PC randomly restarting while gaming

JaceMJ · Jul 2, 2016

I recently built a new PC and it's been restarting randomly during a lot of games. It doesn't blue screen, it just restarts and says "Windows did not shut down successfully". My specs are:

AMD FX-8350
EVGA GeForce GTX 970
ASUS M5A97
Corsair CX 500W
1x G.SKILL RIPJAWS X SERIES 8G
WD Blue 1TB hard drive

Nothing is overclocked.

It restarts at such random times that it just confuses me. Like I'll be playing a game for hours and it'll restart while I'm in a menu. For Fallout 4 it does it almost immediately every time I try playing it. I figure it's my power supply but the inconsistency of it just confuses me. Do you think it's my power supply or something else?

Sergeant_Sneaky · Jul 2, 2016

A PC restarting under load is usually due to temps or a bad PSU. How are both your CPU and GPU temps while idle and under load?

JaceMJ · Jul 2, 2016

Sergeant_Sneaky :

My temps are completely fine. I don't think it could be that because it restarts immediately during Fallout 4, like right after the first loading screen. And it even crashes in main menus when my GPU fans aren't even running. That's what is really confusing me.

Sergeant_Sneaky · Jul 2, 2016

JaceMJ :

Would you be able to check the exact numbers for me please? I wouldn't want to rule out temps when that still could be the issue.

JaceMJ · Jul 2, 2016

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

Would you be able to check the exact numbers for me please? I wouldn't want to rule out temps when that still could be the issue.

Hmm how would I measure them under load? Just play any game?

Sergeant_Sneaky · Jul 2, 2016

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

Hmm how would I measure them under load? Just play any game?

Playing a game usually warms up the components well enough to give a good number yeah

JaceMJ · Jul 2, 2016

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

Playing a game usually warms up the components well enough to give a good number yeah

Playing League of Legends for a few minutes, my CPU max temp is 37C, low is 16C and around 32C average. GPU is 72C max, 54C low and 62C average

Sergeant_Sneaky · Jul 2, 2016

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

Playing League of Legends for a few minutes, my CPU max temp is 37C, low is 16C and around 32C average. GPU is 72C max, 54C low and 62C average

Thanks, your GPU temps are fine but those CPU temps are very likely to be incorrect, a lot of programs struggle to read AMD CPU's temps, would you be able to do the same test again but using overdrive to monitor CPU temps?

JaceMJ · Jul 3, 2016

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

Thanks, your GPU temps are fine but those CPU temps are very likely to be incorrect, a lot of programs struggle to read AMD CPU's temps, would you be able to do the same test again but using overdrive to monitor CPU temps?

The temps get around 50C, but it's saying the current speeds are higher than the target speeds. Is that a problem? I haven't changed anything. It says target is 4000 and current is around 4113.

JaceMJ · Jul 3, 2016

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

Thanks, your GPU temps are fine but those CPU temps are very likely to be incorrect, a lot of programs struggle to read AMD CPU's temps, would you be able to do the same test again but using overdrive to monitor CPU temps?

It just restarted again right when I loaded up Guild Wars 2 and tried changing the settings. I don't think load has anything to do with it. Because like I said sometimes it does it after hours of gameplay and sometimes it does it immediately.

Sergeant_Sneaky · Jul 3, 2016

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

It just restarted again right when I loaded up Guild Wars 2 and tried changing the settings. I don't think load has anything to do with it. Because like I said sometimes it does it after hours of gameplay and sometimes it does it immediately.

I'm not sure about the whole target speed but it's probably just a boosting thing, it shouldn't be an issue. Which slot do you have your stick of RAM in? It's starting to look like a PSU issue at this point

JaceMJ · Jul 3, 2016

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

It just restarted again right when I loaded up Guild Wars 2 and tried changing the settings. I don't think load has anything to do with it. Because like I said sometimes it does it after hours of gameplay and sometimes it does it immediately.

I'm not sure about the whole target speed but it's probably just a boosting thing, it shouldn't be an issue. Which slot do you have your stick of RAM in? It's starting to look like a PSU issue at this point

Hmm. It says single channel but I don't know the exact answer to your question. Should I try putting it in a different slot? And I figured it was PSU but I assumed my components wouldn't draw anywhere near 500W.

JaceMJ · Jul 3, 2016

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

It just restarted again right when I loaded up Guild Wars 2 and tried changing the settings. I don't think load has anything to do with it. Because like I said sometimes it does it after hours of gameplay and sometimes it does it immediately.

I'm not sure about the whole target speed but it's probably just a boosting thing, it shouldn't be an issue. Which slot do you have your stick of RAM in? It's starting to look like a PSU issue at this point

Oh slot 1. Sorry.

Sergeant_Sneaky · Jul 3, 2016

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

I'm not sure about the whole target speed but it's probably just a boosting thing, it shouldn't be an issue. Which slot do you have your stick of RAM in? It's starting to look like a PSU issue at this point

Oh slot 1. Sorry.

Okay that's should be fine, although you could try reseating it if you like?
Do you happen to have another, suitable PSU to try? Maybe a friend will let you borrow one for testing?

JaceMJ · Jul 3, 2016

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

I'm not sure about the whole target speed but it's probably just a boosting thing, it shouldn't be an issue. Which slot do you have your stick of RAM in? It's starting to look like a PSU issue at this point

Oh slot 1. Sorry.

Okay that's should be fine, although you could try reseating it if you like?
Do you happen to have another, suitable PSU to try? Maybe a friend will let you borrow one for testing?

No I don't unfortunately.

Sergeant_Sneaky · Jul 3, 2016

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

Oh slot 1. Sorry.

Okay that's should be fine, although you could try reseating it if you like?
Do you happen to have another, suitable PSU to try? Maybe a friend will let you borrow one for testing?

No I don't unfortunately.

That's unfortunate, it's probably the most likely thing at the moment, it would be helpful if we could test it. Maybe you have an old, lower power GPU laying around?

JaceMJ · Jul 4, 2016

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

Okay that's should be fine, although you could try reseating it if you like?
Do you happen to have another, suitable PSU to try? Maybe a friend will let you borrow one for testing?

No I don't unfortunately.

That's unfortunate, it's probably the most likely thing at the moment, it would be helpful if we could test it. Maybe you have an old, lower power GPU laying around?

It literally just restarted right when I opened Far Cry 3 while going through the startup sponsors. There's no way it's overloading my PSU. It has so be something else.

JaceMJ · Jul 4, 2016

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

No I don't unfortunately.

That's unfortunate, it's probably the most likely thing at the moment, it would be helpful if we could test it. Maybe you have an old, lower power GPU laying around?

Games I can play are CSGO, LoL, Fallout New Vegas, and Batman Arkham Asylum (restarted my PC once but was fine after that). Games I can't play that I COULD play for hours before on this PC are Borderlands 2 (restarted once on the main menu but was fine after that), Fallout 4 which I can't play at all, Far Cry 3 which I can't play at all, Skyrim which I played for hours no problems until I ran into a dragon and now it restarts every time he shoots frost breath at me, and Guild Wars 2 which I could play for hours but with a ton of random restarts. Could a bad PSU really make it so my PC just restarts on random games just from being on the main menu?

Sergeant_Sneaky · Jul 4, 2016

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

Games I can play are CSGO, LoL, Fallout New Vegas, and Batman Arkham Asylum (restarted my PC once but was fine after that). Games I can't play that I COULD play for hours before on this PC are Borderlands 2 (restarted once on the main menu but was fine after that), Fallout 4 which I can't play at all, Far Cry 3 which I can't play at all, Skyrim which I played for hours no problems until I ran into a dragon and now it restarts every time he shoots frost breath at me, and Guild Wars 2 which I could play for hours but with a ton of random restarts. Could a bad PSU really make it so my PC just restarts on random games just from being on the main menu?

It's very possible yes, it depends on a few things:

The load on the CPU at the time
The load on the GPU at the time
Both of the above combined
The temperature of the PSU (Probably)

Some games will only put a significant load on the GPU for example, whereas some may put a significant load on both. Main menus can often produce ridiculous amounts of fps, causing a load to be put on the GPU. One thing you could try is limiting your FPS to 60 with rivatuner and see if it still reboots on the menu. At this point though, I'd definitely be suspecting the PSU, especially as it is a low quality unit.

JaceMJ · Jul 4, 2016

Sergeant_Sneaky :

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

Games I can play are CSGO, LoL, Fallout New Vegas, and Batman Arkham Asylum (restarted my PC once but was fine after that). Games I can't play that I COULD play for hours before on this PC are Borderlands 2 (restarted once on the main menu but was fine after that), Fallout 4 which I can't play at all, Far Cry 3 which I can't play at all, Skyrim which I played for hours no problems until I ran into a dragon and now it restarts every time he shoots frost breath at me, and Guild Wars 2 which I could play for hours but with a ton of random restarts. Could a bad PSU really make it so my PC just restarts on random games just from being on the main menu?

It's very possible yes, it depends on a few things:

The load on the CPU at the time
The load on the GPU at the time
Both of the above combined
The temperature of the PSU (Probably)

Some games will only put a significant load on the GPU for example, whereas some may put a significant load on both. Main menus can often produce ridiculous amounts of fps, causing a load to be put on the GPU. One thing you could try is limiting your FPS to 60 with rivatuner and see if it still reboots on the menu. At this point though, I'd definitely be suspecting the PSU, especially as it is a low quality unit.

Hmm yea I've already tried setting it to 60. While playing Batman Arhham City a few minutes ago I noticed the first cutscene was very choppy even though I was running at 60 FPS. It restarted before I could actually see if my game was choppy too but that was kind of weird. Don't know if it's relevant to my PSU dying or something like that.

Sergeant_Sneaky · Jul 4, 2016

I'm not sure how much power your system is pulling from the wall under load but I know that AMD CPU's are power hogs so you'd be pulling more than me and I have a 600w model of the same PSU. The CX series are kind of known for having issues, although I have been lucky.

JaceMJ · Jul 4, 2016

Sergeant_Sneaky :

Oh are they power hogs? I honestly didn't even put CPU power into consideration. And yea I read a lot that CX series were pretty bad but I also saw somewhere that 500W should be fine for a single GPU build. Newegg recommends a 707W PSU for my build so. I guess I'll probably have to just get a new PSU and see if that's the problem.

Sergeant_Sneaky · Jul 4, 2016

JaceMJ :

They are fairly high on power use, especially compared to intel CPU's at the moment. A decent quality 550w PSU should be enough for your system, I'd personally go for a 600w though. Do you have a specific new PSU in mind? Even if it doesn't fix the problem, your parts will be safer with a better quality PSU at least, but I believe the PSU is the issue.

JaceMJ · Jul 4, 2016

Sergeant_Sneaky :

I actually bought a 750W on sale for $70 last week but canceled it because I was being stupid and told myself there's no way it could be the PSU. I bought a new headset instead so I guess I'll have to send that back and wait for the PSU to come. Just a long frustrating process. Funny thing is I was actually planning on getting a ADM Radeon 390 instead but decided I could just buy the 970 with uses less power and just keep my 500W. Guess that backfired anyway.

Sergeant_Sneaky · Jul 4, 2016

JaceMJ :

Sergeant_Sneaky :

I actually bought a 750W on sale for $70 last week but canceled it because I was being stupid and told myself there's no way it could be the PSU. I bought a new headset instead so I guess I'll have to send that back and wait for the PSU to come. Just a long frustrating process. Funny thing is I was actually planning on getting a ADM Radeon 390 instead but decided I could just buy the 970 with uses less power and just keep my 500W. Guess that backfired anyway.

That sucks, which make and model was the PSU you were going to recieve? Just to make sure it's a good quality one.

PC randomly restarting while gaming

Commendable

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Commendable

Admirable

Commendable

Admirable

Commendable

Admirable

Commendable

Admirable

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