PC randomly shuts down only while playing Skyrim

[Immort4lSinS]

Kind of strange! While playing about 5-10 mins of Skyrim, my PC will randomly without warning shut down. I will then press the power button on my case to restart and it will lead me to the Safe Mode options screen. Ive checked all my PC drivers and updated as necessary, set overclock to default in Catalyst, and i've also tried to recreate the shut down while playing other games, such as Dead Space 3 (which is the only other game that I have which is as demanding as Skyrim).... I'm not sure what to do from here.... any help is appreciated, thanks!

Also, please let me know if I can give any more information to help (this is my first forum post)

CPU: I2 duo 6600 @ 2.40 ghz
MB: nvidia nForce 680i sli
GPU: ATi Radeon HD 4850 X2
PSU: 750w Antec Gaming Power
RAM: 4GB PC2 6400 Titanium Edition (2x2GB)
OS: Win7 Ultimate 32bit
CASE: Raidmax super aeolus w/5 fans

 

[simon12]

Thats normally a sign the power supply is not giving enough power but an Antec 750W should easily be enough. Use HWMonitor or similar to check what temps you are getting on CPU and GPUs, if thats OK try running a stress test on both the CPU & GPU, OCCT can do both.

 

[Immort4lSinS]

Thats normally a sign the power supply is not giving enough power but an Antec 750W should easily be enough. Use HWMonitor or similar to check what temps you are getting on CPU and GPUs, if thats OK try running a stress test on both the CPU & GPU, OCCT can do both.

Thank you for the reply. I am running OCCT as we speak.
CPU test states: Over Maximum Value. Value Reached - 89, Max Value - 85
CPU: Linpack: Value Reached - 94, Max Value - 85
Both of the last tests read higher than max value as well...

 

[Immort4lSinS]

As far as the Temp, I ran both GPU temp and GPU-Z and while my computer is idle, or not really running anything but Google Chrome, it sits about 50 Degrees C. While running the temp test in GPU-Z, it reaches about 79 C.

 

[simon12]

Looks like the CPU is overheating then. Cleaning dust out of the fans may fix it otherwise reinstall the cooler with new thermal paste or upgrade it.

 

[Immort4lSinS]

Hey, Thank you for your help! This is my first custom PC build, and when i put the paste on the cpu, then the fan on top of the paste, the fan didn't quite sit on it properly. I ended up getting the prongs to sit tight in the mobo but i had to wiggle it around quite a bit to get it sitting solid. And i probably used too much heat sink.

Just curious though - why would it only happen during Skyrim gameplay??

 

[HEXiT]

go into bios and look under power management setup for HPET/high precision event timer and set it to enabled. it may require you to set it to enabled/64 or enabled 32 depending on the bitrate of your operating system. so 64 for 64 bit.

it may also be called precision events or event timer. but hpet is most common.

 

[HEXiT]

as for the paste. you only need as much as a flattened garden pea. or about 5 grains of rice. no need to spread it.
just clean off the old. aply the new and put the heatsync on the cpu. rotate it slightly left to right to get the paste to spread out and then lock it down.
this way you wont use to much.

if you put the paste on and use a credit card or spatula to spread out the paste. more often than not you will use to much.

always apply the paste when the cpu is mounted in the cpu socket. by lying the case so the motherboard is flat. doing it this way will stop you getting paste into the socket itself if you use to much...

 

[Immort4lSinS]

ok great thank you for the reply HEXiT. I will give all that a-go right now. While putting the PC together, I actually installed the heatsink while the mobo was out of the case. i found it rather difficult to firmly secure the heatsink this way... and to get the four prongs to sit evenly in the mobo. im going to redo the thermal paste right now. then get into bios to change the setting.
I'll be back in just a few to let you know how it goes.

 

[Immort4lSinS]

Wow that was a mission! lol. I couldn't for the life of me properly seat the CPU heatsink/fan. It felt like i was going to break my mobo in half... but, i got it.

I booted into BIOS and found that the HPET was already enabled.

When i pulled the heatsink from the CPU to clean it, there was about a 1/4 of the space untouched by the thermal paste! So this time I made sure I placed it on even and took it off to make sure it spread over the entire area.

Thank you guys for the help... way better than taking it in, free help is always appreciated! i'll be back after I play some Skyrim to test it out and let you know.

EDIT:

I just ran OCCT again and tested the CPU for about 5 mins. temp fluctuated evenly between 64-67 C. MHz was steady at 2400. Voltage was stable as well. And when running the CPU:Linpack test, temps were maxed at 71 C.
Are these numbers ok?

 

[simon12]

Low 70s at full load is fine for your CPU. Glad you sorted it good luck & let us know if you still run into any issues (unlikely I hope).

 

[Immort4lSinS]

Thanks again, i've been playing Skyrim since my last post and it didn't shut down even once. graphics look great, and also the mods im using are a lot more stable!
You guys are awesome