Help PC switching itself off during games?

[old.user4556]

Haaaalp,

I've started playing CS:S regularly again, but after a couple of minutes of play (sometimes I can get 10 to 15 minutes if i'm lucky) my PC will literally turn off as if I've held the power button down.

It never does this on desktop idling, or Photoshop, or anything else; just during games. Now, it is summer and the fact it's happening during games leads me to believe it's a driver issue or heat (I should point out that there are no other indicators - no sparklies, no corrupt graphics, nothing else dodgy going on).

Relevant spec is:

Windows 7 64-bit, service pack 1
Core 2 Duo 'Wolfdale' 3 GHz
6 GB of matched Crucial memory
ATI Radeon HD 4850
Full tower case, stock CPU cooling, stock GPU cooling and stock case cooling (optimised cabling inside, non cluttered).

I also downloaded GPU tool to see what my temperatures were like on my GFX card which was reported as 90c at idle (seems awfully high?). I overrode the fan setting to 100% and it dropped to 77c at idle.

Could be heat?

 

[Wazzerphuk]

I take it you have Automatic Restart disabled in your Startup and Recovery options?

 

[old.user4556]

Dunno.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Right Click PC -> Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Advanced -> Startup & Recovery.

Might not solve it but it's a good place to start.

 

[ECA]

4850 typically idles around 40-45 and will start freezing/locking/rebooting around 90+

Basically your gpu has gone tits and you need a new one. I know cuz I had 4 4850s on various pcs that have all died.

( heat block is probably chock full of dust as well, might fix it if you clean it ).

 

[caLLous]

Kneejerk reaction would be overheating GPU. I would try running HWiNFO64 and alt-tabbing out of the game after a few mins to see what temp it goes up to (it records max, min and current - I don't know if GPUTool does that).

 

[Kryten]

90? Jesus fuck, get a new card mate Let's not beat about the bush!
You can add another 20-30 degrees in load with ease, maybe more if it's old and the cooler isn't very effective. Usually it'll shut off at 100 to protect itself though...

 

[old.user4556]

Assuming it's fucked, ATi or nVidia these days?

 

[ECA]

ATI for price/performance typically.

nvidea runs quieter and cooler if that's particularly important.

Slap a 6850 in and you can run anything pretty much.

 

[old.user4556]

Well I like spunking cash, so would something like this suffice?

MSI ATI Radeon HD 6870 OC HAWK 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Lara Croft Game []

 

[old.user4556]

Ok so with chassis fans at 100% and GPU fan at 100%, it still got up to 110 degrees after 10 minutes of CS:S.

Edit: I'm going to take it out and clean it.

 

[Influenza]

Fan running at 9k rpm doesnt seem quite right either.

 

[ECA]

Well I like spunking cash, so would something like this suffice?

MSI ATI Radeon HD 6870 OC HAWK 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Lara Croft Game []

That isn't remotely spunking cash, but yes that will do nicely.

 

[old.user4556]

Fan running at 9k rpm doesnt seem quite right either.

I've overridden the fan speed to 100%

That isn't remotely spunking cash, but yes that will do nicely.

Great, seems to be a lot of performance for not much cash.

*remembers the days of TNT2 Ultra costing £400*

 

[TdC]

dudezor, fwiw I recently got an Nvidia GTX570 and it is the sex. Not even hella expensive either. Came off an Ati 4870. This time around I'm switching back to Nvidia for the first time in yonks...

 

[Access Denied]

I had this problem trying to play a game a few months back. My CPU was overheating and causing a shutdown. Turned out that my heatsink was full of dust. Cleaned that out and my CPU temp dropped 40 degrees, even when playing the game. Check that before you start looking for a new Graphics Card.

 

[old.user4556]

dudezor, fwiw I recently got an Nvidia GTX570 and it is the sex. Not even hella expensive either. Came off an Ati 4870. This time around I'm switching back to Nvidia for the first time in yonks...

How does it compare to the equivalent ATi?

Can the fanboys come into this thread and sell me their brand please?

 

[ECA]

Not interested in fanboyism, this gen, ATI has a decent advantage imo.

 

[old.user4556]

Weren't ATi cards notoriously for melting? I've had two Radeon cards now and had issues with them both, mind you my nVidia Geforce thingy melted too.

What melts less? What's more reliable?

 

[caLLous]

When I bought my 5870 last year, I think ATI were a whole generation ahead of Nvidia and the latter's cards were running hot and needed entire PSU's to power them (mild exagerration). TBH this card is still great for everything I play in 1920x1200, DiRT 3 looks fantastic maxed out, Crysis 2 ran like shit off a shovel before they brought out v1.9 with all the DX11 goodness and hi-res textures - now it chugs a bit but is juuuuuuuust about playable. Sometimes. If I'm not ouside. Or in a dusty environment. Or near some water. Or moving.



But, to re-iterate, everything up until Crysis 2 v1.9 has run like a dream.

 

[Kryten]

I've not long come across (and succesfully tried) a new method of fixing some cards. If memory has already melted it's a no go, but it's interesting anyway.

Pop the offending article onto a baking tray, on some tin foil, using some rolled up tin foil to stand the item proud. Preheat your oven to 200ºC then pop it in for 6-8 minutes. No longer.

Solder's melting point is between 180-210º depending on the type used, so what this does is soften all the solder points on the board, effectively repairing dry or unreliable solder joints. This is apparently a good fix for nv 8800 based cards that fail, however I used it to repair a laptop mainboard.

 

[Deebs]

I prefer ATI, got a 4870 running atm, bit old in the tooth but still working fine after 2+ years.

 

[GimmlyThe3rd]

Whats the case Airflow like? Should have a 120mm intake at the front and 120mm exhaust at the rear minimum these days .....

Take the card out, take off the heat sink and old thermal paste (alcohol) and put some good quality thermal-paste on it.But if your case airflow sucks and the fans are covered in thick dust, getting a new card won't help ....

I pref NVIDIA over ATI, one the software is better and my integrated ATI HD 3200 on my notebook shorted last week and died. 2 Days of hassle trying to source a new GPU and have someone solder it on the board.

 

[Roo Stercogburn]

Possibly the heatsink/fan is loose on the video card. I've had symptoms like this in the past. Taking apart the vid card, and sorting out the cohesion between the GPU and the heatsink/fan sorted it out.

If it turns out to be something like this, its much easier than spending hard-earned on new kit.

 

[Lamp]

Possibly the heatsink/fan is loose on the video card

/nods

I had that. PC randomly reset while playing. It was basically the graphics card. It was on the blink & the fans weren't cooling it down enough.

 

[old.user4556]

Just a wee update, I gutted and air dusted + hoovered the inside of case. I took all the cards out and gave the gfx card a good blast too as it was grey with dust.

Idle temps are now down to 58c / 59c with the fan spinning in quiet mode. It could have just been caked in dust.

 

[caLLous]

Use a rocket air blower lens cleaning thingy if you have one, they are awesome for this kind of thing.