Help - PC randomly cuts power

Xiao666

Xiao666

Xiao666

Associate
Joined
29 Jan 2013
Posts
52
Hi guys im having a problem with my PC and wondering if any one has encounted a similar problem before.
it started the day GW2 came out my PC would randomly shut down after about 5-10 minuterss if that ( it lasted longer after i turned all the GFX settings to lowest they would go), on booting back up it give me an error sayin that there had been a power surge and it shut down to save the PC, and after a while my PSU went, i replaced this and the problem still contiuned untill i returned the motherboard and found out it as faulty, ( by this point GW2 had lost any interest i had in it)
I hadnt thought any thing of it since thinking the problem was solved, untill i started playing Path of exile beta a few days ago where the problem has arose again, but it is takin alonger time for it to cut out i managed to play for about 5 hours this morning, but after comming back in tonight it cut out after 20 minutes. to get the PC to reboot tho i have to unplug the cable going into my PSU and then reattach it

the strange thing is iv managed to play World of warcraft for many hours on the same rig with no problems so iv got no idea what it could be apart from the GFX card diein ( its a Palit GTX 460 SONIC 1024MB about 2 years old at this point) but its a pritty expensive bit of equipemtn to replace if this is not the problem

iv been keeping track of the temp's on the card as my comptuer crash's over the past few days to see if i can see any point to which it is hitting and shutting down but its runnin at a pritty low rate after iv changed the fan speed on MSI afterburner

sorry for the wall of text but i tryed to give as much info as i could on where the problem started
any help would be a great help.
 
What's the actual temps of the card when the system is crashing/losing power? It'd be a good idea to check CPU temps too and let us know what CPU you have.
 
The GPU temps were at about 71-75 at first but after installing MSI afterburning and changing fan speeds there sitting between 62-68 runnign

the CPU is AMD FX-4 4170 Black Edition 4 Core 4.2GHz Socket AM3+ 8MB the temps on this have been about about 50-60 although i havnt been able to log these at crash points has i have with my GFX
 
What model was the old PSU? The power surge might've caused it to go faulty, and then possibly affecting the other components as well if it was a cheap PSU with no protection circuits (like your motherboard). Try a memtest as well as Heaven/Furmark to test the RAM and GPU.
 
the old PSU was a Arctic power 500w.

i ran the mem test till about 200% with no errors, i then went to try and run fun mark ( hopfully set up right) and as soon as i clicked go the screen flickered and then the power cut out
 
the old one was somthing i picked up when moving from a laptop to a desk top at cost, the new one is called an "Ipine" which is somthin else iv never heard of but i needed a quick fix and at the time didnt have a job for a high end one
 
Seems like another dodgy PSU, it is the last thing you want to be skimping on. Buy from a quality brand such as XFX or Corsair
 
cheers for the infomation ill have a look at some more with a bit more power in them. how are thermaltake for a make btw? where im looking to buy the XFX and corsair ones are out of stock and i know the name thermaltake from some where
 
A reliable 500w (maybe even 450w) is enough to power your system, but I guess the 650 will be more future proof if you want to drop in a beefier GPU.
 
As a rule of thumb you need to pay at least £10 per 100W of PSU. Pay less than that and you have to ask what have the missed out or misrepresented.

I ran a Q6600 @ 3.0Ghz and a GTX280 with a 4 year old Antec Earthwatts 380W psu a couple of years back so you'll be fine with any good psu 400W and up.

It is worth considering a better rated PSU to allow a high end GPU later as it's only a few extra ££ now.

A good 500W PSU will be rated for arounf 450+ watts at 12V

A cheap 500W PSU will be rated at around 300W at 12V

As your PC uses mostly 12V for power, buying a cheap 500W PSU .... is actually buying a 300W PSU hence the issues.

Take the popular Hyper Type R 580W psu known for it's Explosive failures. Despite a 580W label it can only supply 360W at +12v ...... this type of marketing is the reason why AMD and Nvidia still massively overestimate the PSU requirements for their GPUS leading the the purchase of overly powerful, over expensive PSU's.

AD
 
Decent PSU like people have said is crucial, if the old one caused any damage then that is pretty unlucky, most cheap PSU's only have basic safety features such as over voltage protection and short circuit protection. With nothing to protect againsts surges.

Recently read an article about PSU's and damn it opened my eyes, amazing how manufactures can get away with such shoddy components.

Anyways, a good XFX PSU will set you back about £50 for a 500watt, a seasonic one same wattage will set you back about 70-80 due to it being modular.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-018-SS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=2383 (out of stock :()

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-007-XF&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1497

My last cheap PSU done a massive crap on my hardware, was sitting playing BF2 and suddenly BANG, smoke and horrible smell. Luckily it only damaged 1 of my 9600GT's that I had lol.
 
Last edited:
Cheers guys after changing the PSU it managed to run funmark, admittedly i only ran it for about 5 mins or so it was a lot better than what i was currently managing, this saved me a lot after i was looking at about £250 for a new GFX
 
Xiao666 said:
Cheers guys after changing the PSU it managed to run funmark, admittedly i only ran it for about 5 mins or so it was a lot better than what i was currently managing, this saved me a lot after i was looking at about £250 for a new GFX
Click to expand...

If you are wanting to spend about £250 you are looking at a 7950.

This model here, HIS very good name and only £10 over your budget:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-065-HS

If you want to save a bit of money, you can get a 7870 and overclock it. This will give you pretty much the same performance as the 7950 but saving a fair bit of dosh:

Gigabyte model, in the graphics card section people have been reporting problems with the Gigabyte windforce OC'd 7850, something about dodgy voltages and clocks but personally not had that problem myself, not sure if it would be the same with the 7870. The MSI version is the same price:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-099-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411

If you are concerned about that problem about, the HIS 7870 is a little bit more expensive:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-068-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom