PC Randomly Shut Down While Gaming

[avidity]

Hi,

I was just playing a game and my PC randomly shut down. I've also had issues with my screen going grey and then coming back. Is my power supply failing?

Intel Core i7-4790K
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO
G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB
Intel 730 Series 480 GB SSD
WD BLACK 1TB HDD
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X
Cooler Master HAF X
EVGA SuperNOVA G2 850W 80+ Gold

 

[Rogue Leader]

You have a good quality PSU that is way more power than you could ever possibly need with that setup. Going grey would lean me more towards the GPU than the PSU.

Check window event viewer under critical failures for when it goes grey or crashes, see what the errors are.

 

[avidity]

This is when the computer shutdown. I seem to have a lot of errors, is there anything you can make of this?

 

[Rogue Leader]

I would run memtest86 to test out your memory.

I am assuming you don't have a spare PSU or GPU to test correct?

 

[avidity]

I would run memtest86 to test out your memory.

I am assuming you don't have a spare PSU or GPU to test correct?

I do not have any spares, no. I will run the memtest

 

[Rogue Leader]

Ok lets try memtest first. Then after that we will try stressing the CPU only see if it makes the PSU clip out.

 

[avidity]

Okay, I have it running now. How long should I run it for?

 

[avidity]

I ran the memtest for 2 passes and it showed no errors

 

[Rogue Leader]

Thats good. Next up I would download Prime 95 and run that on the blend test for a while see if the system crashes. Its a good stress of both your memory and CPU and that your PSU is solid.

Assuming that works, download Uningine Heaven, and run that, it beats up your GPU. If that fails its a good bet your GPU may be the problem.

 

[deltawar567]

I would check the temps your CPU reaches when playing games. Assuming the memtest goes well.

 

[avidity]

So I ran Prime and it crashed within the first minute. I do have my CPU OC'd to 4.6, maybe that's the issue?

I guess I should've mentioned the OC earlier

Turned off the 4.6 OC and went back to default 4.4 turbo and Prime is still running. Can I assume the issue has been my OC?

 

[deltawar567]

I'd say so. What voltage was the OC set at?

 

[DSzymborski]

So I ran Prime and it crashed within the first minute. I do have my CPU OC'd to 4.6, maybe that's the issue?

I guess I should've mentioned the OC earlier

Turned off the 4.6 OC and went back to default 4.4 turbo and Prime is still running. Can I assume the issue has been my OC?

Given the behavior, so long as you don't have any more issues, I'd venture that was the issue. For future reference, when facing problems like this, removing any overclocks should be one of the very first things you do.

 

[Rogue Leader]

So I ran Prime and it crashed within the first minute. I do have my CPU OC'd to 4.6, maybe that's the issue?

I guess I should've mentioned the OC earlier

Turned off the 4.6 OC and went back to default 4.4 turbo and Prime is still running. Can I assume the issue has been my OC?

Sounds like you overclocked without testing it at all, hence the crashing. Information that would have been useful in the original post.

If you're going to overclock, follow a guide, and test to make sure its stable, rigorously

http://www.techradar.com/how-to/computing/how-to-overclock-your-cpu-1306573

Otherwise your system, clearly, will crash.