Computer rebooting when playing games

[alotto48971]

Hi, my 2 year old Dell Inspiron 570 reboots whenever I attempt to start up a game. I'm wondering what would cause this? I've been researching and i've seen that it could possibly be the power supply? Any help is appreciated, thank you.

 

[garrettk4]

Most likely but do you get a BSOD? If so what appears on the screen?

 

[alotto48971]

I don't get a BSOD, just randomly restarts when trying to play games :/

 

[Guest]

before i even read your complete post i thought PSU . . .
Power
DC Power Supply
Wattage 300 W
Maximum heat dissipation 1574 BTU/hr
NOTE: Heat dissipation is calculated by using the power supply wattage rating.
Input voltage 115/230 VAC
Input frequency 50/60 Hz
Rated output current 7/4 A

what ever that means . .you upgrade with a video card?

 

[tsnor]

Run HWMONITOR from CPUID (free, google it) to record max temp. This could be thermal issues.

Software problems can do this. Run DXDIAG to see if directx can run. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DxDiag

Download and run a diagnostic boot (google ultimate boot CD). Check memory. Check CPU. Mostly you are trying to load the system and see if it will fail. If it does it's probably a hardware problem. If not then suspect software.

Driver problems can do this. Uninstall your current driver and then dowload and install the latest video driver. You have an integrated ATI Radeon™ HD 4200 so goto AMD for the driver. P.s. if you have not added a video card then you should if you game.

Power supply as noted above can do this.