Hello,
So, I built this computer for my friend, and he's has an issue with it where it would shut off randomly whenever he was using it. He was using an MSI 970A-G46, which I found out was terrible long (2 years) after purchasing it, and after I switched it out for an ASUS M5A99FX Pro R 2.0, and it's been running fine without shutting down. He's been using the computer for about two months for watching videos and playing games. However, last week, he started experiencing shut downs, but only when he plays "Smite". He says that within a few minutes of playing the game, the computer shuts off, no BSOD, just black screen. I took his computer and swapped out his 420W PSU for my 650W PSU to see if it was a power issue, and then I downloaded "Smite" so I can play alongside him and see which one of us shuts down first. We played Assault, and he shut down before he even got to the middle of the map to fight the enemy, which is not that long of a walk. I figured it might be a GPU issue, so I told him to play on super low graphics and play practice mode for a bit before going back to Assault. When he went back to Assault, it crashed again, but he was able to get more distance this time around. After it shut off this time, he tried to turn it back on again and the computer was booting for a few seconds before it shut down on its own. Now it's on and he's currently playing TF2 to see if will shut down, but he's said that he's been playing TF2 since the first shut off on this motherboard and it hasn't had any problems.
I doubt it's a graphics issue anymore, but I'm gonna bring over my more powerful GPU and RAM for him to see if that fixes it before we do a reformat. I'm hoping it's not a CPU issue since I bought it on April 5, 2012 and just claimed the warranty last year and don't know if it carries over (please inform me if it does). I'm also hoping it's not a motherboard issue since we just bought the darn thing. And if it's a RAM issue, then I'll see if swapping it out will do the trick. I'm hoping that these shut downs aren't damaging other components. If neither anything I do nor any of your suggestions work, I'm gonna have to send it to a tech and hope that the problem parts are still under warranty.
Clarification: Shut down. NO Reboot, NO BSOD.
Current build:
CPU: AMD FX 8350
Mobo: ASUS M5A99FX
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 650
RAM: Team Elite Plus 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)
HDD: Western Digital Blue 500GB
PSU: Corsair 650W Bronze Certified.
My conclusions:
It shouldn't be a temperature issue for PSU or CPU since we did the tests as soon as the computer turned on and gameplay only lasted a few minutes. Plus, I checked the heatsink was seated properly and replaced the thermal paste.
I'm thinking it's not a power supply issue since I gave him a 650W for his 420W.
I'm also doubting it's GPU issues since using low graphics didn't help and he can play other games.
From what I know, HDD failure would result in BSOD, plus it's relatively new, so I thinking that's not the issue.
Thanks in advance.
UPDATE
So I THINK it may in fact be a heating issue (which I marked out in red in my conclusions). I initially thought that it can't be a heating issue since "Smite" has been able to run properly before and there's no way it could be causing an overheating CPU. However, I downloaded a program to check CPU temp and saw that "Smite" takes the temp up to 75C, probably even further, but we didn't want to let the game run for longer and risk another shut down. We played TF2 and and "Audiosurf" saw that the temp was only in the 60's, probably reaching up to 66C, which I read isn't the best, but also not terrible. Also, I need to point out that we played each game for longer than we could stay on a game of "Smite" before a shut down, so about 5 minutes. So, I'm guessing that it's highly likely a heating issue for the CPU, but now here's something else... How can "Smite" suddenly be causing shut downs from overheating when it's been running perfectly before, and how can it still be doing that when I've checked that the heatsink works, is seated properly, and have applied fresh thermal paste? Also, I use this brand of thermal paste, which I've seen has good reviews when I bought it at the time and hasn't been a problem in my computer (don't know if any new negative reviews appeared).
So, I built this computer for my friend, and he's has an issue with it where it would shut off randomly whenever he was using it. He was using an MSI 970A-G46, which I found out was terrible long (2 years) after purchasing it, and after I switched it out for an ASUS M5A99FX Pro R 2.0, and it's been running fine without shutting down. He's been using the computer for about two months for watching videos and playing games. However, last week, he started experiencing shut downs, but only when he plays "Smite". He says that within a few minutes of playing the game, the computer shuts off, no BSOD, just black screen. I took his computer and swapped out his 420W PSU for my 650W PSU to see if it was a power issue, and then I downloaded "Smite" so I can play alongside him and see which one of us shuts down first. We played Assault, and he shut down before he even got to the middle of the map to fight the enemy, which is not that long of a walk. I figured it might be a GPU issue, so I told him to play on super low graphics and play practice mode for a bit before going back to Assault. When he went back to Assault, it crashed again, but he was able to get more distance this time around. After it shut off this time, he tried to turn it back on again and the computer was booting for a few seconds before it shut down on its own. Now it's on and he's currently playing TF2 to see if will shut down, but he's said that he's been playing TF2 since the first shut off on this motherboard and it hasn't had any problems.
I doubt it's a graphics issue anymore, but I'm gonna bring over my more powerful GPU and RAM for him to see if that fixes it before we do a reformat. I'm hoping it's not a CPU issue since I bought it on April 5, 2012 and just claimed the warranty last year and don't know if it carries over (please inform me if it does). I'm also hoping it's not a motherboard issue since we just bought the darn thing. And if it's a RAM issue, then I'll see if swapping it out will do the trick. I'm hoping that these shut downs aren't damaging other components. If neither anything I do nor any of your suggestions work, I'm gonna have to send it to a tech and hope that the problem parts are still under warranty.
Clarification: Shut down. NO Reboot, NO BSOD.
Current build:
CPU: AMD FX 8350
Mobo: ASUS M5A99FX
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 650
RAM: Team Elite Plus 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)
HDD: Western Digital Blue 500GB
PSU: Corsair 650W Bronze Certified.
My conclusions:
It shouldn't be a temperature issue for PSU or CPU since we did the tests as soon as the computer turned on and gameplay only lasted a few minutes. Plus, I checked the heatsink was seated properly and replaced the thermal paste.
I'm thinking it's not a power supply issue since I gave him a 650W for his 420W.
I'm also doubting it's GPU issues since using low graphics didn't help and he can play other games.
From what I know, HDD failure would result in BSOD, plus it's relatively new, so I thinking that's not the issue.
Thanks in advance.
UPDATE
So I THINK it may in fact be a heating issue (which I marked out in red in my conclusions). I initially thought that it can't be a heating issue since "Smite" has been able to run properly before and there's no way it could be causing an overheating CPU. However, I downloaded a program to check CPU temp and saw that "Smite" takes the temp up to 75C, probably even further, but we didn't want to let the game run for longer and risk another shut down. We played TF2 and and "Audiosurf" saw that the temp was only in the 60's, probably reaching up to 66C, which I read isn't the best, but also not terrible. Also, I need to point out that we played each game for longer than we could stay on a game of "Smite" before a shut down, so about 5 minutes. So, I'm guessing that it's highly likely a heating issue for the CPU, but now here's something else... How can "Smite" suddenly be causing shut downs from overheating when it's been running perfectly before, and how can it still be doing that when I've checked that the heatsink works, is seated properly, and have applied fresh thermal paste? Also, I use this brand of thermal paste, which I've seen has good reviews when I bought it at the time and hasn't been a problem in my computer (don't know if any new negative reviews appeared).
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