Undead Computer

[jec_aurhyn]

Hello,

I am experiencing a strange problem and was wondering if anyone has any insight into what may be causing it.

The problem is that while in windows the screen will inexplicably go black, but wont actually turn off (the power light remains on). The PSU will continue running, but in all other respects it is as though the computer were off. If I am playing music when this happens the sound will skip very fast.

This only happens when I run 3 instances of a certain game (Eve online), but not always. If I keep one instance minimized it doesn't happen. Also, it is a lot more likely to happen when there is a lot going on, which is pretty much exactly when I'm need this not to happen. :\

This is a new system that I built myself. My previous system was old and terrible, but never had this problem running 3 instances of the game. My current system does much better overall running 3 instances, but the whole computer-abandoning-me-thing is not a cool new feature I am enjoying much.

I'm suspicious of my PSU. It is obviously not coping well in its new home (moved it in from my prior system). It is extremely loud, always. The fan controller doesn't seem to work/make any difference.

I'm not very tech savvy, but I did build this system. Here are the specs I recall:
PSU - Antec TruePower 500something
CPU - Athlon II (AM 3)
Motherboard - new, but cheap, Gigabyte board.
GPU - GeForce 9500
OS - Windows 7

So those are the suspects. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Jesse

 

[Guest]

My first thoughts were that the PSU either wasn't or can't do it's job. It sounds like when a laptop loses power and the screen goes black but appears to be still functioning.

Other than that, we'll see what others have to say.

 

[jec_aurhyn]

Thanks. I hope it is the PSU as everything else is new.

 

[mfb236]

I was having the same issue with my rig (only when I played WoW) and I thought at first it was the video card overheating, but after monitoring temps, it wasn't the GPU. It ended up being the PSU when the GPU drew too much power, the monitor would go off like it was sleeping but the fans remained running and the computer was still on until a hard reset. Hope this helps.

 

[kroeters]

Sounds like the PSU but you could also try just taking the ram out and putting it back in. Strange I know but it fixes weird things. Also, what is your ram?

 

[jec_aurhyn]

mfb, sounds like the same problem. thanks!

kroeters, i will try the ram thing first. I am using 4 gigs of generic DDR3. The computer sees the ram.

 

[jec_aurhyn]

Best answer selected by jec_aurhyn.