Video card overheated, went back on then shut off int he night and wont go back on

[David Peruzzi]

Just like the title says, I was playing a game (SWTOR) on my computer when I believe the GPU overheated, I believe this was the case because I had my room heater somewhat close to the computer without realizing the hot air may have been being sucked in to the case by the fans. The computer shut down in the middle of the game, Would not turn back on right away, I flipped the switch off and unplugged it fora few minutes, plugged it back in and it powered right up. Turned my heater off, started SWTOR and ran it with a temp monitor this time around. Played for about 2-3 more hours and it was fine the entire time. The max it ever hit was around 64C-67C not 100% sure. And ran steadily around 57C. So I went to bed, woke up, and my computer was off. When trying to power it up, it goes on for what seems like a millisecond then turns off. I tried Jumpstarting my PSU to see if it WAS my psu, and the fans lit up and ran fine without anything else plugged in to the PSU. I took out my graphics card. Radeon HD 7850 and plugged my display in to the integrated graphics and it started right up. So my question is.. IS my video card fried? or can my PSU not support it? its a 500w PSU.

 

[lloydloo]

Sounds like your PSU is dying. Is it a generic one? Try testing the video card in someone else's PC.

 

[David Peruzzi]

Sounds like your PSU is dying. Is it a generic one? Try testing the video card in someone else's PC.

Even if the psu starts the system up no problem without the graphics card installed could still mean its dying? I believe its generic. has an azza sticker on it which is the case. Ill try the graphics card in another system this weekend, dont have one available at the moment. Also might I add I just recieved this computer not even two weeks ago from ibuypower. so it hasnt been operational very long before this happened.

 

[lloydloo]

If it starts up without the graphics card then I bet your PSU doesn't provide enough power for the video card. You could also check how much amps it gives off in the 12v rails. The power supply should also have a combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 24 Amps or greater and have at least one 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector. I personally don't really trust ibuypower. I read reviews saying that their computers weren't put together well, etc.

 

[Greatatlantic]

Another possibility is your CPU is overheating. I know Intel CPUs will shutdown if they reach a certain temperature so as to damage themselves. Though with what you've stated, I would lean PSU is dying. Good news, its usually cheaper to replace a dead PSU than a dead GPU or CPU. Bad news, its more work and requires a bit more familiarity with the inside of a PC. Nothing that a novice cannot figure out with youtube and trial and error, though.

Anyways, try to run a CPU temp monitoring program like RealTemp to see if thats the problem, since its easy to check.

 

[lloydloo]

If you have trouble replacing the PSU, you can always ask someone to help you. And I agree with what Greatatlantic^ said about checking cpu temp.

 

[David Peruzzi]

I believe the power supply I'm using is this one. http://azzatek.com/psaz-500c12.html. There is a cover over the power supply witha sticker on it that says Azza alpha 500w. Weird thing is that on that site it shows the alpha doesnt support sli, but there is clearly a power cable coming out of the PSU in my case marked "SLI ready" It's on the same line as the "PCI express" connector. I'm pretty new with this stuff but i'm learning.
As for the CPU im not sure that is the problem at all. Im using a AMD FX-8120 3.1ghz. And everything seems to run just fine so long as my graphics card is not plugged in. Everything boots up just as it did when the graphics card did work. I can even play some games on lower settings with the integrated graphics, with no problems at all. I mean I'm using it right now, just without my graphics card.

 

[lloydloo]

Lol shady PSU brand but according to the website, the output current is enough for the hd 7850. I think you should just wait until you can try the hd 7850 on another PC then post the results.

 

[David Peruzzi]

I didn't get to try the graphics card in another PC. It didn't have a power cable capable of connecting to the graphics card. The graphics card in the PC didn't even require one.