PC restarting when trying to play games?

Tomtom87483 · Nov 8, 2017

Hi, recently my PC has started restarting itself (cut to black, then windows boots again fans have stayed on, lights have stayed on etc.) whenever I go to play a game
I have tested it on both Warframe and Overwatch, the game will begin loading and then the PC restarts as soon as the game finishes loading
I ran a stress test on Prime95 to see if it would restart then and it didn't so I don't think it's related to cooling issues, I tested it for about 10 minutes which is longer than I have been in any game before the PC will restart (Core temp about 20C idle 40C under load GPU about 30 idle and 50 under load)
I also reinstalled all of my graphics drivers as I thought that may of been the cause but it is still happening
Specs:
AMD FX6300
ASUS Strix GTX 960
ASUS M5a97 EVO R2.0
Corsair CX500 PSU
Corsair Vengeance 8gb (2x4gb)
Windows 10
WD Black 1TB
Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
Corsair Spec-03 case (one fan at front and one at back)
My PC is about 2 years old now and I use it about 4-8 hours a day on most days.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Barty1884 · Nov 8, 2017

What's the ambient temp in the room this system is located in? Your CPU idle temps should be a decent margin higher than ambient so, unless you're in a room that's <10'C, 20'C at idle strikes me as low - especially with a 212Evo.

If you were just blackscreening & returning to the desktop, drivers would be a likely culprit, but you're getting hard reboots.
That would indicate a hardware fault. While there are almost an infinite number of potential causes...... at a glance, the one 'weaker' component does stand out; the CX500.

I'd definitely confirm the temperature issues first & foremost.

Beyond that, I'd reinstall drivers again - making sure you fully remove any prior display drivers, using something like DDU in safemode:
http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

Running MemTest will detect any errors in your memory:
https://www.memtest86.com/

And you could run health checks on your SSD and HDD just to be sure.

If nothing is detected as a concern, and the problem persists; chances are pretty good you're looking at the PSU.

The CX500 isn't an overly stable PSU to begin with and, while marketted as a "budget" offering - really shouldn't be paired with anything too demanding.
2 years of use x4-8 hours per day, that's ~4500 hours of use...... at near 75% usage. It may just be time to replace it.
Your system is (roughly) a 300W max draw. The CX500 is a 34A 12V PSU (408W).

Unfortunately, the CX500 only has a 3 year warranty (vs 5 or 7+ from Corsairs "good quality" units), which is an indication of their belief in the product.

To troubleshoot, I'd look to lessen the load somewhat - in a perfect world, removing the GPU would do it - but with no onboard GPU on the 6300, that's not really an option. Do you have a lower powered, old GPU laying around, by chance?

If not, downclocking/undervolting both the CPU and GPU would be an option, just to lessen the load..... but not a perfect solution either.

Luckily, quality PSUs don't have to break the bank.... with the SeaSonic S12G 550W and Rosewill Capstone G550 both coming in <$60.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/gYMFf7/seasonic-power-supply-s12g550
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/CdLypg/rosewill-power-supply-capstone550m

Zerk2012 · Nov 8, 2017

Run Furmark and OCCT at the same time, when it crashes borrow a friends PSU to make sure then buy a good quality power supply.

Tomtom87483 · Nov 8, 2017

Ok I ran Furmark and Prime 95 at the same time, highest my GPU went too was 66C and highest my core went to was 56C, I don't have a thermometer on hand to check my room temperature but it's about 4C outside and I had the window open with no heating on if that is of any help (so likely not higher than 10C room temperature), I also did not experience a restart during the test.
However something I think might of been worthy of note is that whenever the restart occured my keyboard did not have power when the PC came back on, I have changed USB ports for my keyboard and will post further results as I test some more.

Tomtom87483 · Nov 8, 2017

I used the DDU to reinstall my drivers this time and had the same result, I also ran memtest86 and found no errors, so by process of elimination PSU is all I've got left I will try getting another PSU and post if there is any change.

Tomtom87483 · Nov 8, 2017

Barty1884 :

What's the ambient temp in the room this system is located in? Your CPU idle temps should be a decent margin higher than ambient so, unless you're in a room that's <10'C, 20'C at idle strikes me as low - especially with a 212Evo.

If you were just blackscreening & returning to the desktop, drivers would be a likely culprit, but you're getting hard reboots.
That would indicate a hardware fault. While there are almost an infinite number of potential causes...... at a glance, the one 'weaker' component does stand out; the CX500.

I'd definitely confirm the temperature issues first & foremost.

Beyond that, I'd reinstall drivers again - making sure you fully remove any prior display drivers, using something like DDU in safemode:
http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

Running MemTest will detect any errors in your memory:
https://www.memtest86.com/

And you could run health checks on your SSD and HDD just to be sure.

If nothing is detected as a concern, and the problem persists; chances are pretty good you're looking at the PSU.

The CX500 isn't an overly stable PSU to begin with and, while marketted as a "budget" offering - really shouldn't be paired with anything too demanding.
2 years of use x4-8 hours per day, that's ~4500 hours of use...... at near 75% usage. It may just be time to replace it.
Your system is (roughly) a 300W max draw. The CX500 is a 34A 12V PSU (408W).

Unfortunately, the CX500 only has a 3 year warranty (vs 5 or 7+ from Corsairs "good quality" units), which is an indication of their belief in the product.

To troubleshoot, I'd look to lessen the load somewhat - in a perfect world, removing the GPU would do it - but with no onboard GPU on the 6300, that's not really an option. Do you have a lower powered, old GPU laying around, by chance?

If not, downclocking/undervolting both the CPU and GPU would be an option, just to lessen the load..... but not a perfect solution either.

Luckily, quality PSUs don't have to break the bank.... with the SeaSonic S12G 550W and Rosewill Capstone G550 both coming in <$60.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/gYMFf7/seasonic-power-supply-s12g550
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/CdLypg/rosewill-power-supply-capstone550m

Thanks for taking the time to write such a good response, but the two power supplies you listed are pretty expensive over here in the UK and I was just wondering if you think this one would work fine?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/EVGA-BRONZE-Warranty-Tester-100-B1-0600-K3/dp/B01GJD45YS/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1510183513&sr=1-2&keywords=600w+psu+silver

Barty1884 · Nov 8, 2017

It's not great.

For the money, I'd look to this:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£62.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £62.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-08 23:45 GMT+0000

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PC restarting when trying to play games?

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