Please Help! Computer shuts down

[jrhrsr]

Hey everyone. I have a lenovo 3000 k100 57061330. its an intel quad core pc. i have 8gb of pny ram and am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit.

So the computer suddenly turns off while playing games.

It for the most part does not do this with any other programs.

This is a new symptom.

i have a newer (1 yr old) ocz 700W power supply in this system paired with a geforce gtx 260.

I was sure that this was a heat issue so i just purchased a huge noctua cooling system/fan. (NH-D14 to be exact)

I installed this and ran COD MW2. The fame is able to play about 1 minute longer now but still the computer just get KO'd. like a power failure.

Running Riva tuner i turn the fan speed up but that really has no significant result. I dont know what to do now. I really dont want to take this thing into a repair place. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Do note that i have not overclocked anything. this system other than the listed ram, power-supply, video card, and cpu fan is stock.

This is a link to the manufactures support/manual/specs of this specific system.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INPUT IT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!

 

[hpdeskjet]

It sounds like the PSU is failing under load.

 

[treefrog07]

It could be a couple of things. The easiest is to install the latest drivers for your video card. If you already have done that, you should download and boot your system into memtest86+ to check that your RAM is good. ANY errors in memtest86+ mean your RAM is BAD, and should be replaced.

Select either the CD or the USB bootable memtest86+ file about 1/2-way the webpage, and burn it. Then boot to the media at system start.

 

[jrhrsr]

It could be a couple of things. The easiest is to install the latest drivers for your video card. If you already have done that, you should download and boot your system into memtest86+ to check that your RAM is good. ANY errors in memtest86+ mean your RAM is BAD, and should be replaced.

Select either the CD or the USB bootable memtest86+ file about 1/2-way the webpage, and burn it. Then boot to the media at system start.

being that memtest is a 32 bit program i dont think it will work on my 64 bit system will it? I do have the lastest nividia drivers installed. as well as all windows updates.

 

[treefrog07]

being that memtest is a 32 bit program i dont think it will work on my 64 bit system will it? I do have the lastest nividia drivers installed. as well as all windows updates.

You boot to memtest86+ and not to the operating system. memtest86+ will display a DOS-type screen, similar to the screens your see when you your BIOS.

 

[jrhrsr]

You boot to memtest86+ and not to the operating system. memtest86+ will display a DOS-type screen, similar to the screens your see when you your BIOS.

Alright so i tired said process. my computer got to apx 40% with no errors then did its sudden power off thingy. you can see an image of the start of the process via the flilckr link below. So i dont know if it will ever be able to complete the entire test. For the sake of working onward what would i want to do next? Thanks again for your help!

 

[jrhrsr]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42475485@N00/6776406390/

 

[treefrog07]

Now, I would try another power supply, preferably one that is known to work. If you don't have one handy, then get a quality replacement, like Corsair, Power PC and Cooling, or Antec - or any other that you are comfortable with.

I usually recommend testing RAM first because it is very hard to know if it is bad, and memtest86+ is the only trustworthy program I know to test it. Plus, the tests do not require any work or additional expense. But, since your system cannot complete it, run it again with the new power supply.

Power supplies are next because they are also difficult to diagnose, and that usually requires a replacement, which either means 1) having a spare, 2) borrowing one from a friend, or 3) buying a new one, all of which involves a lot of work to install, and spending more money.

Based on what you have said and done so far, if the power supply doesn't fix it, my next suggestion would replacing the motherboard.

 

[jrhrsr]

Best answer selected by jrhrsr.

 

[jrhrsr]

Thanks treefrog, So it ended up being the power supply. I have two computers so i pulled my other PSU out and placed it in the system in question. no problems. well to a point the same issue did not occur anymore.

since my system was able to stay on i played COD longer. Well that exposed an additional problem:
I found my XFX gtx 260 OC was getting way too hot. with riva turner setting my fan at 100% i was able to document my video card getting to temps in excess of 81 degrees c (178 F). However my CPU"s are a nice 40-45 at the same time, so i'm attempting to see if I can attain a RMA for both products this week.

I'm curious as to what temp is tolerable for most video cards? Thanks again.

 

[treefrog07]

You're welcome, I'm glad that fixed the stability. I'm not very familiar with nVidia cards, but according to answers on another forum - it looks like the max is 105C! I try to keep my AMDs under 70C.