[SOLVED] My computer restarts when I play games.

TreeTurtle

Honorable
Mar 26, 2019
3
0
10,510
I've been having a problem with my computer crashing for a long time now. My computer will restart whenever I play games at high graphics which it is capable to play at since it is a high end computer. If I turn the graphics all the way down and limit the FPS, limiting the FPS is the biggest thing, It will play the game fine but if I don't limit the FPS and lower graphics my computer crashes/restarts. Here are the things that I've ruled out. I replaced the GPU so its not the GPU, The power supply unit is less than 2 years old and has enough wattage for my computer, I did a few RAM tests which came up with nothing wrong, and I've replaced ssd and hdd. I'm pretty sure its the motherboard or CPU but I don't know what to do to test them.
Heres my part list:
EVGA GTX 1080 SC
Intel I7-6700k
MSI Z270 motherboard
ballistics 8gb RAM x2
EVGA 80+ Gold certified 650W PSU
Thank you for helping!
 
Solution
Everything in those shots looks exactly where it should be to me. For CPU/GPU usage, voltages, temps everything looks good. The CPU is boosting as it should. Nothing looks out of the ordinary. As both I and J_E_D_70 have said, testing the system with another PSU might help determine if the PSU is the issue.Maybe a friend could lend you one? If not as J_ED_70 mentioned a repair store that could swap one out to test. It's certainly possible it's just a bad unit, but as it's under warranty, and as we have both mentioned, RMA'ing it is a good option. Saves you having to buy a new one.
Your system is well capable, that's for sure.

First question i'd ask is, are you OC'ing any components? If so, run everything at stock and test again. You mentioned you have run ram tests. What tests? Id run memtest86+ on a bootable USB and run it for a min of 4 passes. See if it posts any errors. What is the exact model of ram? Can you link the part no, DIMMS?

Run HWMon/Info, and let your system idle for 20 mins. Take a screenshot and post it here. Then load up a game (without frame limits) and in your best estimation, before crashing, take a screenshot of HWMon while the game is running. You can do this by alt-tab out of the game and post a screenshot with your system at load. We can then take a closer look at the hardware as it's working on the fly. It will report CPU/GPU/Ram usage, voltages, speeds among a whole lot of other data, which may help diagnose.

Having eliminated or replaced certain pieces of hardware, it could very well be, as you said, a mobo issue. It's unlikely it's a PSU problem. What's the exact model. Although any EVGA gold rated PSU is pretty much high qaulity, specially the GQ/G2/G3 series. They are rarely faulty, but like even with the best manufacturers, sometimes units fail. 2 years is pretty young for that PSU though, and it should have a warranty of 5 years min. So it might be worth considering RMA'ing it, and getting a replacement, if you rule out everything else.

You can also set up MSI afterburner and use the OSD to display some basic details in game: CPU speed/usage, GPU speed/usage/vram usage and System ram usage. If you see anything maxing out whilst gaming this could point us in the right direction too.
 
I am not overclocking anything and I have never overclocked anything that I know about. I ram memtest86+ before for I think 4-5 passes, not sure, but I know it was testing for pretty much the whole day and no errors. My exact model of RAM is
Ballistix Sport LT 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR4 2666 MT/s (PC4-21300) SR x8 DIMM 288-Pin - BLS2K8G4D26BFSBK (Gray), heres a link to amazon https://www.amazon.com/Ballistix-Sp...stix+ram&qid=1553628851&s=gateway&sr=8-1&th=1. I will run HWMon/Info and see what I get. Thank you!
 
Are all fans spinning. CPU cooler, GPU Cooler? It could be CPU overheating. Your system base system is about 4 years old, right? If your CPU is overheating, it could cause crashes like that. It may just be that you need to replace thermal paste on the CPU (if it's the CPU overheating that's causing this issue to begin with - we might be able to tell from HWMon). So that's a thing to look at too.
 
Just because your PSU is only a couple of years old and good quality doesn't eliminate it as a possibility (that's why they have a warranty!). Power off/reboot under gaming conditions is almost always a PSU issue. CPUs typically work or they don't, not crash under load. Would be surprised if it's the mobo tho it could be an issue with power delivery via the PCIe slot.

Would highly recommend borrowing a known-good PSU or going to a shop to test one. If it is the PSU, you should have plenty of warranty.

Edit: Do you use an UPS? If so, what make and model?
 
Last edited:
Everything in those shots looks exactly where it should be to me. For CPU/GPU usage, voltages, temps everything looks good. The CPU is boosting as it should. Nothing looks out of the ordinary. As both I and J_E_D_70 have said, testing the system with another PSU might help determine if the PSU is the issue.Maybe a friend could lend you one? If not as J_ED_70 mentioned a repair store that could swap one out to test. It's certainly possible it's just a bad unit, but as it's under warranty, and as we have both mentioned, RMA'ing it is a good option. Saves you having to buy a new one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: J_E_D_70
Solution