Computer Shuts Down When Playing Games

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Takaron

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Jan 23, 2015
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Hello Everyone,
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I've been having this issue ever since I bought my PC two years ago where it will randomly shut down as if someone has pulled the plug while playing games.
Some games seem exempt from this issue such as counter strike and skyrim where this issue has never happened, however games that have been released recently such as GTA 5 and Player Unknown's Battlegrounds, the PC shuts down frequently.
The timing of the shut down is completely random, for example I have been playing Battlegrounds for a week without experiencing a shut down, but yesterday it shut down twice and has shut down once this morning.

My PC specs are:
Cpu = i7-4790K
Coller = Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
Mobo = Asus Maximus VII Hero
RAM = Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB
GPU = MSI GTX 970
PSU = XFX 650W 80+ Bronze
HHD & SSD = 1GB of SSD / 3TB of HHD
Case = NZXT Phantom with 1 front supply fan and 2 back extract fans

Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks in advance
 
Solution
LucoTF
Yeah go for it with the bios update

Its got to be something to do with the motherboard. Its either shorting or spiking or something that's triggering a safety shut off. Thing is, if it was anti surge you would usually get a message on reboot informing you that anti surge protection had been triggered. And you checked all the cables, the only other thing would be the motherboard grounding but you would have to remove the whole thing to check the standoffs, not a quick job at all and no guarantee that its actually the problem.

Next steps would be to start messing around in bios, disable c6 / c7 to start with, theres more to try after that.
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Takaron

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Thought I would get a head start and test CPU temperatures:
Been using Prime95 to stress test and CPUID to monitor the temperatures, my idle temp was at 37 degrees and the results from the test were as following;
Stage 1 of stress test: 77 degrees
Stage 2 of stress test: 99 degrees
stage 3 of stress test: 78 degrees
Stage 4 of stress test: 83 degrees
The test ran for 12 minutes, the stages was where it seemed to ramp up and down the load, so each stage seemed to last for 4 minutes.
 
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Takaron

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I haven't overclocked the CPU,
I do have multiple monitors but would a GPU stress test be more productive as the shut down in the games can happen at any time or not even at all some days.

 
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Takaron

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Just finished a GPU stress test, used the software 'GPUTEST_GUI' with CPUID monitoring temperatures:
GPU temperature at 100% load was at 67 degrees, CPU moved to around 55 degrees during the test. Test was running for around 5 minutes of which the temperature didn't vary at all, very steady at 67.
 
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Takaron

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Just tested the GPU, posted the results in a separate post. Thanks for suggesting the RAM software, I'll give it a try now
 
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LucoTF

LucoTF

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My instinct is that this isnt temperature related, your setup sounds fine and your xfx psu should be providing stable power to your components.

This is going to sound dumb, but double check that all of your cables are snug

Try also setting your power plan to high performance.

Unfortunately given how intermittent your problem is, you could fix it but it would be weeks before you knew for sure that you had...
 
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Takaron

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Thanks for your help, I don't think it's temperature related either.
I have removed all components and done a deep clean on all parts recently and the problem still occurs, so I'm confident its not a cable issue or anything to do with dust, thermal paste .etc

How do I set my power plan to high performance?
Solved the MemTest issue if you read the earlier post, about to begin the process

 
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Vic 40

Vic 40

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Can you test with another psu? Maybe from a friend or ... Yes XFX pro psu's are decent but even those can be faulty.When looking at what issue you have does the psu come to mind first.

Something you can try is disable Asus Anti Surge in the bios for testing purposes,maybe this is responsible for what happens,maybe it senses a too low voltage at some point,but the psu should have it's own protections for that.
Even when this is the case is either a new psu the solution or keep on disabling the Anti surge which may not be wise.
 
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Takaron

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Just ran a memtest for 2 passes and no errors were found, RAM appears to be completely fine.

Does anyone know that is reading of a way to test if my motherboard is faulty? AO displays on it at all times suggesting it's working fine but maybe it fails to process something and turns off instant?
This could be all rubbish talk as I'm not clued up, which do tell me if it is
 
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Takaron

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I didn't mention in the original post but I have had this problem over two PSU's. I had a Corsair CX 600 before hand and due to this shutting down issue, I replaced it with the XFX and the problem still occurs. I will try this anti surge you suggest now as I do have a game where the PC will shut off every time (Mad Max) to test it, but if this is the case do you suggest buying a more powerful PSU's over turning off anti surge?

 
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Takaron

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Very true, I'll run the test anyway to see if it is a PSU fault and cover everything. Is there ways to check the motherboard?

 
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Takaron

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Just played Mad Max and the computer shut off after 2 minutes of playing, temperatures of the CPU was at 55 degrees and the GPU was at 66 degrees. The shut down happens with other games randomly (COuld be 30 mins of playing or after 3 hours) but is there a way to investigate why the Mad Max game has this shut down issue occur instantly? Could narrow down what part is faulty in my system
 
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Takaron

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I am on the latest driver, but how do you update the bios?
I'll give it a go on lower settings, i'll post what i find after playing for 30 mins to an hour if i get that far

That would be really useful if you see if you get the same issue, thanks for that! It's not actually a game I want to play but it's the only game beside gta 5 where the problem happens immediately instead of randomly like battlegrounds (play two rounds then it will switch off when I'm in the final two players)

 
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LucoTF

LucoTF

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For bios, download CPU-Z and run it, click mainboard and tell us your BIOS version

For the Maximus Vii hero the latest bios is 3201: https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_HERO/HelpDesk_Download/

Gonna be approx 2 hours before MM is playable, even on my 30mb connection
 
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Takaron

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Sorry, will be away for a while after this but thank you for all your help today, will carry on tomorrow cracking this!

Will download CPU-z now, and check my bios version and update if needs be.
Gta 5 i haven't got downloaded atm, formatted all my storage to make sure it wasn't that, takes about 60 hours even on fibre to download. Last time it crashed within 30 minutes though.

Also, turned mad max settings from very high to normal, it lasted 10 minutes then shut off again, temperatures all looked fine as well.

**EDIT**
Just checked my BIOS... its at 1104 version, you think this will be the root of my problem? will update now

 
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LucoTF

LucoTF

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Yeah go for it with the bios update

Its got to be something to do with the motherboard. Its either shorting or spiking or something that's triggering a safety shut off. Thing is, if it was anti surge you would usually get a message on reboot informing you that anti surge protection had been triggered. And you checked all the cables, the only other thing would be the motherboard grounding but you would have to remove the whole thing to check the standoffs, not a quick job at all and no guarantee that its actually the problem.

Next steps would be to start messing around in bios, disable c6 / c7 to start with, theres more to try after that.
 
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Solution
LucoTF

LucoTF

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One more thing - go to nvidia control panel > manage 3d settings > global settings > power management mode, and change to 'prefer maximum performance'

Then select the program settings tab and select mad max from the drop down, and change the power management mode to 'prefer maximum performance' as well.
 
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