Installed RAM, PSU, GPU now PC is shutting down under high (?) load

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justan00b

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I have a pc (http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c02693325-36).

I recently installed a new graphics card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202143).

And power supply to feed the much larger, hungrier card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371067).

While I was at it, I though I'd upgrade my stock 8GB of RAM (4 2GB sticks came installed) to 12 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231740).

I have never upgraded a PC before but I did a lot of reading before buying as I wanted to be sure everything would work well together.

My pc keeps shutting down unexpectedly when trying to run games. It once shut down while I was watching a video on facebook.

I'm not a genius but I am pretty methodical, and I'm 99% sure that all my connections from the PSU to the motherboard, hard drive, thing across from my PSU in the top of my case (disc drive?) and GPU are good. I used two 6+2 pins to connect PSU to GPU, which is the max number of connectors that would fit (not sure if that's relevant). The RAM clicked into place after applying the requisite amount of force, I don't think I bent it or anything and the fit seems good. My system is reading the new 12 GB total. The GPU is much larger than the tiny integrated graphics card that came with my PC but it does fit in the case. The three fans have the PSU's cords running over the top of them but nothing seems to be blocking their ability to spin. The PSU should be supplying ample power, I don't understand why it would shut down trying to run TW Rome II on high (which it should be able to run on ultra).

I looked around and saw the tip to check the BIOS and mine is booting with PCIe, not onboard, so I don't think that's the issue.

I cannot figure out what to do to identify the problem, much less how to fix it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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kemperkipie

kemperkipie

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At first, have you monitored your temperatures?
Monitor the temperatures from as many devices as you can, and see what they show on idle and under load.

Also, you could try to unplug every cable in your computer and plug everything back in again, just to make sure you've had them all once again. If you're not sure which cable belongs where, take a picture before you pull one out.
 
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justan00b

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Mar 22, 2015
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Thanks for the tip. I used Core Temp the first time and could only find the CPU temp, which maxed out at 63 C while playing a visually demanding part of the game. It listed a "Tj Max" of 70 C and did not shut down until I had exited the battle and gone back to the campaign map view.

The second time I tried it I used Open Hardware Monitor, which let me see CPU, GPU, and two other temp readings I wasn't sure of. The two I wasn't sure of idled around 36-39 C, the CPU idled at 37-38 C, and the GPU idled at 43-44 C. This trial was much shorter, I was not even able to enter a battle before it shut down and rebooted this time, so I didn't get "stressed" values for any of the temps. I also didn't hear my fans spin up as I did on the first go around.

Does this indicate that it may not be a heating issue if it didn't wait long enough for the fans to trigger?
 
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Dee Kay

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You didn't mention it so make sure that you have all of the latest drivers installed for your system. Your temps all look within range so look to one of your other latest upgrades, your ram. You could be having issues with your ram not playing nice together under a load. Run memtest86 for at least 6 passes to check for problems that a quick scan may not pick up. See the article that Tradesman1 just wrote on different ram failures under load here. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/dram-benchmark-fluctuations,4080.html
 
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justan00b

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Mar 22, 2015
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Thanks for taking the time to reply. I checked to see if the drivers were up to date and Windows said they were. I rolled them back and reinstalled anyway. Problem persists.

I ran the extended memory diagnostic for 8 passes as you suggested and no errors were found. I removed one stick and booted up to see if problems persisted. They did. Tried the same with the other stick removed, same result.

The restarting does not only happen during gaming as I originally thought. It will occasionally happen if nothing is open. I left my pc on but alone for about an hour to come back and see that it had done it again. It has since done it a few times when I've been looking around the site to read. Also, sometimes it doesn't restart. Sometimes the display just goes out but power remains. I've had to hold the power button to turn it off in those cases.

In case this means the issue is most likely the PSU, here is more info on that: The back of the PSU has several 4 pin connector ports along the top and room for four 8 pin connections along the bottom. The bottom is all in one row but two labels divide the space in half. The first says +12V1, the second is +12V2. My cables going to my GPU are in the left side of +12V1 and the left side of +12V2. This should not cause an issue, should it?

 
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Dee Kay

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You need to check for updates at the Sapphire and HP sites as well as the windows update site. I'm not sure from your post if you checked all sites or only windows. Make sure that the OS is correct and let it check for new drivers from here if you haven't already done so.
http://support.hp.com/us-en/product/HP-Pavilion-Elite-HPE-500-Desktop-PC-series/5035344/model/5071807/drivers?cc=us&lang=en

After any updates you can see if the problem clears up but if not then remove the card and try with just integrated graphics. If the issue clears up then it points to your card and/or drivers.
 
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justan00b

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Mar 22, 2015
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I seem to have made things worse. When uninstalling drivers for the card (in order to reinstall) I clicked "uninstall device driver software" which was an extra checkbox along the process. I was able to reinstall the AMD drivers but now my device manager is only picking up "standard VGA graphics adapter," where before it was picking up "AMD Radeon R9 200 series adapter."

Where can I find the drivers necessary for the PC to read the card? Sapphire's site didn't seem to have anything in the "download" area. I can "search by product" but it just takes me to a description of my card, there doesn't seem to be any driver download instructions (http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/downloads/download_index.aspx?psn=0006).



 
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justan00b

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Mar 22, 2015
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Thank you. I was looking in the wrong place. All drivers are up to date but the problem persists. I noticed that the specs newegg listed for the card include Directx 12. Microsoft didn't make Directx 12 compatible with Windows 7.
Could this be the cause of my issue? I'd be happy to buy and install Windows 8.1 then Directx 12 if I thought that would fix the problem, but I have no interest in spending money to suffer through the terrible UI if it isn't going to fix anything.
 
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Dee Kay

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DirextX can cause problems but shouldn't be an issue with your current build. NewEgg says that the card is compatible with DX12, not required. As of now DX12 availability is only promised for win10, not 8.1 so save your money. I would RMA the card and/or do a fresh install before I installed 8.1. Did you ever try the different ports (HDMI, DVI, DP, VGA) to see if the problem went away or got better?
 
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