PC Suddenly Reboots When Playing Graphic Intensive Games

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Joncom

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Jun 23, 2014
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I've had a new Alienware Aurora for a couple months now.
It likes to reboot itself suddenly when playing games like Watch Dogs and Planetside 2.

Friends have said "it sounds like an overheating issue".
So I used GPU-Z to monitor temperature, etc. while playing.
Here's the resulting log: https://www.sendspace.com/file/qv5x1k
Basically it shows the GPU temperature reach 92 degrees before rebooting.
Apparently these temperatures are not unheard of for my card.
I have a Radeon R9 290X.

Originally I was running the Radeon drivers that came on DVD with the PC.
These drivers were at least a year outdated.
Tonight, after quite some time on these drivers, I updated to the newest available from AMD.
Same issue.

What else can I look in to?
I'd rather not send it away if it's something I can fix!

[Edit] Oh, I also checked the Windows Event Viewer. Didn't find much. Just confirmation of the unexpected reboot: "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly."








 
Solution
Tom Tancredi


http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2013/10/28/is-the-amd-radeon-r9-290x-too-hot/3

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/170542-amds-radeon-r9-290-has-a-problem-but-nvidias-smear-attack-is-heavy-handed

Both independently say the basic same things;
■ R9s designs overheat
■ To compensate the heat issue a 'throttling' in performance is embedded in the chipset itself, there is no 'deactivating or overridding this', it is hardcoded into the chip circuits.
■ Normal 'Quite' mode is 40% CPU fan, which throttles the performance quite back, pushing to 'Uber' mode only get 55% of the FAN and seriously doesn't not improve performance to the numbers the R9 should attain...
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J

Joncom

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Jun 23, 2014
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Thanks for the suggestions so far, however maybe heat isn't the issue? First of all, it's brand new and there no dust yet. Second, I installed Furmark and ran it for over an hour each of the last two nights. The temperature reaches 94 degrees Celsius within a few minutes, then holds steady. Furmark seems to be pretty darn stable.

What else can I try? What else could it be?

 
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AGTDenton

AGTDenton

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Check with Dell that there isn't a newer BIOS or upgraded chipset drivers for your model.
What is the detailed spec for your PC? Like brand, type, size of disks, etc...

Check the temperature of your hard disk drives, and if installing games to SSD check that there isn't a firmware upgrade for it that may resolves issues such as these.

Why not send Dell an Email to see if its a common issue that they may be aware of, and already have a fix. You should be well in warranty if you only bought a couple of months ago.
 
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Tom Tancredi

Tom Tancredi

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May 9, 2013
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That it hits 94 is the built in part of the card. I found a article previously, seems the R9s as you suggested are expected to run hotter, but that doesn't mean they can run at / near 100c, that still causes meltdowns and fires. That your hitting 94 and topping out during Furmark demonstrates the built in protect to prevent this issue, which cycles down your CPU and maximizes your fan, but your still runnin TOO HOT.

Your issue is nothing else but HEAT, the problem is your focus is 'the fan on the GPU', your not seeing 'past this'. The fan blows the air of the case across the elements to cool it. To have this happen the CASE itself needs proper airflow, meaning a LARGER amount of cool air is constantly sucked in then the amount of HOT air being blown out. Your problem, which you haven't addressed is this AIR FLOW of the case, not just the GPU Fan.

To TEST THIS, simply remove the side panel of the computer so there is nothing but cool air feeding in. Then try again playing WD/PS2/etc. that would reboot, does it do it now? If it does it 'less frequently' or 'not at all' this proves to YOU that what we are suggesting is correct.

Do remember if you have STOCK (came with the GPU) FAN on the case, 90% of people replace them because even with the side of the case open it won't 'blow' the air efficiently across the grills to cool it. That is why people go with AFTERMARKET Coolers, to improve the GPU FAN *AFTER* they have maximized the cooling affect inside the case itself (Large side fans unblocked sucking out hot air AWAY from back and front fans etc that such in cooler air near the bottom of the case - remember heat rises cold falls).
 
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J

Joncom

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Jun 23, 2014
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Would be interested if you could cite the article you read.

To further check how stable my system is I followed some advice from this stress testing article.

On Jule 27 I stress tested my CPU with Prime95 in "Small FFT" mode for 12 hours. Max temp. reached was 72 degrees Celsius. Temp. was almost always under 70 degrees though. Then I ran Prime95 for another 12 hours in "blend" mode. Temperatures about the same as before. No errors during either session, so CPU seems stable.

On June 29 I ran memtest86+ for 14 hours and no errors were detected, so memory seems stable.

This is all in addition to the couple of hours already spent in Furmark which hints that the video card is stable.

I have not been able to get the system to crash/reboot in some other games I've been playing, like Brothers, Killing Floor, or Payday 2. Maybe these games just don't drive temperatures high enough? Or maybe there's something software-specific about Planetside that is responsible for the reboots?
 
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Tom Tancredi

Tom Tancredi

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May 9, 2013
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http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2013/10/28/is-the-amd-radeon-r9-290x-too-hot/3

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/170542-amds-radeon-r9-290-has-a-problem-but-nvidias-smear-attack-is-heavy-handed

Both independently say the basic same things;
■ R9s designs overheat
■ To compensate the heat issue a 'throttling' in performance is embedded in the chipset itself, there is no 'deactivating or overridding this', it is hardcoded into the chip circuits.
■ Normal 'Quite' mode is 40% CPU fan, which throttles the performance quite back, pushing to 'Uber' mode only get 55% of the FAN and seriously doesn't not improve performance to the numbers the R9 should attain (marginal increased differences.
■ Putting the FAN at full 100% and getting the actual performance out of the R9 yields a constant 'jet engine' of audible right next / in front of you .

 
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