Computer Crash When GPU Under Load

[blighterboy]

My PC reboots when the graphics card has been under heavy load for a few minutes. For example, playing BF3 at 1920x1200, or running EVGA's "OC Scanner" Stress Test tool. It's fine under "normal" Windows use.

GPU: nVidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti (EVGA factory overclocked model)
PSU: Akasa AK-P050FG8 500W

My PSU is rated at 500W, which is the minimum recommended by nVidia for a 560 Ti.

This reboot problem also happened with my old GeForce GTX 8800 GTS when it was going at full blast. Eventually the card died and I guess these reboots may have damaged it.

I've just replaced my motherboard, CPU and RAM, so they can't be the problem.

I have one of those home electricity power reading monitors. When running the EVGA GPU stress test and with all other electrical devices in the house off (including my monitor), it's only going up to 350W!

So my questions are:
1) How likely is it that these reboots are caused by my PSU?
2) What other possible causes are there that I can rule out? Could there be a fault with the power supply in my home? If so, how would I test this? Or could it be the 4-way power extension cable I'm using?
3) What wattage PSU do I really need if 500W is not sufficient? Which models are recommended?

CPU: Core i5 2500
RAM: 2 x 4GB Corsair 1333Mhz
Disks: 2 x 250GB SATA HDD and 1 x Corsair 60GB SDD
No DVD drive, No floppy drive, only 3 USB devices connected.
No PCI cards

 

[blighterboy]

I've kept an eye on the Voltage during the GPU stress test. It goes from 12.073V (minimal load) to 12.024V (heavy load), which seems fine.

I've also checked temperatures for CPU, system and GPU. They're all fine. The GPU gets to about 75C under heavy load.

 

[d1rtyju1c3]

Get MSI Afterburner and set up the fan control to ramp up the fans. The max you should get in BF3 is around 60-65c. I run 2 in sli and they only go to about 65 max.

What are the CPU temps?

 

[blighterboy]

Thanks for the advice, I used Afterburner to ramp up the fans. The GPU now doesn't go above 60C, but I'm still getting crashes. CPU temp was about 40-45 at last crash.

I've also underclocked the card back to stock speeds (it's a factory overclocked model), still getting crashes.

EVGA says I need 30A on the 12V rail. My PSU specs show it can handle 35A. I'm thinking this is just a little too close for comfort. But I don't want to buy an expensive PSU replacement unless I'm sure that's the problem...

 

[d1rtyju1c3]

Have you tested the ram yet? Is the CPU and memory Overclocked?

 

[jsc]

An inadequate power supply could cause your reset/reboot symptoms.

What brand is your PSU? Good ones will produce their rated power. Cheap ones frequently do not.

 

[amuffin]

An inadequate power supply could cause your reset/reboot symptoms.

What brand is your PSU? Good ones will produce their rated power. Cheap ones frequently do not.

Its in his 1st post!

 

[smokincola]

Too me this just screams out not enough power. I had a similar problem waaaaaaaay back in the mists of time with a Radeon 9500 cept it was that when I plugged something into my USB2.0 add on card the power drain would cause the Radeon to go into VPU recover.

As for a good power supply......Tom's to the rescue

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/power-supply-psu-review,review-32270.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-oem-manufacturer,2913.html

 

[blighterboy]

Thanks guys. After hours of research, I've ordered this new 550W PSU : CORSAIR TX550M ENTHUSIAST SERIES. Seems to have lots of good reviews and the price is OK.

The Corsair PSU Configurator says I only really need a 450W PSU, so with a 550W I should definitely be OK.

I'll post back here to confirm if it fixes the problem.

 

[blighterboy]

BTW, nothing is overclocked. And I've run the Windows memory test.

 

[blighterboy]

New power supply (CORSAIR TX550M) arrived today. It's survived a 30 minute GPU stress test (EVGA OC Scanner), so I'd say (tentatively) that the problem's fixed and that the old PSU was definitely the problem.

A week ago I thought that all I needed to worry about was making sure my PSU said 500W on it. Now I realise there's a whole lot more to consider, especially making sure you buy a good brand of PSU and check the max output of the +12V rail.

 

[d1rtyju1c3]

Good to hear you got the problem fixed.