750w power supply overloading circuit? {shutting down computer]

[Mjw3786]

Hello,

We are about ready to rip some hair out trying to solve this, so I hope someone can help.

The machine is about 18 months old. It is a refurb'd Gateway LX series with some upgrades.

Core 2 Quad @ 2.34 GHz
8GB DDR2
640GB HD
*PNY GeForce GTX250 1GB DDR3
*Ultra LSX 750W Power supply
*120mm case fan
[* means upgrades we added]
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

When playing some games at medium-high settings, the machine shuts down as if the power was cut to it, so I assume the PS is faulting, perhaps due to load?

I am not too good with electrical stuff, but I had the PS tested by a local shop and it was fine. The machine works OK for normal stuff, and I was even able to run FurMark without causing the machine to shut off.

Is it possible that the circuit the computer is on is somehow overloaded?

Any help you can offer is much appreciated.

 

[hunter315]

Unless you have to go down and flip the breaker in the main box then its not over loading the circuit.

Check your temps while running prime95 and furmark, im betting on overheating since a 400W unit could run your system without a problem, it might be that the system is over heating the PSU and shutting it down that way.

 

[Mjw3786]

Furmark gets in to the 70's after 60 seconds. Should I run it a few times or until it cuts off? I don't want to damage anything, but I have not been able to force it to shut off like it does in mid game yet.

If it is overheating, what are my options, add fans?

Thanks for the reply!

 

[hunter315]

The GPU isnt my primary concern. Use HW Monitor so you can watch the temps of your whole system, then run Prime 95 and Furmark at the same time to load up the GPU and the CPU to maximize heat output, if the temp in your case starts getting to 40C or more then the over temp protection in the PSU may kick in, or your CPU may be overheating and causing the sudden shut down, GPU over heats dont usually result in power cuts, they dont have that level of system authority.

 

[Mjw3786]

I'm using PC Wizard to monitor the temps. Right now CPU [all 4 cores] spiked at 100% thanks to Prime95 and when running Furmark it does get in to the high 70's but I can't force it to shut off.

Keep running Furmark over and over until it shuts off? The CPU temp doesn't exceed 55C while running the tests so far.

 

[Mjw3786]

Taxed the system for almost an hour, no crashes. Fired up Dragon Age 2, crash in < 5 minutes. So frustrating.

 

[Mjw3786]

Best answer selected by Mjw3786.