[SOLVED] PC Suddenly shuts down while gaming

[chrispcguy]

Hi all,

I'm running into a strange issue with my PC right now and am looking for some assistance. For the past month or so now I've been running into an issue where my PC will sometimes suddenly shut down while I'm in the middle of playing a game. This most frequently was happening when I was playing Valorant with some friends. I'd be playing for an hour or two and then all of a sudden my system would shut down completely. Sometimes my PC would actually restart itself on its own but now I typically have to power on my PC manually when these shutdowns occur. I recently opened up my PC and had found that the housing where my power supply resides had not been dusted since I built the PC back in June 2018. After thoroughly dusting my entire PC, I don't seem to run into the issue in Valorant any more but I am still getting these shutdowns when playing some other games (Most recently, Risk of Rain 2 after playing for about 3 hours straight as well as a little game called ALTF4 on Steam).

Here are the current specs of my build:

Intel i7-8700
ASRock Z370 Extreme4 LGA 1151 Motherboard
EVGA GTX 1080 SC
EVGA SuperNOVA 650W G3 Power Supply
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 Ram
Noctua NH-U9S CPU Cooler

While in game my temperatures seem to be fine, which is why I don't think I'm having an issues with CPU or GPU temps. About an hour ago my system crashed while playing ALTF4 (a bit ironic I suppose), and on my second monitor I have CAM running and saw my CPU temp was about 50 C and my GPU was right around 70 C right before my system shutdown. I feel that this may be a power supply issue but is there any way to know for sure with some amount certainty? The last thing I'd like to do is buy a PSU and then find out there might have been something else wrong I have overlooked. Any suggestions on where to start with troubleshooting this? I was running a couple different tests, benchmarks, and programs from looking into other threads on here such as Aida64, Prime95, and the Heaven Valley Benchmark and wasn't running into any crashes, although under a Prime 95 torture test I was getting CPU temps of around 85 C which was a bit concerning. I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions for this, I'm not super knowledgeable in hardware so I'm looking for a little direction on what might going wrong currently. Thanks

 

[MeanMachine41]

It could be one or a number of issues that can cause sudden shutdowns however you have to start somewhere. Let's start with system stability.

First remove any Overclocks and stress test using AIDA64 CPU FPU and Cache only for 20mins. At the same time use HWinfo64,looking for out of spec Rail voltages (under load 5%+or -) and CPU temperatures on the die. Stop the test if temps reach 80C. Take screenshots and upload the results using IMGUR as a link.

Don't use P95 as it's too harsh and really only good for thermals. It won't tell you the cause when a worker stops.

Run a test on your RAM using Memtest86 from a USB. Run at least 4 passes on all modules and report the result.

Check your Windows system32 files for corruption.
Open an elevated command prompt and type in SFC /SCANNOW
report the result?

 

[mamasan2000]

Open up Event Viewer and see what it says. Windows logs, System. Find CRITICAL, ERROR, something like that. Could be multiple reasons too. Does your memory/RAM have a temp sensor? Summertime always tend to bring temp issues to the fore. Bad (in terms of timings) and overheating RAM also reboots system.

In regards to SFC, run the first DISM command too, at least, here. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...em-files-79aa86cb-ca52-166a-92a3-966e85d4094e DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
Read the log. Probably a lot of text. Check the bottom for errors or search the file for 'error'.

Do NOT download windows system files from a random site. It needs to come from Microsofts site or Windows DVD/ISO.

 

[chrispcguy]

Open up Event Viewer and see what it says. Windows logs, System. Find CRITICAL, ERROR, something like that. Could be multiple reasons too. Does your memory/RAM have a temp sensor? Summertime always tend to bring temp issues to the fore. Bad (in terms of timings) and overheating RAM also reboots system.

In regards to SFC, run the first DISM command too, at least, here. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...em-files-79aa86cb-ca52-166a-92a3-966e85d4094e DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
Read the log. Probably a lot of text. Check the bottom for errors or search the file for 'error'.

Do NOT download windows system files from a random site. It needs to come from Microsofts site or Windows DVD/ISO.

Thanks for your reply, I did run DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth in my command prompt, this was the result. I might have overlooked something, is the output stored to a log like CBS.log or something? This was the result of running that command.

https://imgur.com/a/Qvhtgbw

View: https://imgur.com/a/Qvhtgbw


Also, in checking Event Viewer I found the following Criticals, all which I believe to be linked to shutdowns I've had in the past few months. Here are a few snapshots of what I grabbed, all of these criticals noted here had the same description

https://imgur.com/a/ZnPPyhd

View: https://imgur.com/a/ZnPPyhd

https://imgur.com/a/Tk0ljm3

View: https://imgur.com/a/Tk0ljm3


As for my RAM, I'm not quite sure if I have temperature sensors? I use
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 3200 and couldn't find anything online about it so I would assume no but I don't know for sure.

 

[chrispcguy]

It could be one or a number of issues that can cause sudden shutdowns however you have to start somewhere. Let's start with system stability.

First remove any Overclocks and stress test using AIDA64 CPU FPU and Cache only for 20mins. At the same time use HWinfo64,looking for out of spec Rail voltages (under load 5%+or -) and CPU temperatures on the die. Stop the test if temps reach 80C. Take screenshots and upload the results using IMGUR as a link.

Don't use P95 as it's too harsh and really only good for thermals. It won't tell you the cause when a worker stops.

Run a test on your RAM using Memtest86 from a USB. Run at least 4 passes on all modules and report the result.

Check your Windows system32 files for corruption.
Open an elevated command prompt and type in SFC /SCANNOW
report the result?

Thanks for your reply, I went ahead and ran SFC /SCANNOW and this was the result, looks like some corrupted files were able to be fixed

https://imgur.com/a/g122Xze

View: https://imgur.com/a/g122Xze


When I have an extra sec I will run those Aida64 and HWinfo64 tests and report back, thanks for the tip on P95, it did seem to be quite aggressive even after running it for just 15 minutes. I'll get a setup a USB stick with Memtest as well and report back on those results as well.

 

[mamasan2000]

When I said 'read the log', I was referring to the log created by sfc /scannow. I guess that wasn't all that clear. That log should tell you what system files were corrupt and got replaced. That could give you a clue why it happened and what caused it.

If in Hwinfo64 you don't get temp for RAM, you don't have temp sensors on them.

 

[InvalidError]

Random shutdowns for no apparent reason are most commonly caused by a PSU issue which can be as simple as forgetting to clean the PSU's air filter for too long.

 

[chrispcguy]

When I said 'read the log', I was referring to the log created by sfc /scannow. I guess that wasn't all that clear. That log should tell you what system files were corrupt and got replaced. That could give you a clue why it happened and what caused it.

If in Hwinfo64 you don't get temp for RAM, you don't have temp sensors on them.

Gotcha, then it appears CBS.log which was created from running that command has all the log data. As you mentioned it's a pretty large file, over 6200 lines for me. While not entirely intuitive to search through it, I went through it in Sublime and tried to find what exactly was repaired. I see some potentially interesting points on CSI store repair, will have to comb through the rest in more detail

2021-06-14 10:38:41, Info                  CSI    00000006@2021/6/14:17:38:41.151 Starting corruption detection (InnerFlags=2)
2021-06-14 10:38:41, Info                  CBS    FLOW: Entering stage: CheckCsi
2021-06-14 10:40:22, Info                  CSI    00000007 Direct SIL provider: Number of files opened: 86404.
2021-06-14 10:40:22, Info                  CSI    00000008@2021/6/14:17:40:22.590 Corruption detection complete. numCorruptions = 0, Disp = 1.
2021-06-14 10:40:23, Info                  CBS    Repr: CSI meta data corruption found, will commit repair transaction if repair is asked.
2021-06-14 10:40:23, Info                  CBS    Repr: CSI Store check completes
2021-06-14 10:40:24, Info                  CBS    All CSI corruption was fixed, ensure CorruptionDetectedDuringAcr is clear

 

[chrispcguy]

Random shutdowns for no apparent reason are most commonly caused by a PSU issue which can be as simple as forgetting to clean the PSU's air filter for too long.

For sure. I'm thinking something might still be wrong with the PSU but I'd like to try to find out with some certainty. I recently took my PSU out of my case to thoroughly dust it with some compressed air and even after the thorough cleaning and reconnecting it I got a shutdown while ingame yesterday even though my temps for components like my CPU and GPU appeared to be fine (50 C and 70 C respectively)

 

[dorsai]

My money is on the PSU...temps are OK so the PSU is immediately suspect.

 

[chrispcguy]

It could be one or a number of issues that can cause sudden shutdowns however you have to start somewhere. Let's start with system stability.

First remove any Overclocks and stress test using AIDA64 CPU FPU and Cache only for 20mins. At the same time use HWinfo64,looking for out of spec Rail voltages (under load 5%+or -) and CPU temperatures on the die. Stop the test if temps reach 80C. Take screenshots and upload the results using IMGUR as a link.

Don't use P95 as it's too harsh and really only good for thermals. It won't tell you the cause when a worker stops.

Run a test on your RAM using Memtest86 from a USB. Run at least 4 passes on all modules and report the result.

Check your Windows system32 files for corruption.
Open an elevated command prompt and type in SFC /SCANNOW
report the result?

Thanks for the reply, I'm attaching some results of the AIDA64 tests you noted. Ran it for 20 minutes, was monitoring HWInfo while that was going on as well. Wasn't seeing anything out of the ordinary but I might do another test to doubly sure (I haven't previously used HWInfo so there was quite a bit of data from the sensors I was sifting through). I just created a bootable USB with Memtest so I'm going to boot to that and run the 4 passes as you noted and check that as well.

https://imgur.com/a/2ht1QHf

View: https://imgur.com/a/2ht1QHf

https://imgur.com/a/okg4wfw

View: https://imgur.com/a/okg4wfw

 

[Jason H.]

Does Valorent use Easy Anti Cheat?

 

[jasonf2]

I am leaning towards the PSU or RAM if no BSOD. PSU more than likely issue, but if system not likening the RAM clock it will do the same thing.

 

[vov4ik_il]

In my case, it was a problem with mobo VRM. You can try following my steps here.

 

[MeanMachine41]

Thanks for the reply, I'm attaching some results of the AIDA64 tests you noted. Ran it for 20 minutes, was monitoring HWInfo while that was going on as well. Wasn't seeing anything out of the ordinary but I might do another test to doubly sure (I haven't previously used HWInfo so there was quite a bit of data from the sensors I was sifting through). I just created a bootable USB with Memtest so I'm going to boot to that and run the 4 passes as you noted and check that as well.

Temperature wise your cooling system is just coping however no throttling. I like to see temps below 80C on the t-die when under load.
Also your Rail voltages are well within spec so that should not be the problem.

Lets see if Memtest86 reveals anything.

As your SFC scan revealed corruption and successfully fix it, I would now get you to run CHKDSK c: /f from an elevated command prompt. Unexpected shutdowns or file corruption can create weird behavior with the SSD so eliminate that possibility.

Pending results from Memtest and chkdsk i'm out of ideas and as this seems to be happening whilst gaming I would look at the integrity of the game your playing.

 

[chrispcguy]

Does Valorent use Easy Anti Cheat?

I don't think so. I believe Valorant uses Vanguard anti cheat, which was the subject of some controversy for running on a kernel driver. I will say though that a common thread among the games I've experienced crashes in is that all of them were created on Unreal Engine 4. This includes Fortnite, ALTF4, and Valorant where I have experienced sudden system crashes. I also had a crash in Risk of Rain 2 a couple nights ago (runs Unity) which is when I really started to be perplexed as to what is going on with my system. It's worth noting though that since I've dusted out the housing of my PC case, I haven't experienced any crashes in Valorant since then, but I did experience a crash in ALTF4 last night, which seems to make my system work significantly when playing that game (chassis fans roaring, GPU fans, etc.)

 

[Jason H.]

I don't think so. I believe Valorant uses Vanguard anti cheat, which was the subject of some controversy for running on a kernel driver. I will say though that a common thread among the games I've experienced crashes in is that all of them were created on Unreal Engine 4. This includes Fortnite, ALTF4, and Valorant where I have experienced sudden system crashes. I also had a crash in Risk of Rain 2 a couple nights ago (runs Unity) which is when I really started to be perplexed as to what is going on with my system. It's worth noting though that since I've dusted out the housing of my PC case, I haven't experienced any crashes in Valorant since then, but I did experience a crash in ALTF4 last night, which seems to make my system work significantly when playing that game (chassis fans roaring, GPU fans, etc.)

And have you made sure the BIOS and Chipset drivers are up to date?

 

[chrispcguy]

And have you made sure the BIOS and Chipset drivers are up to date?

To my knowledge, I haven't touched anything with the BIOS drives or Chipset drivers since I built my system back in 2018. This might be a dumb question here but is it definitely worth upgrading the BIOS when possible? I had always read that it wasn't necessarily worth updating it if my system was running normal (which it seems to be other then when I'm playing games that seem to put my system under significant load. I think I'm more concerned about possibly bricking my system more than anything.

 

[Jason H.]

To my knowledge, I haven't touched anything with the BIOS drives or Chipset drivers since I built my system back in 2018. This might be a dumb question here but is it definitely worth upgrading the BIOS when possible? I had always read that it wasn't necessarily worth updating it if my system was running normal (which it seems to be other then when I'm playing games that seem to put my system under significant load. I think I'm more concerned about possibly bricking my system more than anything.

Typically, since flashing your bios is always a risk due to power outages, its not really a common thing you have to do. Even most MOBO manufacturers tell you Unless your having issues with your pc, do not risk flashing the bios.

However, 98% of the time you will have no issues when flashing your bios. I just did mine last night as I was also experiencing weird shut downs and bsod's when trying to start a game called Rust. It didnt fix my personal issue as for me, it was Easy Anti Cheat causing the issue, but now Im on the latest bios so in the future I can rule that out as a possible culprit.

You just need to make sure you have the right bios file, and follow your manufacturers directions on flashing the bios. Im not too familiar with ASRocks process but theyre all usually similiar. Loading the files onto a usb stick's root directory (meaning just copy and paste the files onto the usb stick NOT in a folder and with no other files on the usb drive) then entering the bios and using the built in flash utility. But like I said, just follow your manufacturers instructions on it and its a breeze. Its hard to brick the mobo if you have the right bios file. And EVERYONE has to run the risk of bricking their mobo because of power outages, cant really control that one. But it needs done man, so you gotta do it.

If you dont update the bios, it will always be "well maybe its the bios". So since you are experiencing issues, its worth a shot. I just helped another guy with flashing his bios and it cured his issue, maybe it will for you. Let us know how it goes or if you need more help for flashing the bios.

Also, I would update the chipset drivers first. Thats easy just google it. Its not the same as flashing bios. Then flash the bios.

 

[Jason H.]

To my knowledge, I haven't touched anything with the BIOS drives or Chipset drivers since I built my system back in 2018. This might be a dumb question here but is it definitely worth upgrading the BIOS when possible? I had always read that it wasn't necessarily worth updating it if my system was running normal (which it seems to be other then when I'm playing games that seem to put my system under significant load. I think I'm more concerned about possibly bricking my system more than anything.

Here is the directions on flashing your BIOS. DO NOTE, you will not be able to flash back to a older bios once you flash to the new bios.
https://www.asrock.com/support/BIOSIG.asp?cat=BIOS9

Here is the bios download page. Make sure this is your exact motherboard before just downloading and flashing. I mean its the one you listed so.
https://www.asrock.com/mb/intel/Z370 Extreme4/index.asp#BIOS

Heres the chipset drivers page.
https://www.asrock.com/mb/intel/Z370 Extreme4/index.asp#Download

 

[chrispcguy]

Temperature wise your cooling system is just coping however no throttling. I like to see temps below 80C on the t-die when under load.
Also your Rail voltages are well within spec so that should not be the problem.

Lets see if Memtest86 reveals anything.

As your SFC scan revealed corruption and successfully fix it, I would now get you to run CHKDSK c: /f from an elevated command prompt. Unexpected shutdowns or file corruption can create weird behavior with the SSD so eliminate that possibility.

Pending results from Memtest and chkdsk i'm out of ideas and as this seems to be happening whilst gaming I would look at the integrity of the game your playing.

Went ahead and ran Memtest. 4 passes, I monitored it throughout and saw that each pass was successful, no errors detected in either case.

https://imgur.com/a/iwXNX1K

View: https://imgur.com/a/iwXNX1K


I also ran ckdsk c: /f, it required a restart since C: drive is obviously in use, so any scanning and repairing was done during restart it appears. Thanks very much for your suggestions, I'm going to play a few of the suspect games and see if crashes continue, at this point I'm wondering if it's just a matter of bad air flow or something with my case and a temperature sensor in one of my components is triggering a shutdown or something. This issue exclusively happens when I'm in a long gaming session or am playing something that puts a significant load on my system. For me, that means just about any game running on Unreal Engine 4 for some reason.

 

[Jason H.]

Went ahead and ran Memtest. 4 passes, I monitored it throughout and saw that each pass was successful, no errors detected in either case.

https://imgur.com/a/iwXNX1K

View: https://imgur.com/a/iwXNX1K


I also ran ckdsk c: /f, it required a restart since C: drive is obviously in use, so any scanning and repairing was done during restart it appears. Thanks very much for your suggestions, I'm going to play a few of the suspect games and see if crashes continue, at this point I'm wondering if it's just a matter of bad air flow or something with my case and a temperature sensor in one of my components is triggering a shutdown or something. This issue exclusively happens when I'm in a long gaming session or am playing something that puts a significant load on my system. For me, that means just about any game running on Unreal Engine 4 for some reason.

You need to update the BIOS to rule it out. Its not your temps, from what you have described. Your max was 85c on prime 95 and thats WAY more than any game would push it.

 

[risoulaser]

This helped me

 

[chrispcguy]

You need to update the BIOS to rule it out. Its not your temps, from what you have described. Your max was 85c on prime 95 and thats WAY more than any game would push it.

I hear ya, I'm definitely going to update my BIOS when I have a free moment here, was just following up on some other suggestions and I also want to make sure I'm familiar with the process and understand the details of the latest version I flash to MOBO.

 

[DRagor]

To me this sounds like PSU overheating problem. How to check it? Move your PSU out of case and put a fan blowing on it (preferably in such way so the extra air goes to air intake on PSU). If it stops crashing or considerably increases the time it can work before it crashes this would be strong sign of overheating.