Computer dying during Game

Hello all, got another problem going on. Lately, my computer has been randomly dying, (all of a sudden, the monitor shuts off, i get the standard 5 seconds till off message, however the computer is still "on" fans running and all) and the only way to get it back on, is to turn it off, then on again (restart button has no effect.) This only happens when i'm playing a game it seems. Happened a couple of times when i was playing Morrowind, and significantly more when i've been playing World of Warcraft. I've cleaned out all the fans, no dust w/in the system, however i noticed that sometime in the last week my Powersupply fan died (rush ordered a new one, for now i'm using a small desk fan blowing in.) I would assume this is the problem however it's been happening for half a year now. It hasn't bothered me to much considering it only happened once or twice during the long time i played Morrowind, and i only was able to play WoW Stress test beta for 4 days (happend at least 10 times during this). Now however, i have a open beta slot and i intend to play for a good bit (between schoolwork that is) and it's becoming a reacurring problem. Any ideas would be helpful! Thanks again guys!

p.s. i'm guessing this is more of a hardware problem which is why i'm posting it here instead of software


Specs: AMD XP 2100+; 512 mb DDR pc2100; GeForce4 Ti4200 120mb ddr; kr7a266;

if you need any other information i'll post it as possible

 

You will find when you get a new power supply fan your problem will go away. Power supplies are designed to shut down or hibernate the machine if they hit certain temperatures. Most likely your ad-lib fan isnt as effective as the purpose built one for the PS. Interested to see if problem doesnt go away when you get the new PS fan, if so re-post.

Why it happens sooner or more often during certain programs is some programs use more power or resources that heat the system up more rapidly, including the PS. Like 3D games require more power from your system for the video card to do its thing, than if you were just typing a document or something. It also makes the video card run hotter when you use it more for something like a game, which in turn heats the whole system up more, including the PS. My PC runs 10 degrees Celcius hotter when i play a 3D game than when i am not. I know this by having temperature monitoring software on my PC, that came with the motherboard.

 

But Dez, how is he going to swap out a power supply fan without the possibility of electrocuting himself from the whopping capacitors in his PSU? I'd also think that there are some PSUs in which the fan cannot be easily replaced.

There is also the possibility that the power supply is simply bad but what Dez says might just be spot on.

I've gotten brand name 420W psus for ~$40. (US)

 

If you dont swap the fan with power plugged in, then you wont be electrocuted. If worried about retained charge in things like capacitors, use a plastic or wooden handled screwdriver and touch all the components lightly inside the PSU, which should show you if there was any retained charge, and should discharge any leftover charge. So far i havent had to do this as most PSU are lifeless when they have no power.

Yes sometimes it is hard to swap PSU fans as they have wires soldered to the board inside, instead of a plug, and such work should really be done by someone who knows what they are doing.

Finally after thinking about it more, i would consider not just replacing the PSU fan but teh whole power supply. This is because a) It is safer and b)The PSU fan failing and subsequent overheats may have damaged the PSU or weakened it. It doesnt cost much for a PSU, so consider buying a new one.

Cya!

 

Hey, thanks for replying guys. what i ment by i rush ordered a new one was, i bought a new 400 W PowerSupply. I just installed it but i havn't had the time, and i don't think i will until all these tests/papers are finished this week (sometime around wed), to play as long as it takes for the comp to die (2-4 hours of gameplay. I'll give you and update sometime wed night or early thursday morning. Hopefully it was just a bad powersupply Thanks again.

 

Ok, i found about a 2 hour window to play, and it happened again. my temp has gone up tho, since i put the side back on, even w/ a working PS fan. Any more ideas on what could be causing the trouble?

 

Try with the side off the case and running the desk fan again. Let us know if it runs OK, otherwise it maybe a drivers problem (check for updated drivers for your motherboard and video).

Certainly sounds like a heat problem though.

You could check in the BIOS/CMOS settings (at startup) if there is a "temperature shutdown" setting (set it a little higher as a test?). There should be temperature readouts there as well. Everest (in my signature) will give you a sensor readout (although, check that the Everest readouts agree with the BIOS readings).

Check the FAQs/forums at the motherboard manufacturer's website if there may be any similar problems.

Matt
Temperature problem...the CPU may need to have the thermal compound replaced or overall may require better cooling (more fans).

 

I started running w/ the side off when it shut down the first time tonight, still happened later on, side fan is going to. w/ the fan, the core temp is 44*C and the case temp is 34* (running 100% in game ~48* core, 39* case) so i don't think thats the problem. I'll check the bios and raise it tho. i turned off alot of the video extras in game, shading etc and it happened 2 times in 10 min, then it was fine for the last 2 hours. might just be overworking my video card.

 

Yes once you eliminated the faulty PSU as a cause and it had to be as a faulty PSU can cause almost anything, it would seem apparent your video card is overheating. I have a 10 degree celcius rise when i play games, and it can make the CPU fan throttle a lot if it is a warm day as well, but i dont shut down.

My guess is if your video card is heating up enough to shut you down, it will not last long however you use it now. Get a new video card.

Your old one will have a fault causing too much heat, and/or damage caused by too much heat.

mouthful

cya!

 

just letting everyone know in case it happens to someone else. comp was starting to run kind of hot, 50*, not horrible but hot, so i decided to take the heatsink off and reapply some artic silver. i noticed that some of the thermal tape that was used when my system was first bought (replaced after 4 months w/ artic silver) had melted. i noticed this the first time i switched heatsinks however, when i took the heatsink back off, i saw that there was a little bit left on the chip. apparently even this small gap between the heatsink and chip can cause a 10* rise in temp and seeminly cause the shutdowns i was experiencing. eversince i scraped it off and reapplied thermal grease, i havn't crashed once. used to crash every 2 hours. still not sure why, comp wasn't set to shut off on any temp, and it was only 53, which isn't critical. but that seems to be the problem! hope this helps someone else later on, if you're changing your heatsink and you used thermal tape, make sure you get EVERY last bit off the chip and around the chip.

Charles

 

Hi Charles,

Good news that you got it sorted out. Thanks for letting us know.

On my first big adventure into replacing the thermal compound, I was trying to get my friend's AMD 2700+ down from about 62-63*C. I worked out the removal and application technique (a paper thin layer) and finally managed to get it down to the low 50s. He has quite a bit of heavy-duty hardware and had installed the maximum number of case fans...so I was quite pleased.

Even a small air bubble or gap can stop the heat transference.

Hope it goes well for you and also, you now have that valuable experience.

Matt