PC shuts down by itself while playing graphics intensive games

bertsheet · Mar 6, 2014

Hi all, firstly sorry if this is not in the right category, but I am having problems when i play graphics intensive games. My PC usually shuts down after about 10 mins of game play. This is my specs:
CPU: intel 4670
GPU: sapphire tri x r9 290
PSU: cosair VS650 ( i dont think its 80+ rated)
ram: kingston 4GB 1600MHZ DDR3
OS: windows 7 64bit

When i play games like far cry and metro 2033, the com restarts by itself after around 10-15mins
when playing games like DOTA 2, it has only shut down once or twice.To add on, my PC never shuts down on its own when i am not playing games, its totally fine when i watch movies or browse the web.
I ran furmark for about 5 mins and this were some of the results i got from HWMonitor:

+5V: min: 5.080V max: 5.160V
+3.3V: min 3.296V max 3.376V
+12V: min:11.232V max: 11.904V

CPU max temps:
Core 0: 69 deg C (156deg F)
Core 1: 69 deg C
Core 2: 72deg C
Core 3: 64 dec C

GPU max temp: 83 deg C

Its probably not the GPU driver thats causing the problems because i've installed the latest amd driver and tested a few other older drivers, but they all had the same problems, neither do i think its the GPU temp, so its either the CPU being a bit on the hot side or the PSU, but my gut tells me its the PSU problem as i think the minimum of +12V being 11.232V is really low. Please let me know what you guys think. I want to confirm my suspicion before i change my PSU. Thanks a lot guys. Any help is greatly appreciated

Zachasaurs · Mar 6, 2014

how many case fans are there? and is the inside of the graphics card or cpu fan possibly gunked up by dust?

bertsheet · Mar 6, 2014

Hi, thanks for replying, there is a 200mm, and 3 120mm fans. The PC is only 2months + old, so its not gunked up by dust. I opened it up to check as well. Its about as clean as it it can get

Jake Lloyd · Mar 6, 2014

I understand why you feel it's a PSU to GPU power issue. I've had the same issue before where the computer just shuts down after playing a game, may be 5 min, may be an hour. The 12v rail on that PSU should supply enough power. When it's done a force restart has the GPU ever failed on the reboot as well, to where you have to shut off the tower and wait?

The other option is a failing GPU. The only real way to test is to put the GPU in another computer and play for a while.

Also on a side note, 4gigs of 1600 RAM on that setup is a lil low

Zachasaurs · Mar 6, 2014

i would agree with jake Lloyd that your ram is definetly really low for a gaming build but otherwise the psu may be the prblem

bertsheet · Mar 6, 2014

Thx Jake and Zach for your replies. Sry for the typo! I actually meant to type 2x4gb ram. So it actually is 8GB total of 1600. Also about the gpu being the problem, this is the second card in the exact same system (the first card was an Asus r9 290 with stock cooler. The pc did the same thing of shutting down during graphics intensive games. There was a separate issue with it and I managed to return to the shop and paid 30 bucks to upgrade it to the current card.) So for the two cards, the pc still shuts down during graphics intensive games. So I highly doubt it's the gpu.

@ Jake: I read on another thread that on the 12v side, anything below 11.6 is bad and I should change the psu if it dips below 11.4 so I'm guessing 11.2 is ridiculous? And that was only running furmark for like 5 mins. And also everytime there's a force reboot, the pc will automatically shut down and turn on again. Exactly how it is like when u force restart your com. Lastly, did u manage to solve the issue on your com? If so, how? Thanks in advance!!

Jake Lloyd · Mar 6, 2014

The problem I had was I went from a 550Ti to a GTX 760. My PSU wattage was good, but it had dual 12v rails, each at only 20amps. It was also a pretty old PSU, probably 4-5 years with lots and lots of usage. Upgraded to another 600w PSU with a single 43amp 12v rail and that fixed the issue.

There is talk about updating the BIOS on your computer if you haven't in a while when installing a new GPU, but that's more of a BSOD issue, not a insta-power down issue. That usually happens due to lack of power or overheating auto shutdown.

The 11.2V does seem to mean you have a bad PSU.

smeezekitty · Mar 6, 2014

Yeah 11.2 is way too low and out of spec.
I would replace the PSU ASAP preferable with one with 80+

ethan17458 · Mar 6, 2014

I would check all physical connections in the pc. Maybe look for bent pins, etc. If you have a way to monitor the PSU (maybe corsair link), check that to see if there is anything that sticks out as abnormal. Listen to everyone else too; about the 11.2.

bertsheet · Mar 7, 2014

Thanks guys for your suggestions! Its greatly appreciated. I'm pretty sure its my PSU thats giving me the problem. Ran HWMonitor while playing FarCry 3. I recorded it dipped to 11.0V and 2 mins later it restarted again. It probably hit the 10+V mark. Will confirm my suspicions with a multi meter and then send it back to the shop. Its still under warranty. Thanks again for your suggestions again.

pklegends · May 28, 2014

[strike][/strike]hey i have the same problem i have a nvidia geforce gt 555m i thought it was a pretty good card but who knows i have a Intel core i3-2330M cpu @ 2.20 ghz processor 4 gb ram and windows 7 64 bits medion laptop
i hope you can fix it cuz i really think its not a bad card......
thanks

Jeff gr · Aug 3, 2015

I have the same problem, i'm with a evga z97 ftw, and a 1000 w power supply with a asus gtx 780

the problem occur when i'm playing game. I tried different thing but now I just:
-update the bios.
-connect my pc to another power outlet
-check multiple time if it was over heat
the cpu and the gpu did not overheat they where at a normal range temp. ( around 45 for cpu and lower than 60 for gpu)
could not test if the psu was overheating through.

I had this problem for almost a year. did not have time and money to investigate further, I just did not play game

I also check inside computer connection, and change the psu cable...

I just ran prime 95 torture test at the same time than a gpu test at the same time
to bring the power draw to it's maximum
100% cpu usage, during 20 minutes temps reach 65 after 18 minutes
and the gpu reach a temperature that is almost twice than when i'm playing a game that cause the autoshutdown (around 78)
the motherboard never reach higher than 33 during the test,

I will test the game again tonight or tomorow and I hope it will work

I"m presently running memtest just in case....
I dont thing the psu is faulty after those test that draw a lot of power.
but the next step will be to try another one.
or maybe check for dust in the mem and gpu port....

will comme back with more info laterà

edit

the problem is still there,,,
i'm going to hang myself...

Jeff gr · Aug 4, 2015

for people still having this problem I just found another test I'll try it
search for OCCT Power Supply test.. I'll post if I found something new

edit

I tried it but I just install windows 10, and I was only able to use occt with direct x 9 and not direct x 11 or 12 , I think there is no update yet.

I ran it for 30 minute at full load, and nothing happen, my cpu never went hotter than 53 and my gpu max it's temps around 74
no shut down.

I found something somewere talking about overvoltage protection on ram, something that happen to some people with evga z97 ftw and fast ddr3.
I tried to put a specific voltage in the bios for the ram and i'm trying it again.

Pat_1 · Aug 29, 2015

Jeff gr :

for people still having this problem I just found another test I'll try it
search for OCCT Power Supply test.. I'll post if I found something new

edit

I tried it but I just install windows 10, and I was only able to use occt with direct x 9 and not direct x 11 or 12 , I think there is no update yet.

I ran it for 30 minute at full load, and nothing happen, my cpu never went hotter than 53 and my gpu max it's temps around 74
no shut down.

I found something somewere talking about overvoltage protection on ram, something that happen to some people with evga z97 ftw and fast ddr3.
I tried to put a specific voltage in the bios for the ram and i'm trying it again.

any update on this issue?

robnof · Dec 1, 2015

My brother was having the same problem with his build:

- Asrock Z77 OC Formula
- i7 3770K (not overclocked)
- GTX 780 Lightning
- 16GB Corsair Dominator 1333 RAM

The computer would run fine, then crash when he would run high end games like the Witcher 3 for inconsistent amounts of time. Could be 20 minutes, could be an hour.

Mind you initially he had a Thermaltake closed loop cooler that was installed wrong, to the point of physical damage to the unit (he was lucky it did not rupture. The person who put his rig together was an idiot) and causing his CPU temps to be close to TJ max. The tiny 40mm fan on the VRM heatsink had a busted bearing and sounded like a tiny crop dusting airplane, causing temps to also be way too hot. After I replaced his cooler with a stock intel one (which dramatically improved his cpu temps) and replaced the 40mm fan, his temps were within normal parameters. The problem, however continued to persist.

After trying a different power supply to rule out that being the cause, my concern was that the excess heat he was operating at for an unknown amount of time had damaged the board itself. Finally I tried some of the RAM from my rig and as of right now, it seems to have fixed the issue. I haven't run Memtest yet with his memory installed, which I should have done first (I was convinced it was his temps causing the shut down) so I don't know which stick is faulty, or if it's a bad memory slot.

This fixed the issue for me so far.

Endonesia · Mar 9, 2016

I'm now having the exact same problem. I just upgraded to a 780 ti and whenever I play demanding games (witcher 3 on high) it shuts down it about 5 minutes. I had SpeedFan running and I could see my CPU usage is at 100% when it shuts down. Checked task manager to confirm the games are taking up near 90% CPU usage. How do I fix this?

mauxie · Apr 19, 2016

Jeff gr :

I have the same problem, i'm with a evga z97 ftw, and a 1000 w power supply with a asus gtx 780

the problem occur when i'm playing game. I tried different thing but now I just:
-update the bios.
-connect my pc to another power outlet
-check multiple time if it was over heat
the cpu and the gpu did not overheat they where at a normal range temp. ( around 45 for cpu and lower than 60 for gpu)
could not test if the psu was overheating through.

I had this problem for almost a year. did not have time and money to investigate further, I just did not play game

I also check inside computer connection, and change the psu cable...

I just ran prime 95 torture test at the same time than a gpu test at the same time
to bring the power draw to it's maximum
100% cpu usage, during 20 minutes temps reach 65 after 18 minutes
and the gpu reach a temperature that is almost twice than when i'm playing a game that cause the autoshutdown (around 78)
the motherboard never reach higher than 33 during the test,

I will test the game again tonight or tomorow and I hope it will work

I"m presently running memtest just in case....
I dont thing the psu is faulty after those test that draw a lot of power.
but the next step will be to try another one.
or maybe check for dust in the mem and gpu port....

will comme back with more info laterà

edit

the problem is still there,,,
i'm going to hang myself...

put that rope away. I used to have this problem. I turned off my wifi adapter and no shutdown
regardless of gpu demand. this is the doing of ms corp. to start games with wifi off, you will
need to modify your registry settings to fake out game explorer. open regedit, click computer,
hit ctrl+f, and enter servicelocation, just like I typed it. double click on games and enter any
valid local path. then export this part of the hive to a convenient place because ms will change
it back to the original target. cheers

angelov · Jun 2, 2016

Jeff gr :

I have the same problem, i'm with a evga z97 ftw, and a 1000 w power supply with a asus gtx 780

the problem occur when i'm playing game. I tried different thing but now I just:
-update the bios.
-connect my pc to another power outlet
-check multiple time if it was over heat
the cpu and the gpu did not overheat they where at a normal range temp. ( around 45 for cpu and lower than 60 for gpu)
could not test if the psu was overheating through.

I had this problem for almost a year. did not have time and money to investigate further, I just did not play game

I also check inside computer connection, and change the psu cable...

I just ran prime 95 torture test at the same time than a gpu test at the same time
to bring the power draw to it's maximum
100% cpu usage, during 20 minutes temps reach 65 after 18 minutes
and the gpu reach a temperature that is almost twice than when i'm playing a game that cause the autoshutdown (around 78)
the motherboard never reach higher than 33 during the test,

I will test the game again tonight or tomorow and I hope it will work

I"m presently running memtest just in case....
I dont thing the psu is faulty after those test that draw a lot of power.
but the next step will be to try another one.
or maybe check for dust in the mem and gpu port....

will comme back with more info laterà

edit

the problem is still there,,,
i'm going to hang myself...

I had the same problem with two different: PSU, motherboards, processors, graphic cards, OS. Finally found out, the both rear legs of the ATX are missing, box is laying on the floor and blocs the air flow to the PSU.

Pratik625 · Oct 8, 2016

I have the same problem while playing Assissian's creed 2 my suddenly shut dwon maybe after 5-10 min.
Then am take A torch and check inside the CPU cabinet i found that my prosseser fan plug is unplugged from motherboard may be this unplug fan reason of "suddenly shut down".

PC shuts down by itself while playing graphics intensive games

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