Computer Shuts Off While Gaming For High Games

[Echo12mm]

Hey people of the Internet so I just purchased and built my first computer. I'm using it to play high end games like EVE and such. It has a problem with restarting at random. It use to shut off but now it just restarts. I have made sure it stays plenty cool by keeping the side panel off but it still restarts. Sometimes after 30 minutes of playing, sometimes after 5 minutes. It only has this problem with high end games such as EVE, Ravaged, Serious Sam 3 (only games I've played that have had this problem). While i can play some low end games that are not graphics heavy without any problems. It's a bit of an annoyance so any help would be appreciated.



Specs:
Intel i5 2500K 3.3 GHZ
Evga NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 w/ 2GB GDDR 5
ASRock Z77 Extreme 3 mother board
650 Watt Power Supply (Sadly I cant remember the brand)
WD 1 TB Hard Drive
Windows 8 (Don't Judge, I'm Young and Foolish)
16 GB DDR3 RAM (Also can not remember brand)

 

[tiny voices]

If your power supply is cheap it likely doesn't make more than 400 watts. The GPU could be overdrawing the PSU and shutting it down. Leave the side panel on. The case will have better airflow and actually stay cooler if your fans are in the correct orientation.

Can you please tell us your GPU and CPU temps under load?

 

[smeezekitty]

Maybe the PSU is weak. Sometimes when the capacitors go bad or the semiconductors go leaky then they will work but then droop in output voltage when you draw too much wattage.

Many motherboards will shut down or restart when that happens.

 

[jnkweaver]

Agree with the other 2. Post some temps and figure out the PSU brand.

 

[willard]

I have made sure it stays plenty cool by keeping the side panel off but it still restarts.

Lol.

Instead of just assuming it's not overheating because you removed the side panel (seriously, lol), why not check the temperature?

Hrmm, my engine is on fire. Better roll down the window and never look into it again.


Seriously though, 99% chance it's something simple like not seating the cooler correctly causing the CPU to overheat. Download HWMonitor and Prime95. Run a stress test on Prime95 while watching your temperatures on HWMonitor, then post the temperatures back here.

 

[TenPc]

16gb of ram hogs a lot of power, might be better to remove 8gb and you will find less problems. Also the PSU is rather too low for 16gb of ram.

Also, try playing those problem games with a lower video setting (in the game options). It's not really necessary to get 60 FPS, 40 is just as good, just don't run around in the game so often.

Also, ensure that your primary hdd has at least 25% free space to allow for best performance.

A quick way to check PC temps is to use the Bios PC Health.

 

[jnkweaver]

16gb of ram hogs a lot of power, might be better to remove 8gb and you will find less problems. Also the PSU is rather too low for 16gb of ram.

How much power do you think 16Gb of memory consumes versus 8Gb?

 

[smeezekitty]

More RAM will use slightly more power but it RAM uses less then 15 watts total (usually less than 10).

I doubt that would have anything to do with it then.

But removing half the RAM can isolate a few RAM related issues.

 

[jnkweaver]

More RAM will use slightly more power but it RAM uses less then 15 watts total (usually less than 10).

I doubt that would have anything to do with it then.

But removing half the RAM can isolate a few RAM related issues.

I totally agree with you. I was just curious what TenPC was thinking. Memory hogs lots of power?

Since we haven't heard back from the owner of this problem I have nothing more to add until he gives us the temps and the brand of that PSU.

 

[smeezekitty]

Since we haven't heard back from the owner of this problem I have nothing more to add until he gives us the temps and the brand of that PSU.

Agreed

As far as TenPC goes, he gets a bit zealous about power requirements some times.

 

[willard]

16gb of ram hogs a lot of power [...] the PSU is rather too low for 16gb of ram.

Lol.

It's not really necessary to get 60 FPS, 40 is just as good, just don't run around in the game so often.

Lol again.

Also, ensure that your primary hdd has at least 25% free space to allow for best performance.

Lol a third time (while sound advice, what does this have to do with the problem at hand?)

A quick way to check PC temps is to use the Bios PC Health.

Lol x4 (load temps are what we need, not idle temps without even an OS running)

I get that you want to help, but this is honestly some of the worst advice I've ever seen. If you don't know how to help, then don't help, because this kind of "advice" is totally unhelpful.

 

[Echo12mm]

So I read some comments and have some more info. I have found that by turning down the graphics I can avoid the problem (a solution but not the one I was looking for)

I ran a 5 minute stress test on Prime95 and my max temperatures were

Core 1: 46 C
Core 2: 49 C
Core 3: 46 C
Core 4: 42 C

the average was usually one below though. Also I have concluded that my PSU is a Thermaltake 650 W Toughpower series TP-650P.

I hope this helps, thanks for all the feedback guys and if you need any more info just let me know!

 

[jesot]

Something is overheating. Probably the GPU. What case do you have? Probably a good time to evaluate the case and airflow situation. Replacing the stock cooler can do wonders as well.

I used to have to have a box fan blowing on my opened computer case to play games.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I'd still go with swapping out the power supply with a new one. The symptoms point to not enough power getting to key components due to the high power demands of the graphics card (only happens during high-end game play). While I suspect Thermaltake is (or was) one of the better power supply manufacturers, even the best can toss out the occasional lemon.

-Wolf sends

 

[jnkweaver]

I'd still go with swapping out the power supply with a new one. The symptoms point to not enough power getting to key components due to the high power demands of the graphics card (only happens during high-end game play). While I suspect Thermaltake is (or was) one of the better power supply manufacturers, even the best can toss out the occasional lemon.

-Wolf sends

Actually Thermaltake has been having quality control issues lately. Just do a search on the forum and see how many TT psu's there are having problems.

 

[willard]

Actually Thermaltake has been having quality control issues lately. Just do a search on the forum and see how many TT psu's there are having problems.

This is a good example of confirmation bias.

We can easily explain this with things that are not quality control issues, such as increased volume of sales, a vendor people buy from handling the products poorly, or even just a coincidence that more people happen to be posting here about it. You've looked at a small slice of a small portion of the web, and that's not enough to draw a conclusion as broad as this.

 

[Echo12mm]

So is there a way I could see if the graphics card was drawing to much power and not getting enough to everything else? I don't think heat is an issue anymore.

 

[TenPc]

Well, I was told that 16gb is a power hog, perhaps an exaggeration on their part. But maybe 16gb uses double that of 8gb? Is there a website calculator that anyone knows about?

This Question doesn't seem to be resolved except that you need to use a lower resolution so what is the resolution you are using for the PC games?


I know I'm going to get shot down again but I just have to ask the following Questions (please ignore if you feel they are not warranted) -

What is the monitor that you use, is it a 52 inch or a regular sized 27 inch screen? Some monitors require more input than smaller sizes.

Most Thermaltake 650 Watt PSU do have the 8-pin connector (for motherboard) and the 6-pin connector (for the video card), does your PSU have them?

Do you use more than one video out cable for a different purpose?

What speed is the ram, is it in the list specifications or some OC brand?

Is anything overclocked?

Are the games you play verified for Windows 8?

Is your Windows 8 x32 or x64? OEM? Did you upgrade from a previous OS?

 

[smeezekitty]

Well, I was told that 16gb is a power hog, perhaps an exaggeration on their part. But maybe 16gb uses double that of 8gb? Is there a website calculator that anyone knows about?

16gb probably does use nearly double 8gb, but it still isn't that much.

What is the monitor that you use, is it a 52 inch or a regular sized 27 inch screen? Some monitors require more input than smaller sizes.

???

 

[TenPc]

I heard that ram takes about 10 to 15 watts for 8gb so that would be about 20 odd for 16gb, I suppose.

Very large monitors draw more mhz from the video card to display the higher pixels otherwise you have to set the monitor to 576 dpi for a good display. Not sure whether it would impact on the power requirement though (I should keep links to verify these sorts of statements).

Also, I was wondering if the Asker was using multiple monitors...

I'm retirng very soon from PC forums, my expertise is rather out-dated and does not apply to current requirements...

 

[willard]

Well, I was told that 16gb is a power hog, perhaps an exaggeration on their part. But maybe 16gb uses double that of 8gb? Is there a website calculator that anyone knows about?

There are plenty, but I'll tell you right now that memory doesn't use a significant amount of power. It's not an "exaggeration" it's just flat out wrong. Memory does not factor into power requirements.

This Question doesn't seem to be resolved except that you need to use a lower resolution so what is the resolution you are using for the PC games?

What? Where the hell did you get that? The computer should never shut itself off, no matter what the resolution is.

What is the monitor that you use, is it a 52 inch or a regular sized 27 inch screen? Some monitors require more input than smaller sizes.

This is not true. Size of the monitor has precisely ZERO impact. And let me cut you off, you aren't a victim of somebody's exaggeration, this is again just plain wrong. The only thing that matters is the resolution, which is totally independent of size.

Most Thermaltake 650 Watt PSU do have the 8-pin connector (for motherboard) and the 6-pin connector (for the video card), does your PSU have them?

You think he could power the system on without connecting the necessary power adapters?

Do you use more than one video out cable for a different purpose?

I'd love to see your explanation as to how this causes the computer to shut down.

What speed is the ram, is it in the list specifications or some OC brand?

Speed doesn't matter, memory should perform at the speed its rated for and not shut the computer down. I'm running a cheap $80 kit of DDR3-2133 at DDR3-2400. My computer doesn't crash. Neither do any of my friends who have high speed, overclocked memory.

Is anything overclocked?

First relevant thing you've asked, but it seems pretty unlikely as that probably would have come up by now.

Are the games you play verified for Windows 8?

*Facepalm*

Is your Windows 8 x32 or x64? OEM? Did you upgrade from a previous OS?

*Double facepalm*

Look, I get that you want to help, but just asking random questions and trying to pretend you know what you're talking about seriously isn't helpful.

Now, for some actual troubleshooting.

Your problem is either overheating or power related. We've already ruled out the CPU overheating, so now we need to check the GPU. It is much rarer for GPU overheating to cause the system to restart (typically the GPU will just throttle itself), but it's worth doing a quick test anyway.

Go grab MSI Afterburner, install it and start up a game and play at the settings that cause these crashes. Afterburner will chart the temperature over time. After a few minutes of play, but before your computer shuts off, tab out and look at the temperature graph. Anything up to 90C is considered safe. Above that and you're getting into the realm of overheating. Over 100 is pretty much guaranteed to run into issues.

If that's not overheating, we're probably looking at a faulty PSU. The best way to test this without having a PSU tester or spare PSU is going to be to remove as much stuff as possible from the computer, and see if the problem goes away.

If you've got multiple hard drives, disconnect all but the ones needed to boot and game. Disconnect all case fans (not the CPU fan!), and all your optical drives. You should be able to get back about 50-100W depending on how much stuff you've got. Figure 25W for a DVD burner, 10-15W for an HDD, 2-3W for an SSD and 6-12W for a 120mm case fan and as much as 20W for very large fans like 230mm+. Leave all your memory modules installed, as they don't use enough power to matter and we don't want to introduce any more variables.

If you can run your games as normal with all this stuff disconnected, then we're dealing with a failing PSU, which you should RMA to get a replacement.

 

[jnkweaver]

Actually Thermaltake has been having quality control issues lately. Just do a search on the forum and see how many TT psu's there are having problems.

This is a good example of confirmation bias.

We can easily explain this with things that are not quality control issues, such as increased volume of sales, a vendor people buy from handling the products poorly, or even just a coincidence that more people happen to be posting here about it. You've looked at a small slice of a small portion of the web, and that's not enough to draw a conclusion as broad as this.

How about inclusion on Johnny's lemon list is that enough?
http://www.johnnylucky.org/power-supplies/psu-lemon-list.html

I am sure no matter what I bring to you would not be enough but I won't recommend buying TT psu's

 

[willard]

How about inclusion on Johnny's lemon list is that enough?
http://www.johnnylucky.org/power-supplies/psu-lemon-list.html

I am sure no matter what I bring to you would not be enough but I won't recommend buying TT psu's

No, what you just provided is actual evidence. That's sufficient to tell me there's a quality problem. I am a rational person, I'm not just out here to tell you you're wrong to make myself feel better. You just need to actually make your case if you want me to believe you.

It's not my fault that the previous argument was invalid. The evidence presented was hearsay. Getting upset that somebody won't accept a fallacious argument...well there's nothing to call that but irrational.