yet nothing it still does it in games as simple as Garry's Mod or League of Legends.

I've been reading around the internet and people are saying that it might be a PSU issue, I checked my PSU and the fan is running and I feel the push and pull of the air. I would purchase a new PSU in a heartbeat if I had the funds but right now as a college student I don't really have the funds after I spent the money on the parts.

Edit: What I mean by randomly shutting off... it's like if you held the power button down and it just shuts off. I don't get any blue screen or anything and I can start it back up and it will act like nothing had happened. Usually when this happens during games I could just turn it back on and I would be able to go through the entire day gaming. But just today I couldn't play more than 5 minutes of a game before it shuts off.

Some please advise... I use this computer for college but sometimes I wanna play some games with my friends on our free time for fun.... Please help.

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Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
check if the TIM is to thick/un-even..
double check and make sure the cooler is in perfect sit in the processor (if someways it not sit right it could make the temp out of control)

likely this is the case of auto shutdown because overheat, this may require u to change the cooler (all the heat sink not just the fan) at worse the old one may be damaged in some parts...

also cpu fan is a special fan they different than ordinary case fan, they have higher rpm and require high static pressure to push air toward the heatsink

rdc85

Honorable
OOT : first, it's still a good ring but the ram is to low for some games/apps this should be your next target

Back to topic, sudden power off usually related to overheating, try runs cpuid hwmonitor or open hardware monitor (Free) to check the temp while gaming...

since the computer quite old my guess is the TIM (thermal paste) is dried out and degenerate, both on the processor and the GPU....
(u may already changed the TIM but try to check temp again)
 

ChibuChan

Honorable
Jan 25, 2014
14
0
10,510
The RAM is fine for a lot of games, I'm not playing anything like CoD Ghosts or anything. I can play games like Warframe without any drop in my frame rate.

As for the over heating, my CPU and GPU seem to be in normal temps says everyone but I still don't trust it.
the Thermal paste is fairly new, I just built this computer two weeks ago and I cleaned off the old paste. I just changed it again today just to make sure.

I just opened up the power supply and undusted it.... it literally had black dust bunnies and the fan blades looked like someone took it off roading in the Australian outback o.o

I'll try and run a game and see how it does after I undusted the horrors of the power supply.
 

ChibuChan

Honorable
Jan 25, 2014
14
0
10,510
Umm the cpu fan has some dust in it so i cleaned it out. But when i took it out and spun it with my finher i hear something inside making a strange sound... almost as if you took a thin piece of metal and attatched it to a fan blade and spun it.... like a scraping sound so i bought a new cpu fan. My cpu temps would go to 80-90c in 1 minute in prime 95 then shut off completely. I can do anything else but nothing under load
 

rdc85

Honorable
check if the TIM is to thick/un-even..
double check and make sure the cooler is in perfect sit in the processor (if someways it not sit right it could make the temp out of control)

likely this is the case of auto shutdown because overheat, this may require u to change the cooler (all the heat sink not just the fan) at worse the old one may be damaged in some parts...

also cpu fan is a special fan they different than ordinary case fan, they have higher rpm and require high static pressure to push air toward the heatsink
 
Solution

ChibuChan

Honorable
Jan 25, 2014
14
0
10,510
Yeah i noticed that sometimes i would pull up the heatsink and it would be pushed and spread out unevenly with the heatsink. I bought a completely new heatsink and about to out it in as we speak. I also bought an extra 120mm case fane to help inprove air flow