Computer nerds get in here

[JohnnyTheFox]

I'm having a problem when I play graphically intense games and the GPU really cranks the PC will just up and reboot. No BSOD, no error message just a plain reboot.

I've checked all the Power supple cables to make sure they are seated probably, as well as any other connections/cable. The temps at least checking from the Bios are normal. Dust isn't a issue as well as I am OCD about keeping it 100% dust free. Also the RAM is seated properly.

All of the hardware in the PC, CPU, Ram, GPU, SSD's, Motherboard are 2-3 years old. The PSU however is a good thermaltake with a 5 year warranty and is around 5 years old give or take a few months.

I hate to use Dr Google when{trying}to diagnose a problem like this but right now its basically my only resort, anyways a lost of the stuff ive read seems to point to a PSU going out.

Your thoughts?

 

[Meat-O-Rama]

Heat.

Either the GPU or CPUs or both are producing too much heat causing a hardware reboot (vs Windows giving you an error and restarting).

You can start by adding more or bigger fans to the computer case to move more cool air through. After that you can find aftermarket heat sinks and fans for both the CPU and GPU that will improve your ability to dissipate the heat.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Heat.

Either the GPU or CPUs or both are producing too much heat causing a hardware reboot (vs Windows giving you an error and restarting).

You can start by adding more or bigger fans to the computer case to move more cool air through. After that you can find aftermarket heat sinks and fans for both the CPU and GPU that will improve your ability to dissipate the heat.

I have 3 120mm fans, a 200mm exhaust fan on top plus a 212 EVO for the CPU. The PC doesn't hasn't one iota of dust in it and I even tried it with the case open on this 1 particular game and after about 20 secs I got the reboot.

 

[Jenky]

I'm having a problem when I play graphically intense games and the GPU really cranks the PC will just up and reboot. No BSOD, no error message just a plain reboot.

I've checked all the Power supple cables to make sure they are seated probably, as well as any other connections/cable. The temps at least checking from the Bios are normal. Dust isn't a issue as well as I am OCD about keeping it 100% dust free. Also the RAM is seated properly.

All of the hardware in the PC, CPU, Ram, GPU, SSD's, Motherboard are 2-3 years old. The PSU however is a good thermaltake with a 5 year warranty and is around 5 years old give or take a few months.

I hate to use Dr Google when{trying}to diagnose a problem like this but right now its basically my only resort, anyways a lost of the stuff ive read seems to point to a PSU going out.

Your thoughts?

It initially sounds like a power issue with the graphics card or your PSU. How many watts is your PSU rated for? Use coretemp to monitor the CPU temperatures to see how high they get. Nvidia and AMD card should have software that monitors the GPU temps too.

Did you perhaps get a beefier GPU?

 

[TheCount]

Sounds like a power supply issue to me.

Hard to tell from the way you wrote it, but are you saying the PSU is the oldest part of the machine?

It sounds like you upgraded/replaced just about everything else but kept the old PSU. If so, there's a good chance it just can't keep up with the power demands on all your new parts when you stress them.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Couple of things.

• Checking the temps, are you using a windows application to track them? (possibly on a second monitor while gaming) Your CPU / GPU could be overheating, though many Intel CPUs will downclock themselves if they start getting really hot. Not sure about GPUs.
• Do you smell any burning from the PSU?
• Did this just start out of the blue or did you upgrade / change something? What is your PSU's power output vs what you have in your PC? You very well could be drawing more power than the PSU can handle. (or your PSU is starting to fail)
• Does this happen only on the most intense games, but not other less intense graphics games?
• When it happens what is your CPU and GPU resource usage? If they are both maxing out, you could be overpowering your PSU.

These types of outright reboots and most likely power or specific hardware (memory) related. Other errors will just cause Windows to error on screen.

You can always buy a PSU from Newegg and test it. If it don't fix it, you can return it.

 

[Supercowboy1986]

I had the same exact problem.

Are you over clocking the CPU, GPU, RAM or anything else? Is your pc elevated? If you have carpet and if your pc is sitting directly on the carpet it can cause static electricity and random power surges.

I thought it was a PSU issue too but when I flashed my bios to default settings I noticed it automatically overclocked my CPU and RAM. I changed the over clocking settings and it stopped restarting. I also got a new surge protector and placed my pc on a stand. Computer has never restarted again.

For a reference I am running:
I7-3770k (prolly why my pc kept wanting to OC)
16gb ram (2x8)
2 ssd and 1 regular hd
Gtx 1080
2 24" monitors
Asus sabertooth z77 motherboard
650w PSU

 

[Reality]

It is quite possible that your computer is getting a BSOD but the computer is set to automatically reboot on BSOD rather than show the blue screen of death and wait for you to do it. I encountered this a few years ago and kept thinking it was a hardware reboot because it never showed a BSOD error. That's when I found out about the System Failure -> Automatically Reboot setting that was bypassing the BSOD display and rebooting the computer. I was able to track down the problem eventually once I could see the BSOD message.

Search Google for "windows system failure automatic restart" (without the quotes) and add your windows version to it.

 

[Preoccupied]

In line with all the above install bsod checker by nirsoft in conjuction with the heat setting investigations.
Can you overclock fan speed on cpu and Gould to run closer to 100% all the time ?

 

[CyberB0b]

Check event and system logs.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

It initially sounds like a power issue with the graphics card or your PSU. How many watts is your PSU rated for? Use coretemp to monitor the CPU temperatures to see how high they get. Nvidia and AMD card should have software that monitors the GPU temps too.

Did you perhaps get a beefier GPU?

The current processor and video card are the i7-4790K and AMD R290 both at stock clocks. The GPU ive had around 3.5 years, the PSU is a smart series 750 watts with a 5 yr warranty and ive had it around 5 years and 2 months. Will try coretemp and see whats up.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Sounds like a power supply issue to me.

Hard to tell from the way you wrote it, but are you saying the PSU is the oldest part of the machine?

It sounds like you upgraded/replaced just about everything else but kept the old PSU. If so, there's a good chance it just can't keep up with the power demands on all your new parts when you stress them.

Yes the PSU is the oldest part of the build, this just started happening in the last couple weeks so my guess is the PSU is gradually going out.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Couple of things.

• Checking the temps, are you using a windows application to track them? (possibly on a second monitor while gaming) Your CPU / GPU could be overheating, though many Intel CPUs will downclock themselves if they start getting really hot. Not sure about GPUs.
• Do you smell any burning from the PSU?
• Did this just start out of the blue or did you upgrade / change something? What is your PSU's power output vs what you have in your PC? You very well could be drawing more power than the PSU can handle. (or your PSU is starting to fail)
• Does this happen only on the most intense games, but not other less intense graphics games?
• When it happens what is your CPU and GPU resource usage? If they are both maxing out, you could be overpowering your PSU.

These types of outright reboots and most likely power or specific hardware (memory) related. Other errors will just cause Windows to error on screen.

You can always buy a PSU from Newegg and test it. If it don't fix it, you can return it.

Will download MSI afterburner and Intel temp monitor tonight and check while I am in game.
No, haven't smelled any burning. I have never had a PSU fail gradually it was always abruptly and w/o warning.
The PSU is rated at 750 watts and the 2 yr old proc is the i7-4790K, before that I had a AMD FX8350 which was a huge power draw.
Seems to happen in only graphically demanding games, I know usually when GPUs are failing you most of the time get artifacting instead of reboots.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

I had the same exact problem.

Are you over clocking the CPU, GPU, RAM or anything else? Is your pc elevated? If you have carpet and if your pc is sitting directly on the carpet it can cause static electricity and random power surges.

I thought it was a PSU issue too but when I flashed my bios to default settings I noticed it automatically overclocked my CPU and RAM. I changed the over clocking settings and it stopped restarting. I also got a new surge protector and placed my pc on a stand. Computer has never restarted again.

For a reference I am running:
I7-3770k (prolly why my pc kept wanting to OC)
16gb ram (2x8)
2 ssd and 1 regular hd
Gtx 1080
2 24" monitors
Asus sabertooth z77 motherboard
650w PSU

Nope, stock clocks across the board and even checked the bios to confirm so. Will change out surge protectors tonight and see if that makes a difference and yes its on carpet. Don't think that would cause reboots.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

It is quite possible that your computer is getting a BSOD but the computer is set to automatically reboot on BSOD rather than show the blue screen of death and wait for you to do it. I encountered this a few years ago and kept thinking it was a hardware reboot because it never showed a BSOD error. That's when I found out about the System Failure -> Automatically Reboot setting that was bypassing the BSOD display and rebooting the computer. I was able to track down the problem eventually once I could see the BSOD message.

Search Google for "windows system failure automatic restart" (without the quotes) and add your windows version to it.

Automatic restart is already unchecked. Weird.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Check event and system logs.

Will do that ASAP BOb, Thanks!
I assume{?} I am supposed to be looking in system log?
If so this is the first error I received last night while running the game.


"The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly"

 

[Ranching]

Where are all the hot chicks?? I'm out!

 

[YosemiteSam]

Will download MSI afterburner and Intel temp monitor tonight and check while I am in game.
No, haven't smelled any burning. I have never had a PSU fail gradually it was always abruptly and w/o warning.
The PSU is rated at 750 watts and the 2 yr old proc is the i7-4790K, before that I had a AMD FX8350 which was a huge power draw.
Seems to happen in only graphically demanding games, I know usually when GPUs are failing you most of the time get artifacting instead of reboots.

My two PSUs are also 750s. One with an AMD 8320, Nvidia 960, and 5 HDs. ((4) 2TB SATA and (1) 256GB SSD and now a i7 6800K and a Nvidia 1060 and (2) SSD drives).

750 should be more than enough for what you're running I'm thinking. You could have a failing capacitor or something in the PSU. You can look inside the PSU and see if you see any bulging caps. Don't touch them though unless you know how to discharge them properly. Those can be holding 120+ volts and untold amps.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Where are all the hot chicks?? I'm out!

I gotcha covered Ranching!

 

[YosemiteSam]

Nope, stock clocks across the board and even checked the bios to confirm so. Will change out surge protectors tonight and see if that makes a difference and yes its on carpet. Don't think that would cause reboots.

Yeah, I never overclock. The CPUs today are more power than anything I do except processing my astrophotography. All that does is shorten the lifespan of your hardware. I'll pass.