Computer Crashes While Gaming

[Weber_]

Hello, so my computer about a month ago started pretty sporadically crashing.

It started when I would be playing Rocket league while in a skype call. Both of my monitors would go to black(Saying they weren't getting any signal), and the game audio would kind of skip whatever it was last playing. I could still hear the person I was in skype with, but that was it. In order to fix it I would have to hard restart my computer.

Now, my computer will just completely crash while I'm gaming. It will just all of the sudden switch to a black screen with a little white flashing cursor in the top right, then it just boots like normal. Any help would be great, because I am considering just getting a new computer.

My computer is the Alienware X51

 

[CraigN]

Is your room getting hot? Check your temperatures. It sounds like a component in your Alienware could be getting a little toasty and forcing a restart. Could also be bad drivers, check and see if your video drivers are up to date.

Software like HWMonitor or some such will show you what's going on temp wise. You have two monitors, so just move the monitor for your temperature to the other screen and try to keep an eye on it until it crashes. CPU and GPU temperatures are of interest here. If your GPU is going over 80C or your CPU going over 70C, you could be having some temp problems.

Before doing this though, make sure your GPU drivers are up to date, and if they aren't, do a clean install of the newest drivers.

 

[Weber_]

Is your room getting hot? Check your temperatures. It sounds like a component in your Alienware could be getting a little toasty and forcing a restart. Could also be bad drivers, check and see if your video drivers are up to date.

Software like HWMonitor or some such will show you what's going on temp wise. You have two monitors, so just move the monitor for your temperature to the other screen and try to keep an eye on it until it crashes. CPU and GPU temperatures are of interest here. If your GPU is going over 80C or your CPU going over 70C, you could be having some temp problems.

Before doing this though, make sure your GPU drivers are up to date, and if they aren't, do a clean install of the newest drivers.

Alright, so I already kind of expected temps to be my issue here, as the X51 is very small, and doesn't have very good ventilation. I think if I just cleaned it out it could improve quite a bit. My GPU idls at around 55C, and my processor at around 50C, which isn't too good. Some light gaming (CSGO deathmatch for about 10 mins) Got my GPU up to a max of 75C and my processor to 69C. I am wondering if I could remove the side panel for the time being, as I have parts for a whole new build coming in the mail, but I would like to be able to resell this computer at some point. Thanks for the reply.

 

[CraigN]

Those are warm, but not hot enough to cause a thermal reset :\ Chips should shut off around the 80C-90C point, 75C is fairly normal for GPU at load. Unfortunately it sounds like you have a different problem here than temperature.

 

[Weber_]

Those are warm, but not hot enough to cause a thermal reset :\ Chips should shut off around the 80C-90C point, 75C is fairly normal for GPU at load. Unfortunately it sounds like you have a different problem here than temperature.

That was after only about 10 minutes of light load. It usually crashes after about 45 mins to and hour. I built a new computer anyway cause I was due for an upgrade. Already sold the X51