Another mysterious computer shutdown issue.

[Reciever80]

I'm an average to somewhat-advanced user of computers. That being said, to start:

Specs: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Thuban 3.2Ghz
XFX Radeon 6950 1GB
2 x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
ASUS M5A88-V EVO AM3+ AMD 880G
90 GB Corsair Force 3 SSD
750 GB WD HD.
Antec Earthwatts 650W
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit.


Core temp doesn't pick anything about 45 Celsius.

I've had this setup since early spring (just in time for BF3) and it worked great. Ever since I've moved to college, while gaming my computer just randomly shuts off for no reason. I notice that my alarm clock moves faster than it should and after reading up on the issue I've heard that voltages varying from 120V outlets can cause that (it shares the same 6-outlet extension cord as all my computer wires).

I've used 'WhoCrashed' and it doesn't appear that Windows is creating any dump files for the crashes. I'll be playing a game, and all of a sudden everything goes dark. I can restart the computer, and use it fine; however it's when I play games it shuts down.

Any ideas? Anything I can do to fix this/test what I can do? If you need more information let me know. I searched and saw a bunch of topics highlighting different issues, but all systems are different so I'd get a specific solution. Thanks for the posts, hopefully this is a quick thing to solve.

~Reciever80

 

[Z1NONLY]

If temps are good, it sounds like a power problem.

That puts three suspects at the top of the list:

A)Wall outlet power

B) Power strip (6-outlet extension)

C)PSU.

The PSU seems to be powering down. The question is, does it have a good reason?

The easiest step is to bypass the power strip. If the problem goes away, the power strip is the issue.

Next, I would put a meter on the same outlet as the computer. (Either in the second, plug at the wall, or any open slot on the power strip if you go back to that after step one....just needs to be on the same source as the computer)

Keep in mind that the meter might not be fast enough to catch and display a power dip/spike that could cause a PSU to shut down.

However, if it does show a voltage swing, you know the power source or strip is the problem.

You could try ginding an outlet that's set up for heavy loads and plug the computer into it long enough to test. (I would try an outlet in the kitchen or go to the breaker box and see where the high-current 120v outlets are...if it's labeled...many aren't)

 

[Reciever80]

I don't have a kitchen to test the outlet as a heavy load, however I'll see if I can work out a way to run the power cord directly into the wall. Right now space is an issue but I should be able to get something going