Seemingly random shutdown while playing games

[Topaz McGonagol]

So I built a computer about a week or so ago and there is annoying problem. When I play most games, (TF2, Civ 5, Dead Space 2) anywhere between 10- 30 minutes it locks up forcing me to restart. As well as this after the restarting after the crash it will start and stop then start again while booting. Originally it seemed to me like a heating problem so I installed some more fans and the problem still persists. The sensors show the CPU temp to never get much higher than mid 30's and the GPU in the low 40's. So I am stumped.

Mobo: Asus P8P67-M pro
CPU: Intel i5 2500K
GPU: Asus GTX 560
Ram: 8 gig DDR3
PSU: Corsair HX750
OS: Windows 7 professional 64bit

The lock ups aren't really consistant at all either. One day I can play deadspace on high settings for more than an hour the next it locks up on TF2 in 10 minutes. All drivers are updated and I checked the memory and they seem to be ok.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[rolli59]

Did you check the memory with Memtest? http://www.memtest86.com/download.html

 

[Topaz McGonagol]

Yeah I did that, no errors.

 

[rolli59]

Are you monitoring your temps?

 

[pepe2907]

It's possible to be not related to the hardware at all. Did you check your drivers, are you with newest graphics card drivers /try with oldder drivers too/ ? Did you try to reinstall Windows /a clean installation may be better/?
btw. did you check your events log if it's something there related to the problem?

Also, did you try resetting your BIOS?

 

[Topaz McGonagol]

I have been watching temps and the ones I put in the original post are where its around when the crash happens. I have newest graphics drivers and also tried the old one too, same problem. I just reset the BIOS so I will see if that helps and if it doesn't I will check event log.
I suppose a fresh windows install will be my last resort.

 

[Topaz McGonagol]

So it happened again and I checked Event Viewer. I am getting 41, 6008 and 10. I am pretty sure 41 and 6008 are a result of the unexpected restart. It is 10 that seems interesting. After a bit of searching I found someone who seems to be having the same problem I am. Apparently his graphics card was hitting 105 C and stopping.
So if I am having the exact same problem yet my card only gets up to 40 - 45 C is the card faulty?

 

[pepe2907]

It may be the graphics card as well as some other hardware problem, but I woldn't search for a hardware failure untill I trhrow aside possible software causes, like problems with drivers, messed up Windows etc., because usualy software issue troubleshooting comes cheaper.

 

[Topaz McGonagol]

So I am pretty sure I have found and fixed the problem. Someone from the nvidia forums let me know that some of the recent GTX 560's were clocked incorrectly from the manufacturer. So by increasing the memory clock a little and decreasing the shader it all works perfectly.