[SOLVED] Computer restarting while gaming, works fine in lower resolutions

[scottdonaldson95]

I am currently experiencing an ongoing issue while gaming. I've had my PC for about 4 years and my issues started about a year ago.

Basically, the issue is that my computer restarts while gaming. Screen goes blank, computer reboots as if nothing happened. When I first had this issue the restarts were sporadic, there wasn't any way to predict when the restart would occur. It would occur maybe once or twice a month. However eventually it began to occur more often and eventually my computer just refused to restart one time while playing a game. Also, the difference on this occasion was that the image on the screen became distorted before restarting. I just assumed this was a continuation of my ongoing issue. After chatting to someone I was advised to get a new GPU, so I went and got my hands on a second hand GPU - similar model to what I had before - about 3 months back.

The PC went back to working normally for a couple of months but I have started having issues again. This time, however, the crashes are much more predictable. I'll give some example of games I played and results:

Fallout 4: Crashes after 5 minutes
Just Cause 2: After about 25 minutes
Lego Star Wars: Played an hour with no issues.

(Bear in mind, all these games have always worked well on my system before. Also, games still run smoothly up to the moment of restart.)

I've found that playing games in smaller resolutions in windowed mode can prevent restarts, although this is obviously not ideal. I've monitored temperatures, and all important temperatures seem to be totally fine. So I'm wondering if anyone knows what the issue could be. Will I need to get another GPU or could it be something else entirely?

Let me know if you need to know any details regarding components etc. Thanks

 

[alexoiu]

I suggest testing different power supply.

 

[scottdonaldson95]

I suggest testing different power supply.

Will try this. I should also mention that my computer is connected to the wall outlet through an extension cord, could this be part of the issue?

 

[alexoiu]

No, I don't think so. What PSU using?

 

[dorsai]

I am currently experiencing an ongoing issue while gaming. I've had my PC for about 4 years and my issues started about a year ago.

Basically, the issue is that my computer restarts while gaming. Screen goes blank, computer reboots as if nothing happened. When I first had this issue the restarts were sporadic, there wasn't any way to predict when the restart would occur. It would occur maybe once or twice a month. However eventually it began to occur more often and eventually my computer just refused to restart one time while playing a game. Also, the difference on this occasion was that the image on the screen became distorted before restarting. I just assumed this was a continuation of my ongoing issue. After chatting to someone I was advised to get a new GPU, so I went and got my hands on a second hand GPU - similar model to what I had before - about 3 months back.

The PC went back to working normally for a couple of months but I have started having issues again. This time, however, the crashes are much more predictable. I'll give some example of games I played and results:

Fallout 4: Crashes after 5 minutes
Just Cause 2: After about 25 minutes
Lego Star Wars: Played an hour with no issues.

(Bear in mind, all these games have always worked well on my system before. Also, games still run smoothly up to the moment of restart.)

I've found that playing games in smaller resolutions in windowed mode can prevent restarts, although this is obviously not ideal. I've monitored temperatures, and all important temperatures seem to be totally fine. So I'm wondering if anyone knows what the issue could be. Will I need to get another GPU or could it be something else entirely?

Let me know if you need to know any details regarding components etc. Thanks

I would suggest a good cleaning of the computer as a starting point. Many times dust build up in the fins of a GPU or CPU heatsink go unnoticed...blower style GPU cards are notorious for blocked fins. Unfortunately you do have to dissemble the GPU shroud to get to the fins for proper cleaning...simply blowing compressed air into the fins can pack the dust bunnies in tighter making the problem worse. Get at the fins with a soft brush and take care to be gentle...also a good static wrist strap is a good practice when cleaning computer parts.

If a proper cleaning does not resolve the issue you may need to move on to other issues like a power supply going south. If you were getting artifacts in game before the crash it could indicate a dying video card but since it just shuts off it sounds more like the GPU is protecting itself or the power supply is tripping.

 

[scout_03]

use occt and stress test psu for about 10 min also check the voltages readings before and on test for the gpu use the gpu-z rendering option to test it .

 

[scottdonaldson95]

No, I don't think so. What PSU using?

Coolermaster 600W B2 Gaming Power Supply

Ok, I'll try to find time to give the computer a clean tomorrow. Also, and it might not be relevant, but I've had an issue with something rattling about in the tower for around a month too. Basically, it rattles either for a few minutes or until I shift the computer a bit, then starts rattling again after about a minute. Sound seems to be coming from CPU cooler. I imagine it's unrelated but just thought I'd let you guys know.

edit: also tried Furmark test and PC restarted after about a minute.

 

[scout_03]

there could be a fan that goes out or a cable in the fans blade .

 

[scottdonaldson95]

Tried psu stress test on occt, computer restarted about 2 seconds after clicking start. Does that confirm it's a PSU issue?

 

[scout_03]

it did not hold occt stress test more then 2 sec time to replace .

 

[scottdonaldson95]

it did not hold occt stress test more then 2 sec time to replace .

Do you mean replace the PSU?

 

[scout_03]

look like you could bring it to a shop and ask them to test it to see if wil work or cut .

 

[scottdonaldson95]

So I gave my GPU a clean a couple days back. There was a lot of dust in and around it. Since then I've played Fallout 4 for about 1.5hrs without any sort of issues on 2 separate occasions. I'll probably test out some other games in the next couple of days just to make sure everything is ok.

I'm still generally curious how I fixed the issue though (assuming I have). I always just assumed that a build-up of dust would only cause temperature related issues. However as I said I had tracked all the related temperatures and they all seemed fine. So can dust cause other, non-temperature related problems?

 

[scout_03]

dust could have jam fan and psu try to power but could not and cut on overpowering protection .