Shutdown while gaming under win7

[Nervox]

I have had random computer shutdowns while playing games since I installed windows 7.

Any games remotely needing graphical work will shutdown my computer.

Let me stress this did not happen ever while I had windows vista.
I understand from reading into my problem I am far from the only one with this issue. Someone else seems to hint that this has to do with directx 10-11 and directx 10 video-cards and was wondering if a fix had been issued yet.

I have the latest drivers and the latest version of directx.

I will say this is not a overheating issue nor a power supply problem nor a short circuit, this is not a windows installation error , nor a virus.

Specs:

saphirre Radeon HD 4890
Asus P5n32E SLI plus
Intel Core2 quad cpu 2.66ghz
Antec 650w
8g ram

 

[Onus]

The PC shuts down? As in powers off? Or does it lock the OS forcing a hard reset?

 

[Nervox]

full shutdown, no hard reset required.

 

[Onus]

That you've installed Windows 7 could be entirely coincidental. Reseat everything, especially the mobo power connector.
Go into Windows' Power Management settings and make sure there are NO conditions under which your machine will shut down or hibernate. If you have a UPS, disable its monitoring software for your tests; update it to a Windows 7 version if necessary.

 

[tdool]

Its not a coincidence at all. I use to own a Lan Gaming center and I have three highend computers here at home left over from it. they are running Asus MB, Q6600 Cpus, 9800 Nvidia Videoacard ect.. They all have been running XP Pro with never a hickup. Until my daugther overloaded hers with viruses. So I decided to reinstall it with Win7 64 Ultimate. Did it and I liked how fast it went and run, so I just did the other two this weekend as well. Got them all runing, updated them, went to nvidia and downloaded the new video and MB drivers and all that usual stuff for a new install.

I finally started to lad the games on the three computers and everyone have this shutdown issue after a few minutes. You play a game and then, BAM!! no power. All three can not be a coincidence. My son has problems with his two games (Wall-e and DOWII), I have problems with the only game I have installed (Saboteur) and my daughter has it with Crysis Wars.

How can all three computers have the same issue with win7 64 when we had no problems before with XP Pro 32bit.

I have searched everywhere online and I see alot of people with this problem, but everyone alway jumps to the conclusion it is over heating or a bad PS. I think it is more then that and is related to WIN7. I think I will reinstall one with XP again and test it, if it works fine then it is win7 64bit doing it.

 

[Onus]

Ah, it's on three machines. You had not mentioned that. Interesting. Did you check those power settings in Win7?
Are they all legitimate copies? I wonder if one of the games is infected...

 

[welshmousepk]

i'm sorry to interject with a completely unhelpful post but:

you have a daughter that plays crysis wars?!

that is so win.

but to try and add something useful, how much ram are in these systems? it could be that using a 64bit OS is suddenly got you using more ram than before, which if faulty could cause shutdowns. or just being active could add a couple of degrees heat.

its a long shot, but the problem is very strange.

what PSUs do you have? the same could be true here, marginal increase in power draw pushing the system over the edge?

 

[Nervox]

We are two different people having the same problem, on a total of 4 different computers with legitimate copies of win7, different hardware, different vid card makers, 650w PSU (for me anyway) different copies of games.

Both of us were running our games and machines spotless before we moved to win7 and now we are having full power shutdowns 5 min in any game we play. Actually that isnt totally true, I dont have that problem with Divinity II weirdly, but civ4, CODMW 1-2, saboteur, EVE, Hearts of Iron 3, Total war Empire, etc. are all having that issue.

I had changed my power settings to make sure that wasnt the issue.

I really think this has to do with Direct X 10 and directx 10 cards under win7 but I cant prove it because I dont have another vid card to switch it with and i cant downgrade to directx9. (unless theres a way to do it that I dont know about short of playing in the registry files).

If anyone has heard of a win update or a workaround even if it is temporary until microsoft fixes it or new vidcard drivers come out I would appreciate it. I would prefer not take my pc apart to see if "maybe there was a bad connection". I already have an easy fix, downgrade to vista, thats what im trying to avoid.

thank you in advance

 

[TheRoaring]

Interesting to say the least...

How about motherboard/BIOS updates? Have you installed those if any are available? Sorry if I missed that you already did.

EDIT: Sorry I just checked this link below and it doesn't look like there are win7 BIOS updates. The site only goes to vista64(Unless win7 ones are under other).
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?modelname=P5N32-E%20SLI%20Plus&SLanguage=en-us

 

[tdool]

Yes we are differnt people. and all Legit here too.

After the last shut down I looked into the bios right a way and teh temp of teh CPU was 90

Wierd that is only happend after installing win7 on all three machines. I wonder if win7 is using the cpu differnt or is having problems control it. I put in a app that allowed me to run my CPU fan at 100% and it still crashes, but takes waylonger.

All the machines just got the new Nvidia drivers released today and I have just did a Bios flash on mine right now will will need to put the WIn7 Harddrive back in and test it again. I am running a fresh install of XP for now and will install some games to test them under XP and see if the problem is there too now. But as I said earlier ALL teh machines were running fine until I install win7 64 on all of them, now all have the same issues.

The specs are:
Q6600
Asus P5N-E SLI
Asus 9800 GT 512
Mine has 4x OCZ 1GB PC2 6400
Kids have 2x OCZ 1GB PC2 6400
Seagate 512GB Barricuta
OCZ 600sxs powersupply

 

[pat mcgroin]

I havent seen anyone (except Tdtool) mention if they had installed the system drivers from the manufacturers web site.
The drivers that come with windows are fairly generic and should be replaced with
the ones from the system maker.

W7 still neds to have the DX9c runtime components installed in order to have some games run correctly.

 

[Scotteq]

What version of Windows 7? And where did you get it?

If you are using a Beta or Release Candidate from the web, they are programmed to automatically shut down periodically. The solution is simple: Buy a licenced OS. If you have the RTM, it will begin shutting down in March.

 

[Nervox]

All my drivers are from manufacturers website the ones that maters anyway: mobo + vidcard and soundcard.

I have a win 7 home premium 32bit version paid for (which is why its so frustrating, 200$ out the window: im not rich enough to downgrade back to vista without at least a little fight).

Ill also mention this is the second thread on this issue. With a whole bunch of people having similar problems.

 

[tdool]

Final Update from Tdool:

Ok I got it solved. First I bought the Ultimate from Walmart, in a box so its not a Beta.

I took off my CPU Fans on all three computers and the Grills were plugged with dust. really bad. I cleaned it and used Artic Silver and everything runs great.

Windows 7 does run hotter, a lot hotter then XP and that is why I never noticed any issues with the XP installs. After cleaning and usung Artic Silver everything is great. the Cores are at 23-30 each (use to be 60 to 90 running games) system runs from 40-64 total heat. If I use a fan progam to set them at %100 all teh time the system runs lower then that.

So basically if you are upgrading to win7 make sure to get a system cleaning, replace your heatsink grease, unclog all grills on the heat sinks and grease your fans. Win7 uses you system to its fullest in return creates more heat. This is why all those laptop people are having issues too. SO now All three Gaming machines are running great and never crash anymore

 

[ZERAVLA]

I love all these techkie wannabes with their lame ass suggestions that are all wrong. The issue isnt drivers or any of the other BS excuses you all have offered. The bottom line is that Windows 7 is bugged and only the ediots at Microsoft can fix it. I just bought 3 new computers, a Gateweay, a Dell, and an HP. All top of the line desktoops with 4 to 8 gb of ram each and all of them with facotry installed windows-7. I tried to run wow on all three 64 bit computers and it wont run on any of them; it keeps shutting down the computer after just a few minutes just as it did on my two older computers. I then did all the windows and drivers updates as well as making sure wow was updated and it still shuts down just as fast as before. I even bought 5 different video cards from different manufacturers and it still doesnt work. The issue is with windows 7. The only way I was able to fix the problem was to buy three copies of windows vista 64 and trash win 7 from all three of my computers. Now wow works fine. I hate windows 7 and will never ever reinstall it on another computer. Screw Microsoft and there peice of crap OS! By the way it is also shutting down on other games as well including the new Star Trek Online

 

[welshmousepk]

I love all these techkie wannabes with their lame ass suggestions that are all wrong. The issue isnt drivers or any of the other BS excuses you all have offered. The bottom line is that Windows 7 is bugged and only the ediots at Microsoft can fix it. I just bought 3 new computers, a Gateweay, a Dell, and an HP. All top of the line desktoops with 4 to 8 gb of ram each and all of them with facotry installed windows-7. I tried to run wow on all three 64 bit computers and it wont run on any of them; it keeps shutting down the computer after just a few minutes just as it did on my two older computers. I then did all the windows and drivers updates as well as making sure wow was updated and it still shuts down just as fast as before. I even bought 5 different video cards from different manufacturers and it still doesnt work. The issue is with windows 7. The only way I was able to fix the problem was to buy three copies of windows vista 64 and trash win 7 from all three of my computers. Now wow works fine. I hate windows 7 and will never ever reinstall it on another computer. Screw Microsoft and there peice of crap OS! By the way it is also shutting down on other games as well including the new Star Trek Online

congratulations on being totally unhelpful, and simultaneously a complete ass.

not only did you resurrect an old thread, but you insulted people who tried to help. citing them as wrong, without actually offering a remotely helpful counter argument.

if you want to whine about windows, don't hijack someones thread to do so.

 

[jammypox]

I've been having "shutdown" issues with Windows 7 also, initially in Empire:Total War (on Steam) then subsequent random shutdowns out of game and in - sometimes with immediate reboot, other times persistent graphic card fan maxed out and nothing on screen . . . Drivers up to date, Prime95 6 hours-ok, latest BIOS/chipset update, CCC 10.2,

Is there a compatibility issue with Windows 7 64-bit, and Steam/Empire:Total War/Microsoft .NET 1 ?

 

[TC COMPUTER-TECH]

Hello Everyone,
TC Computer-Tech here. I just want you all to know, I've had the same issue with Windows 7 but use it on many (about 20) computers for gaming, I've build hand to hand. I've used most every bit of hardware you all speak of.
Now let's get to the point!
How do you repair the issue of random shut downs while gaming? (Sometimes random, sometimes specific games..)
It's more simple than you all know!
I have you a hardware and software fix depending on the issue.
The thing is, all of your problems with each specific computer has it's own issue.
The reason the previous posters three (3) computers he spoke of would randomly shut down with Windows 7, could have been resolved, rather than going back to Vista, or the new Win98-WinXP..
Here's your software fix. UPDATE TO WINDOWS 7 SERVICE PACK 1.
Just like XP or Vista, they all have service packs, you always want the latest one.
Using a cracked version of Win7 can be a problem as well, as the crack may not work the way you want no more with SP1.

Now your hardware fix.
There are numerous issues in this field keep in mind.
Easy enough to single out though, now if you computer ONLY shuts down during a game, then it's either or both the PSU and GPU. Power Supply and/or Graphics Card, doesn't matter what kind. If it was the PSU, it means it's not delivering enough power to your graphics card, may need to upgrade your PSU or simply rethink your hookup to the graphics card if it has a 6-pin and 8-pin or two 6-pin PCI-E connectors. If both branch off of one cord it can lower the full performance to the card of power. Just like an amp, always want more gauge (Thickness of wire), in the case 2 from the PSU, that is if you GPU consists of 2 connectors, if not, don't worry about that. Otherwise your graphics card is burning out *Starting to Fail*, OR.. as discussed before overheating. And speaking of heating, your CPU could also be an easy cause of this but a lot easier to monitor; easier to figure out the cause of this boulshit error.

There are many other simple errors that can probably be figured out if this happened, but would only take a hour to actually figure out. Follow these guidelines, you'll WIN!

Also note what the guy earlier said about testing the game on the system without GPU, and replace it back in, if solution is clear.

Thank you,
TC COMPUTER-TECH
TCCOMPUTERTECH.net

 

[fowang]

Run memtest a few times to see if there are any memory issues, i had the same board with no problems ran all games i threw at it.

 

[fowang]

congratulations on being totally unhelpful, and simultaneously a complete ass.

not only did you resurrect an old thread, but you insulted people who tried to help. citing them as wrong, without actually offering a remotely helpful counter argument.

if you want to whine about windows, don't hijack someones thread to do so.

You're so right sounds like that guy has no idea how to install anything!

 

[nikorr]

This thread is 19mo. old!!!

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr.