Computer keeps restarting while gaming.

[jincledon]

So i have seen a bunch of threads on this because i have been doing research about this but i cant really come up with anything so here it goes.

So i just build my new PC and every time i try and play a game on some it will let me play for like 10-30 minutes then shut down and some it will be like 5 then shut off sometimes even just a minute or so... My best experience has been with playing wow i am on ultra and i can play for like 10-30 minutes then my computer will shutdown then restart automatically.

Just want to get to the bottom of this thanks for your help everyone.

PC Specs

Motherboard: Asus P8z77 v-lk
Processor: Intel Core i5-3570k
GPU: EVGA gtx 660
PSU: Kingwin Maximum power ABT-750mm
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Black CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10 16GB 2X8GB DDR3-1600 CL10 1.5V Dual Channel Memory Kit
HDD: Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 7200.12 1TB SATA 32MB Cache 3.5in Internal Hard Drive
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two V3

 

[ikameozero]

what you should do is play one of your high CPU/gpu useage games Bf3 or somthing like that or crysis open Hw monitor check your gpu is not getting hot in game if its getting very hot like 95+ it could be your gpu's fan needs speed increase or could be damaged unlikely but could happen but because u can play for 30 mins before a crash it wouldn't be an obvious thing all you can do is try and test everything till you find the cause if your pc is still running prime 95 without a crash after these 2 hours then that means its not the CPU u can cancel that out so then its either RAM GPU or mother board least likely mother board

 

[ikameozero]

did your pc crash how long did u test prime95 for on large ffts

 

[ikameozero]

the game should not be crashing when there is no GPU installed...

 

[jincledon]

did your pc crash how long did u test prime95 for on large ffts

it didnt crash and i tested for like 40 minutes so now im wondering if its my card or what i am getting a power surge error message when i boot back up

 

[ikameozero]

hmm its looking like its the card then if u can play for longer time with no crashs maybe try a different driver from the site !

 

[jincledon]

hmm its looking like its the card then if u can play for longer time with no crashs maybe try a different driver from the site !

i have the newest driver so i cant really go anywhere there.

 

[ikameozero]

example when i play crysis 2 on max settings on the latest ati driver 12.10 i get massive FPS drop from like 60 to 30.... so i downloaded the the next lowest driver 12.8 and my fps is back at 60 drivers can cause crashs/instabilty but as with anything in pc's everything is trial and error but you could try a diff driver if the same thing happens then thats the driver caneled out then it can only be the GPU is fault and needs returning or the POwer supply is not stable and after long periods is drooping the wattage causing the system to crash

 

[ikameozero]

i have the newest driver so i cant really go anywhere there.

thats what im saying go on the site were u download the driver and at the side of the download page some were ull find previous drivers downgrade a driver just to see if it fixs it as i said my driver was the latest and it caused massive frame rate lag newest driver is not always best

 

[jincledon]

example when i play crysis 2 on max settings on the latest ati driver 12.10 i get massive FPS drop from like 60 to 30.... so i downloaded the the next lowest driver 12.8 and my fps is back at 60 drivers can cause crashs/instabilty but as with anything in pc's everything is trial and error but you could try a diff driver if the same thing happens then thats the driver caneled out then it can only be the GPU is fault and needs returning or the POwer supply is not stable and after long periods is drooping the wattage causing the system to crash

Well i guess its worth a shot.

 

[ikameozero]

its definitely sounding like a PSU problem or GPU is getting to hot/broken problem did u try checking the gpu's heat in Hw monitor while your playing keep hw open and alt tab to check it after playing for 25 mins see if temp is going above 90 if it is then fan is not doing its job and the gpu is crashing to stop it damaging / toasting itself

 

[ikameozero]

this is why you need second parts of everything when building a pc so u can uninstall and check with parts u know are working then by trial and error u know what the problem is much fast but not every 1 has a second cpu gpu MB fan including me.. thats all that pc engineers do they have a look then they remove PSU put their own one in and are like ok its not the PSU and so on...

 

[jincledon]

this is why you need second parts of everything when building a pc so u can uninstall and check with parts u know are working then by trial and error u know what the problem is much fast but not every 1 has a second cpu gpu MB fan including me.. thats all that pc engineers do they have a look then they remove PSU put their own one in and are like ok its not the PSU and so on...

Well i just tried to get the older drivers and it still crashed at the same spot as before...

 

[ikameozero]

right so now u know its not drivers only 2 things now either PSU or the card/gpu is damaged/broken/getting to hot so its crashing but u said when you took the card out it ran the game without crashing but heres the problem it could still be the psu because the GPu is the thing that uses the most power nowadays in pc's so the card might need more wattage and the cheap PSU is'ent supplying it fast enough but at least youve narrowed it down to gpu/PSU

 

[jincledon]

right so now u know its not drivers only 2 things now either PSU or the card/gpu is damaged/broken/getting to hot so its crashing but u said when you took the card out it ran the game without crashing but heres the problem it could still be the psu because the GPu is the thing that uses the most power nowadays in pc's so the card might need more wattage and the cheap PSU is'ent supplying it fast enough but at least youve narrowed it down to gpu/PSU

Yea so basically your saying to get a new psu and if thats the problem than good if not then return it and get a new card.

 

[ikameozero]

oh you did say u had prime 95 running in windows fine for 2 hours dident you ??? that confirms its nothing to do with bios/cpu/ram so now its just your choice which one do you return first the PSU OR THE GPU One of them is clearly bad... no real way of knowing which this is why you should never chance average branded Power supplys... because if you had a corsair you would be like ok its efinatly the gpu ^^ i looked online and your power supply doesent even have a bronze certificate for constant power/ good power useage never a good sign

 

[jincledon]

oh you did say u had prime 95 running in windows fine for 2 hours dident you ??? that confirms its nothing to do with bios/cpu/ram so now its just your choice which one do you return first the PSU OR THE GPU One of them is clearly bad... no real way of knowing which this is why you should never chance average branded Power supplys... because if you had a corsair you would be like ok its efinatly the gpu ^^ i looked online and your power supply doesent even have a bronze certificate for constant power/ good power useage never a good sign

so try the power supply got it ill see if i can get another to test it out

 

[ikameozero]

Yea so basically your saying to get a new psu and if thats the problem than good if not then return it and get a new card.

pretty much yes... theres no definate way to tell which is bad unless u have a friend who has a PSU and Gpu to test in your pc as i said thats how pc engineers do it they test parts they know are working but because im guessing you dont have friends with spare parts ull have to send them back one at a time... and just hope u get the bad one first... i still think its more likely to be the PSU causeing this crap... but ive googled peoples pc's crashing and some say its the gpu that was broken so its 50;50 as i said gl man... maybe try asking on a diff forum page maybe ull get lucky and some super geek can tell you more but i doubt it...

 

[ikameozero]

well im going bed now gl night

 

[jincledon]

pretty much yes... theres no definate way to tell which is bad unless u have a friend who has a PSU and Gpu to test in your pc as i said thats how pc engineers do it they test parts they know are working but because im guessing you dont have friends with spare parts ull have to send them back one at a time... and just hope u get the bad one first... i still think its more likely to be the PSU causeing this crap... but ive googled peoples pc's crashing and some say its the gpu that was broken so its 50;50 as i said gl man... maybe try asking on a diff forum page maybe ull get lucky and some super geek can tell you more but i doubt it...

yea ill try thanks for the help though ill update and let you know what i find out

 

[jincledon]

Best answer selected by jincledon.

 

[ikameozero]

thanks for the like goodnight keep me posted

 

[jincledon]

thanks for the like goodnight keep me posted

No prob goodnight

 

[Uberragen21]

It sounds very much like your GPU is having issues. Since you tried different drivers, I'm leaning towards it overheating and shutting down. This will cause your PC to reboot. Since you have the onboard video, Intel 4000, and you found it doesn't crash, that's usually a good indication the GPU is the cause.

Here's what I'm thinking:
Your Ivy Bridge 3570k is running at 55* C, which is VERY HOT for an ivy bridge processor. I'm running a 4 year old overclocked E8400 @3.33 GHz, which runs at 42* and 50* for the two cores. When I'm running an intense game they max they'll reach is 54-56* C (prior to OCing they were typically around 38-45* C). My GPU used to hit upwards of 80* C when running hard, mind you it's also an older reference 285GTX. Once I changed out the reference GPU cooler for one with heatpipe technology, the temp drop was absolutely dramatic. It' now idles at 40* C and maxes at 46* C.

I suspect you have an air flow and heat issue in your case and your GPU specifically. You have a couple options, positive case air flow or negative case air flow.

- Positive air flow: more cool air pumped into the case (a better option)
- Negative air flow: more hot air blown out of the case (works, but not as well)

Also if you're running a reference cooler on your GPU, ditch it and spend the money to buy a dual fan with heatpipes. It may take up more room, but you'll notice a drastic temp drop, but that's only if you have enough air flow in your case. Get more cool air flowing in and hot air flowing out and I'm willing to bet your issues will be resolved.

 

[jincledon]

It sounds very much like your GPU is having issues. Since you tried different drivers, I'm leaning towards it overheating and shutting down. This will cause your PC to reboot. Since you have the onboard video, Intel 4000, and you found it doesn't crash, that's usually a good indication the GPU is the cause.

Here's what I'm thinking:
Your Ivy Bridge 3570k is running at 55* C, which is VERY HOT for an ivy bridge processor. I'm running a 4 year old overclocked E8400 @3.33 GHz, which runs at 42* and 50* for the two cores. When I'm running an intense game they max they'll reach is 54-56* C (prior to OCing they were typically around 38-45* C). My GPU used to hit upwards of 80* C when running hard, mind you it's also an older reference 285GTX. Once I changed out the reference GPU cooler for one with heatpipe technology, the temp drop was absolutely dramatic. It' now idles at 40* C and maxes at 46* C.

I suspect you have an air flow and heat issue in your case and your GPU specifically. You have a couple options, positive case air flow or negative case air flow.

- Positive air flow: more cool air pumped into the case (a better option)
- Negative air flow: more hot air blown out of the case (works, but not as well)

Also if you're running a reference cooler on your GPU, ditch it and spend the money to buy a dual fan with heatpipes. It may take up more room, but you'll notice a drastic temp drop, but that's only if you have enough air flow in your case. Get more cool air flowing in and hot air flowing out and I'm willing to bet your issues will be resolved.

Well i dont have the side on the case and in my antec case there are like 4 fans that are all running for me and when i shut down before asus came up with an power surge error and i shut that off to see if it was buggy and it was not so it could be my psu or my card is getting too hot i would believe that because my card and psu are facing each other so the air in the middle there must get really hot cause i feel my psu and the top gets hot to touch and my card gets hot in like .2 seconds of me playing...

 

[Aramid_4]

55C isnt really all that hot for an ivy bridge is it? Most of them are around 76C at load or a bit less I'd say when overclocked to 4.6ghz or so. Do you mean 55C at stock clocks are bad for an IB?