Pc shuts down without warning usually while gaming

alex999ar · Jul 2, 2016

As the title suggests my pc restarts at random times. However it isn't like a normal restart, when this happens it is like I had a power cut and the pc instantly reboots. It usually happens while playing games (that it should be able to run easily) and I have noticed that some games cause this to happen more frequently than others. For example hearts of iron 4 causes it to restart almost instantly while europa universalis 4 has only caused this once. In the event logs it shows the critical event: kernel power 41(63) and also i have noticed that always the last event when i start my pc is that dam didn't start (I only mention this because i read that they are somewhat related). I have cleaned the inside of my pc thoroughly and i have made sure that all the cables are well connected. I have formated it and cleaned installed windows 7 and then upgraded to 10 3 times in the last week but the problem persisted (even in the windows 7). I have checked that the graphics card drivers are up to date and I have run memtest but it didnt show any errors. Finally, I have checked that both my ssd and hdd werent the cause by uplugging the one and only using the other.

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

Processor Description: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2100 CPU @ 3.10GHz

Total Memory: 4096MB (DDR3) (2 sticks of 2 gb ram each)

Total Hard Drive: 1.02TB

BIOS Version: ALASKA - 1072009

Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti (recently bought and installed)

Hard Discs: TEAM L3 SSD 120GB, ST31000524AS

Motherboard: Foxconn(manufacturer), H61MXV/H67MXV(product), UL81117188223(serial number)

Power Supply: VS550 (recently bought and installed to cover the increased demand for power caused by the graphics card)

The initial pc was bought 5-6 years ago (prebuild) and the psu and gpu was the only upgade I ever did to it which is also quite recent.

weberdarren97 · Jul 8, 2016

What are your CPU and GPU temps while idle? While gaming?

alex999ar · Jul 9, 2016

weberdarren97 :

When idle:
gpu:36, cpu max 49(core #0) and 47(core#1)

In the main menu of HOI4:
gpu:38, cpu max 58(core #0)and 54(core#1)

Are these high temperatures?

weberdarren97 · Jul 9, 2016

Okay, please download AIDA64 Extreme and drop down the Tools menu across the top, select System Stability Test, select all options except for the disk and start the test. After ten minutes, stop the test and post a screenshot of the Statistics tab (you may have to enlarge the window to fit all of its contents on screen at once).

Please note that you must upload your photo online before you can post it here at Tom's.

Use the IMG tag if the URL points directly to the photo, use the URL tag if the URL points to a page containing the photo.

alex999ar · Jul 9, 2016

weberdarren97 :

weberdarren97 · Jul 9, 2016

Shut this computer off, unplug it and don't use it until you get a new power supply. Continued use of this machine may damage it beyond repair.

I come to this conclusion after seeing that the 12V output on your power supply is not only too high, but unstable as well. The only thing I can recommend you use the machine for is to shop for a new power supply.

Compare my recommended units

alex999ar · Jul 9, 2016

weberdarren97 :

Thank you very much for your time. However, is it possible that I connected a cable in the wrong slot? (I never forced a cable into a slot, I connected them easily) I am asking this because the psu is less than one years old and I want to be sure before I return it. If that is indeed the case could I send you photos of the inside of my pc?

weberdarren97 · Jul 9, 2016

These cables only go in one way, and the connectors are keyed to make sure of this.

Those little slits in the corners of the covers around the pins in the connectors prevent it from going in wrong. They also prevent you from let's say putting a PCIe 8-pin into a 8-pin CPU supplementary connector on the motherboard. You would push the connector through the board before you forced it to fit.

Besides, the problem is not that a 12V is plugged in where there should be a lower voltage... This problem is that the power supply is outputting almost 18V where there should be 12V. Very dangerous for the motherboard, drives, fans and pumps.

turkey3_scratch · Jul 9, 2016

weberdarren97 :

Those are just false readings. His computer would be incapable of running were they true, and he just bought a new PSU. Alex, run Prime95 stress test and see if it shuts down. Also if you have two sticks of RAM, remove one of them, try each one. Then you could move onto some memory tests.

J_E_D_70 · Jul 9, 2016

Thats nuts. Don't think I've ever seen numbers that far out of spec.

turkey3_scratch · Jul 9, 2016

J_E_D_70 :

Software readings are not accurate, they can't be trusted. Please read http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDFAQs&op=FAQ_Question&ndfaq_id=26

If you are not experiencing problems with your computer, it's recommended to not to use software voltage readings as preventative measure as the readings can often cause undue alarm.

Most likely, I think his motherboard is on the way out, but we'll have to do some testing to verify this.

weberdarren97 · Jul 9, 2016

turkey3_scratch :

I've used multimeters on power supplies from computers that were experiencing similar problems, and I've seen as high as 23V on some occasions. The computers would still power up, but they wouldn't run for long before they crashed. On many, the fans were whining and LED strips were burning out.

turkey3_scratch · Jul 9, 2016

Alex, was it shutting down before you got the new PSU? Or did you buy the new GPU and PSU at the same time?

@web: if the voltage was that high OVP would kick in. I'm not buying the silly faulty software readings.

alex999ar · Jul 9, 2016

turkey3_scratch :

I have run memtest (I think last week or 2 weeks before) to see if ram was a problem but it didn't show any errors. I will run Prime95 and I will post the results tomorrow since I am unable to do so right now.

I will add in the description that I have 2 sticks of 2gb ram each (same model) came with the pc which was bought prebuild from the store 5-6 years ago

Edit: I have been running Prime95 for 3 hours and no crashes

alex999ar · Jul 9, 2016

turkey3_scratch :

As a matter of fact I didn't have any problems until June 7 when it started doing these restarts. The issue could have begun a little earlier and I propably didn't notice because it was an exam period and I didn't have time for games. I bought the new GPU and PSU at the same time and no I didn't have any problems before upgrading. However, I also didn't have any problems in the meantime (between upgrading and the problem occuring). At first I thought it was the game but when it happened in games I didn't have an issue before it drove me crazy. I have tried to minimize the propability of software causing this problem by updating all the drivers, making sure I had directx and all the versions of c++ redistutable and searching for malware [I didnt find anything (I use windows defender)] and when all else failed I formated and cleaned all the dust particles.

I dont remember the exact date when I installed the psu and and gpu but I suppose i could probably find the receipt if that would be of any help

weberdarren97 · Jul 9, 2016

About how long between when you installed the new components and when the problem started occurring?

Sepehr_Brk · Jul 9, 2016

Something tells me those numbers aren't right. I've never seen anything like that before and even if that was actually the case, you're PC shouldn't have been working at all by now.

alex999ar · Jul 10, 2016

weberdarren97 :

Found the receipt. I bought both the gpu and the psu in 9/6/2015 and the problems started in 7/6/2016 (Day/Month/Year)

turkey3_scratch · Jul 10, 2016

Well that's been a while - it seemed you were implying they were brand new. Run Prime 95.

alex999ar · Jul 10, 2016

turkey3_scratch :

I have been running Prime 95 6 hours now and it hasn't crashed once. Should I stop the test or let it continue running all night?

turkey3_scratch · Jul 10, 2016

That's fine. Prime95 puts a lot of stress only on the CPU, so therefore the motherboard. This makes me think that your motherboard is actually OK, so my money is also on the PSU.

weberdarren97 · Jul 10, 2016

After all this back and forth, you ended up agreeing with me... That's funny

turkey3_scratch · Jul 10, 2016

weberdarren97 :

Once more information was obtained. However, I did not quickly point a finger at the PSU just because of software voltage readings.

weberdarren97 · Jul 10, 2016

To be fair, software readings not always being valid was new information to me as well.

And man you have an impressive profile.

turkey3_scratch · Jul 10, 2016

weberdarren97 :

That's alright. I have nothing against you nor your methodologies for troubleshooting, everyone has their own ways, mine are not any more right than yours

Pc shuts down without warning usually while gaming

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