Computer keeps turning off randomly.

Dantoshou

Dantoshou

Dantoshou

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Hey all, gonna try to be concise here, basically i believed this problem to be my power supply, the computer randomly turns off while in use, sometimes a few times a night, sometimes once a day, but i tried new plugs that hasn't changed it, also getting a Belkin surge protector just in case anything bad happens.

Now i took the PC away from the supply after one of these power downs, looked inside, felt around and found the graphics card to be red hot whilst the other components seemed fairly cool comparatively, while i know graphics cards to run quite hot, I'm just wondering could this be the cause of these power downs? I'm playing cod4 currently and there's shutdowns, when i play guildwars its generally fine, but has shut down a few times, so this is quite sporadic a problem.

what do you guys suggest as its really bugging me that it keeps powering off randomly, I've taken the side metal plate off just to make sure there's more airflow, but if you guys have any insight for me I'd appreciate it, the card is a 470? from Zotac, apparently these have 5 year warranty so i guess i can send it back if it is faulty?

Also could I change the thermal paste on this card and not void the warranty, as I'm thinking this may be the key to the problem?:confused:

Many thanks in advance,

Dantoshou
 
you got any temperature monitoring software running? be interesting to see what type of temps your card is hitting. also run something like furmark to stress the gpu, again monitoring temps.

can't imagine you;d be able to strip the cooler off the card, reapply TIM and replace without goosing your warranty
 
Does it only shutdown when playing games, ie when graphics card is under load? I would find a program which can view the graphics card temps before trying to take it apart. Bear in mind that most cards can be fine running at up to about 90C so they do get pretty hot.

If it shuts down when the graphics card isn't in use, do you have an onboard graphics you can try using instead (ie take the 470 out and try without).
 
i only ask as i have heard about this when you havent got a high enuf power supply for your graphics card.

it says your card drags 300 watt on full load couple that with your other bits and bobs of the system and you need a half decent supply.

i wouldnt know how much to recommend as im no expert but surly u need around 600 watt psu but i dont know.

whats yours?

hope this helps
 
Hey guys in reply to you all, i have a 1000w psu, Ive just been monitoring the temps with speed fan and the results from last night shocked me a bit, ill link you a screen from last nights idle, last night under load, and this morning idle, this morning load.

so idle last night was
idle.png

Load was
load.png


After letting it cool down overnight
idle this morning (started at 30 but has gone up slowly)
idletoday.png

and load today is
loadtoday.png



what concerns me is the high temp my cpu is reaching, i thought cpus weren't meant to reach that high, it is an overclocked bundle at 4.2ghz but its been fine for months.

i can try onboard graphics, not sure if i have a onboard slot but i will have a look.
 
You say your psu is 1000W, but what make - this makes a huge difference.

Temps honestly don't look too bad. Not great, but nothing I would be overly concerned with personally.
 
eyetrip said:
You say your psu is 1000W, but what make - this makes a huge difference.

Temps honestly don't look too bad. Not great, but nothing I would be overly concerned with personally.
Click to expand...

The psu is an OCZ 1000w proxstream, they no longer make these and its past the 3 year warranty point, although when i bought it the box said LIFETIME warranty, kinda defeats the point.

:confused:
 
so has anyone got any idea what could cause this, i played for hours on guildwars today, and its just had this problem again twice :S after hours of solid use without any problems
 
Make a note of the overclock settings (they might have saved a profile for you). Then set the CPU to stock speed.

If it crashes at stock speed we need to track the problem down. I would say it's the PSU as you aren't reporting BSODs or graphical glitches it makes the GPU sound less likely.
 
okay i went into the clocking took a while to figure out but i managed to get it to 3.00ghz, it seemed more stable but still had the problem, I've just set it to 3.3ghz as thats apparently what this core is as standard.

Yea i hope its just the PSU and nothing else, although everything BUT the psu is still in warranty, so sods law states it should be that! (although the fiancee will be pleased if i do change psu as she says this one is noisy)

I'm testing this under clocking and standard clocking by playing black ops, managed to get through one match before it crashed this time.
 
sadbuttrue said:
75c for the CPU while playing guild wars is NOT fine imo. I wouldn't be surprised if it hit 100c (the thermal shutdown value iirc) during excessive load.
Click to expand...

exactly what i thought sad, i thought that cpus were sposed to hit 70 on something like crysis, this cpu used to idle very low compared, i think ill get some more thermal paste soon and reapply that, but first i need to establish whats wrong with it, currently Ive returned it to stock speed, and it hasn't yet crashed, but ill have to leave it on to see what happens.
 
When i said return the CPU to stock speeds I meant do a CMOS reset on the mobo (return to factory settings). Sounds to me like you have been randomly changing settings......not a good idea really
 
Your screenshot showed your 12v rail at 10.xx volts. That is not within the 5% acceptable tolerance for voltage rails in PCs and could very well be the cause of your problems.

Acceptable is 11.4v - 12.6v for the 12v rail.

P.S. Your home telephone number is visible in the Windows Sticky Notes in your 2nd screenshot.
 
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75 degrees in guild wars is pretty bad actually very bad... I hit 62 with 5.0 Ghz in battlefield 3 on ultra... What is your CPU cooler?? My AMD used to freeze and shut down, I went to check temps and they were around 90 when I touched CPU radiator I got pretty bad burn on my finger... Cleaned the heatsink from dust and it was fine again.

My money is on CPU shutting down due to high temps... I would not be surprised that if you open your case you will find a lot of dust which is causing cpu and gpu to work pretty hot.
 
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honosuseri said:
When i said return the CPU to stock speeds I meant do a CMOS reset on the mobo (return to factory settings). Sounds to me like you have been randomly changing settings......not a good idea really
Click to expand...


cmos reset? is there a cmos button for me to press, i think i know where that is and ill give it a go
 
f00f1ght0r said:
Your screenshot showed your 12v rail at 10.xx volts. That is not within the 5% acceptable tolerance for voltage rails in PCs and could very well be the cause of your problems.

Acceptable is 11.4v - 12.6v for the 12v rail.

P.S. Your home telephone number is visible in the Windows Sticky Notes in your 2nd screenshot.
Click to expand...

okay ill try a cmos reset and change that voltage to 12! as for the number its alright nobody ever phones us :) (and i realized this too :P)
 
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