to all you computer wizzes

[Lawrence_V._Sullivan]

okay, riddle me this.
about 2 weeks ago i was playing when all a sudden my power supply went pop. system shut down, and couldnt restart it. so i went and bought a new power supply, installed it, and my machine magically came back to life.
so i go do a little online shopping, downloaded a few songs, and probably checked out some porn or something. no problems at all.
load up the game, start playing, and blink......my system shuts down. turns itself off.
so i turn it back on, it comes right back up, i get in game, and it has no problem for about 3 hours of straight gameplay, then out of nowhere....blink. turned off again. its been doing that on and off for a couple of weeks now, just intermittently turns itself off when i am playing games. i can search the web all i want, but as soon as i start up a game its like playing Russian Roulette with yourself. you dont know when its coming, but you **** well know that it is.

i have been trying to check things out when it blinks off, and thought i found the problem in my video card over heating, so i replaced that....and upgraded a little (it was time), but its still doing it. any help with the issue would be greatly appreciated.

[United]

okay, riddle me this.
about 2 weeks ago i was playing when all a sudden my power supply went pop. system shut down, and couldnt restart it. so i went and bought a new power supply, installed it, and my machine magically came back to life.
so i go do a little online shopping, downloaded a few songs, and probably checked out some porn or something. no problems at all.
load up the game, start playing, and blink......my system shuts down. turns itself off.
so i turn it back on, it comes right back up, i get in game, and it has no problem for about 3 hours of straight gameplay, then out of nowhere....blink. turned off again. its been doing that on and off for a couple of weeks now, just intermittently turns itself off when i am playing games. i can search the web all i want, but as soon as i start up a game its like playing Russian Roulette with yourself. you dont know when its coming, but you **** well know that it is.

i have been trying to check things out when it blinks off, and thought i found the problem in my video card over heating, so i replaced that....and upgraded a little (it was time), but its still doing it. any help with the issue would be greatly appreciated.
sounds like your cpu is overheating. most computers when the cpu core overheats turns it self off to help it from blowing, the reason it happens only during games is cause the cpu is always running about 20% where as just surfing the web watching movies and what not maybe uses 5% of a dual core. I had that problem to with the old P4 it happens. Even had an intel core 2 duo randomly do that also a amd dual core did that to. oh almost forget when the PS blew out it may have short circuited the MB also that can happen thats why i brought a 200$ UPS from bestbuy along with a 5 yr 10,000$ computer equipment replacement plan. Geeks squad said if the computer goes bad cause the ups and the power messed it up i get 10,000$ to buy a whole new rig LOL but im down to only 2 yrs left on the 5 so far so good LOL

[Impaqt]

Give us a Detail of the SYstem.

What kind of power supply did y ou pick up?

Have you made sure all your fans are clear of debris and opperating properly?

[magic_charm]

just an idea but when does ur computer sun a system scan?

[ThrasherGT]

Don't know if this will help, But try going into:

Control panel

Administrative tools

Then "Event viewer"

This is on XP, don't know about Vista.

It might give You some idea about what was going on right before You shut down.....

[Freeman]

Hmm, it sounds like it could either be the new power supply or possibly something on the motherboard was damaged when the first power supply died. I'd check the CPU fan. About 75% of the times when I've seen a power supply die a violent death, the motherboard also never worked correctly again. It sounds like you've already changed out most other likely causes, and most components would be more likely to cause a crash or freeze instead of simply powering off. I would do some quick elimination tests by unplugging everything you don't need, only using one stick of RAM, etc., then playing a game to see if it repeats. Then repeat with another stick of RAM if it does. Since you've replaced the video card already, if it still crashes in the above steps, it has to either be the PS or something on the motherboard.

[Timjc86]

I have a couple of wild stabs based on only what you have told us:


The problem is the new power supply


It might be faulty.

The computer might be trying to draw more power than the PSU can put out.


The problem is on your motherboard

Something might have gotten zapped when your last PSU died and is now causing quirky issues.



I do not know of an easy way to verify either of these without having known good components on hand to switch out.

[DaveyCrockett]

Pull memory sticks one at a time until the problem stops.
Replace that memory stick.

[Dracolich]

Also you may be drawing too many amps for your PS's cable. I put a new system together and mindlesly forgot to use the cable that came with the new power supply. Check to make sure when you installed the new PS you connected the fan lead to the CPU fan. Also make sure your case vents are clear. You could have a bad ground on your outlet. You can get an outlet tester for like 3 bucks it plugs in and gives you a 3 light code priceless piece of equipment.

As others have stated though its more then likely your CPU fan is either not working or your MOBOs heat censor under the CPU is faulty.

[Tanks]

+1 on checking to make sure that the cpu is being properly cooled...make sure the cpu heatsink's fan starts/stays spinning when the system starts up...if it does, remove/replace the heatsink, clean cpu surface, replace thermal paste (very thin layer), remount heatsink. If the problem persists...

What sort of power supply did you buy? What are your system specs (please be very specific: videocard, # of drives, etc)? It's possible that you're pulling more juice at peak load than your powersupply can evenly provide.

Checking the Event Viewer is also a good idea, and probably the fastest way to see if there are any glaring problems. The System area is going to tell you whether you may have a drive or memory error (ie: page faults). This can definitely help narrow the playing field.

Keep us informed. :)

[Paladin_the_Wanderer]

Either:-
Your PSU doesn't have enough power to run everything, you said you just upgraded, would help if you posted to what. New gen mobo's GPU's, CPU's and add in a Sound card and you will need 550w straight away. Maybe more depending on what new componants you got and whether you are OC'ing or not.

Improper heat-sink orientation also has the same symptoms, as had been stated. Perhaps take the HS off and re-grease it, re-seat it firmly on the board.

Ahem, I also don't suppose you reset your power options in Windows by any chance? I'd look into that too... Can be acting strangely from one hardware setup to another.

[smithers]

It seems your problem is 1 of 4 things:


CPU is overheating
GPU is overheating
Mobo or other component (memory) was damaged when your other PSU fried.
Powersupply is insufficient for your overall system. If your supply is <600, or if you are running high-end video this is worth looking at regardless. A bit hard to measure your exact requirements so give it plenty; this is not an area to skimp on in system building.


You can test the first two by using this tool:
http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

Fire it up and watch your CPU and GPU temps in a normal non-gaming session.
Next, leave it on and watch temps while playing DDO and other games that are giving you problems. (It records peak temps as well as current temp)

I had GPU heat problems on a brand-new ATI 4850. Even though I was using a well-ventilated case, I had to add some extra cooling to keep the 4850 stable for DDO.

I think your problem is probably GPU temp. My video becomes unstable around 92 celcius. DDO was taking it to 94 before a hard crash. After some better cooling on my video it peaks at 84 in DDO. (I added a cooling backplate, a spot fan, and some new arctic cooling grease which together dropped it 10+ degrees)

Finally, note that the dx10 drivers for DDO are in Beta. I tried them out but had to revert after learning that they were crashing my system. Definitely make sure you are not using dx10 in DDO while you try to debug your system.

[darthmaul121783]

probly didn't get a power supply that could handel everything

look at your ould one their should be a watts number if you have add on video card

your power supply should be atleast 600 watts i have a high end card and need 800+ watts

so i got a 1000 watt power supply the problem is you need to make sure it will fit and if you get a high watt get a moduler one so that you can remove the undeeded cables

[Grimmlock]

Had same issue a few years ago. I replaced the brand new power supply I just bought and added a fan inside. Been running smooth ever since.

[United]

probly didn't get a power supply that could handel everything

look at your ould one their should be a watts number if you have add on video card

your power supply should be atleast 600 watts i have a high end card and need 800+ watts

so i got a 1000 watt power supply the problem is you need to make sure it will fit and if you get a high watt get a moduler one so that you can remove the undeeded cables

im sorry to say but the watts doesnt always matter. Its the quality of the PS, I am running AMD 5000+ oc to 3.2ghz, DDR2 OC to 1033mhz and a 9600 gt video 2 sata drives + blue ray dvd and a nice sound card + 5 120mm x 120mm fans running those at about 1000rpm and i only have 680 watt PS but I paid about 140$ for it was a top end thermal intake, but now you can get them for about 40$
well looks like they dont carry the 680s any more its down to 600
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2932372&CatId=1483 or get a good OCZ
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2235424&CatId=2533

[Lawrence_V._Sullivan]

Intel Core2 duo 6400 @2.13ghz
2 sticks of ddr2 ram 1 gig each
Zumax 500w power supply with an extra turbo fan
Geforce 9800gt video card with 512mb (400w power supply req)
300gig sata hard drive
windowsXP

i checked the heatsink, and it tried to chew my finger off when i went to touch it hehe.
i keep it pretty clean with canned air, so it may be a little dusty, but not bad at all. i currently have a full size fan on it with the tower open, and that seems to help a bit which leads me to believe that in fact it is something overheating. when i try to play Mass effect, or UT it never gets past the initial movie before shutting down. finally, i checked the event log, but it was all Greek to me hehe.
thx very much to everyone for all the suggestions and brainstorming. i just really want to avoid telling my wife that i need a new computer because i cant play video games anymore hehe. i think she would kill me with my own headphones cord while i wasnt paying attention.

[United]

Intel Core2 duo 6400 @2.13ghz
2 sticks of ddr2 ram 1 gig each
Zumax 500w power supply with an extra turbo fan
Geforce 9800gt video card with 512mb (400w power supply req)
300gig sata hard drive
windowsXP

i checked the heatsink, and it tried to chew my finger off when i went to touch it hehe.
i keep it pretty clean with canned air, so it may be a little dusty, but not bad at all. i currently have a full size fan on it with the tower open, and that seems to help a bit which leads me to believe that in fact it is something overheating. when i try to play Mass effect, or UT it never gets past the initial movie before shutting down. finally, i checked the event log, but it was all Greek to me hehe.
thx very much to everyone for all the suggestions and brainstorming. i just really want to avoid telling my wife that i need a new computer because i cant play video games anymore hehe. i think she would kill me with my own headphones cord while i wasnt paying attention.
ok with looking at that from what i remember the 9800 GT says 400 but for those cards you always want to add 200 more in your case you have almost next to nothing but a standard computer so 500 should be well over enough seeing how intels are suppose to be the most energy effection, atleast thats what intel brags about

[Paladin_the_Wanderer]

500w no matter how good the quality ain't gonna do a **** thing with that setup. Its a decent PSU thats pushing through alot of amps, trying real hard to keep up. Course things are gonna overheat, we're talkin electrons here. heh.. I would definately get a 650+ on that, perhaps even a 800 as the Graphics card, being a Nvidia is nothing if not power hungry to the extreme. Not to mention notorious for running hot. Still... try pushing down on all 4 corners of the Heat sink mount, if you get a click then no doubt problem solved.

[smithers]

If you test your CPU and GPU temps, and they are fine, then go ahead and upgrade the PSU.

I recently bought this one http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-008-CS
and it's the best one I've owned. You'll get it cheaper in the states.

Modular is nice (use only the connectors you need) and this thing is top quality (also known to be under-rated in terms of what it can handle. This Corsair 650 is probably equivalent in terms of load to what others sell as 800.)

[MrWizard]

okay, riddle me this.
about 2 weeks ago i was playing when all a sudden my power supply went pop. system shut down, and couldnt restart it. so i went and bought a new power supply, installed it, and my machine magically came back to life.
so i go do a little online shopping, downloaded a few songs, and probably checked out some porn or something. no problems at all.
load up the game, start playing, and blink......my system shuts down. turns itself off.
so i turn it back on, it comes right back up, i get in game, and it has no problem for about 3 hours of straight gameplay, then out of nowhere....blink. turned off again. its been doing that on and off for a couple of weeks now, just intermittently turns itself off when i am playing games. i can search the web all i want, but as soon as i start up a game its like playing Russian Roulette with yourself. you dont know when its coming, but you **** well know that it is.

i have been trying to check things out when it blinks off, and thought i found the problem in my video card over heating, so i replaced that....and upgraded a little (it was time), but its still doing it. any help with the issue would be greatly appreciated.

Okay...here is all the steps I would go for...

1- did the power supply really blow up? Did I test it to see if it can light up and turn on?

2- did I replace something lately that may be over doing my old and new power supply?

3- When adding and removing things from a computer, especially a power supply it is very easy to 'loosen' things that should not be loosened.
I would go through every single connection to that power unit and see if they are tight and secure.
Then I would check all cables going to everything to see if they are secure and tight.
Then I would check to make sure the ram is in right.

4- older computer can mean 'dust' and dirt. Usually not an issue, but when moving things around and replacing it can cause big issues. While checking the connections, check for dirt and dust.

5- are my fans working? Is my cpu fan working? Are any of the fans airflow gunked with dust and cat hair(!)..clean em.

6- Are the outside connections, especially to video, audio, and power tight, secure, and solid?

7- double check...are all the cards in their spots correctly and tight?


A lot of times a loose card, a loose cable, or insecure connections can just cause a computer to shut off or reboot.

Too low of a power supply can take out components as well as cause issues.

Too many things plugged into that circuit in your house can be an issue too. As can too long of extension cords.

If nothing has changed at all lately and your power supply just blew up...and your video card fried.....and everything else is cool then you could have a real issue.


I had a bad audio card that would cause a crash just by pulling the headphone cable a tiny bit. My bad video card caused many issues for months before it blew.

Try returning that supply and getting a bigger one.
And add up the amps of everything you are plugging into that circuit (not just the socket)...

My video and power supply only had issues when playing the online game for long periods..other than that nothing was wrong. So I got a better power supply and a new card.

You could also have some electrical issues in the house....do you lose power (brown out) a lot? Do other things in your house freak out (besides the significant other?)

best case...sell it on craigs list and buy a brand new one!!!!!

[MrWizard]

Intel Core2 duo 6400 @2.13ghz
2 sticks of ddr2 ram 1 gig each
Zumax 500w power supply with an extra turbo fan
Geforce 9800gt video card with 512mb (400w power supply req)
300gig sata hard drive
windowsXP

i checked the heatsink, and it tried to chew my finger off when i went to touch it hehe.
i keep it pretty clean with canned air, so it may be a little dusty, but not bad at all. i currently have a full size fan on it with the tower open, and that seems to help a bit which leads me to believe that in fact it is something overheating. when i try to play Mass effect, or UT it never gets past the initial movie before shutting down. finally, i checked the event log, but it was all Greek to me hehe.
thx very much to everyone for all the suggestions and brainstorming. i just really want to avoid telling my wife that i need a new computer because i cant play video games anymore hehe. i think she would kill me with my own headphones cord while i wasnt paying attention.

power supply too low....
the video card alone wants 400...Do not be afraid to buy a 600 or 700 watt er

[Paladin_the_Wanderer]

ok with looking at that from what i remember the 9800 GT says 400 but for those cards you always want to add 200 more in your case you have almost next to nothing but a standard computer so 500 should be well over enough seeing how intels are suppose to be the most energy effection, atleast thats what intel brags about
Intel boards and CPU's ARE very energy efficient, but MULTI-cores mean more amps are needed, which means you must get a higher amp rated PSU, like it or not. Cheap-ass PSU's don't have the amperage to pull off even this kinda setup, when you are talkin about new gen hardware.

Yeah, modular is cool Smithers. Less obstruction in the case means better airflow and all the cables are meshed too which means that what you do use is also space efficient.

Nvidia's are junk Lawrie. Don'y listen to sheep bleeting the same sound as they do or else you'll be stuck on XP forever and screw yourself over for a phenom. Get a rid of XP, for one, it can't handle new gen hardware very well and if your GC is still under warranty swap it for a 3800 or 4800 series ATi/AMD card. I got the 3850 from GeCube the factory OC'ed one (When it came out) and Vista gives my rig a 5.9 performance rating. I just installed FC2 and play DX10 with ultra everything without a single glitch. No game or AV conversion to date taxes my machine.
Nothing beats 64 bit computing, nothing!

My rig?
Intel Quad-core
4 gig Geil DDR2
GeCube 3850 OC edition
2x Asus burners (SATA)
100, 250, 500 WD SATA2 drives
Multi mem card reader
Sound blaster X-Fi extreme
ThermalTake 750 PSU
All naturally aspirated

[liamfrancais]

I had a similar problem a while back I had to replace the video card to stop the problem and let me tell you it was not easy finding a vid card to go in a 5 year old machine.

[aldan]

It seems your problem is 1 of 4 things:


CPU is overheating
GPU is overheating
Mobo or other component (memory) was damaged when your other PSU fried.
Powersupply is insufficient for your overall system. If your supply is <600, or if you are running high-end video this is worth looking at regardless. A bit hard to measure your exact requirements so give it plenty; this is not an area to skimp on in system building.


You can test the first two by using this tool:
http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

Fire it up and watch your CPU and GPU temps in a normal non-gaming session.
Next, leave it on and watch temps while playing DDO and other games that are giving you problems. (It records peak temps as well as current temp)

I had GPU heat problems on a brand-new ATI 4850. Even though I was using a well-ventilated case, I had to add some extra cooling to keep the 4850 stable for DDO.

I think your problem is probably GPU temp. My video becomes unstable around 92 celcius. DDO was taking it to 94 before a hard crash. After some better cooling on my video it peaks at 84 in DDO. (I added a cooling backplate, a spot fan, and some new arctic cooling grease which together dropped it 10+ degrees)

Finally, note that the dx10 drivers for DDO are in Beta. I tried them out but had to revert after learning that they were crashing my system. Definitely make sure you are not using dx10 in DDO while you try to debug your system.

I agree that the CPU may be overheating, run the tool and check your temps. PC will auto shutdown to save itself.

Also, google for a powersupply calculator and input the devices you have. Maybe during normal usage your amps are fine but when gaming and heavy use, the PS cant handle the load. Those are my first guesses.

[Tanks]

...also, do you have any thermal-throttling management options selected in your bios?

[Kreaper]

Go here (http://www.download.com/SpeedFan/3000-2094_4-10067444.html) and download SpeedFan. You can monitor your temps and power with it. Maybe it will help a bit.

[GeneFrenkle]

okay, riddle me this.
about 2 weeks ago i was playing when all a sudden my power supply went pop. system shut down, and couldnt restart it. so i went and bought a new power supply, installed it, and my machine magically came back to life.
so i go do a little online shopping, downloaded a few songs, and probably checked out some porn or something. no problems at all.
load up the game, start playing, and blink......my system shuts down. turns itself off.
so i turn it back on, it comes right back up, i get in game, and it has no problem for about 3 hours of straight gameplay, then out of nowhere....blink. turned off again. its been doing that on and off for a couple of weeks now, just intermittently turns itself off when i am playing games. i can search the web all i want, but as soon as i start up a game its like playing Russian Roulette with yourself. you dont know when its coming, but you **** well know that it is.

i have been trying to check things out when it blinks off, and thought i found the problem in my video card over heating, so i replaced that....and upgraded a little (it was time), but its still doing it. any help with the issue would be greatly appreciated.

What kind of graphics card do you have and where do you have it plugged in? It could be overdrawing the current on the power supply when you are running 3D rendering stuff. If your graphics card is plugged directly into the mother board, try connecting it directly to the power supply instead. If that doesn't work you may need a power supply with a higher wattage rating.

[BurnerD]

based on the specs you posted I agree with the other folks.... a 500w PS is not sufficient for your system. What was the wattage of the one you replaced?

I would try suggest doubling the wattage your card requires to be safe... it should give you plenty of head room. Like someone else said don't be the cheapest power supply at that range... get a solid unit. You can go online to a site like www.tomshardware.com and get reviews....

[Lawrence_V._Sullivan]

thank you everyone for all of your help.....after all of my troubleshooting and this and that, i opened the tower up and was going to remove the heatsink to check my processor and lo and behold i found that it was a bit loose. i tightened it, and havnt had a system shutdown since. i believe someone posted that as a possible solution, and to that person i say thank you very much.....and to the rest of you that helped out, i say beers on me!!!

CHEERS!

[studentx]

You should also pick up a battery back up, should run you less than $150 USD. Be sure to test you electrical circuit, even if your living in a new home. (Contractors on new homes were slamming them out fast up until a year ago, hence wiring isn't always the best.) Do some research check the the mobo and power supply manufacturers forums for known conflicts with your hardware (mobo and power , mobo and vid, cpu and power, power and vid, etc). Double check specs to make sure your hardware is being fed power according to specs. Temperature test your internals. 3Dmark is nice but I find running oblivion or another cpu and graphic intense game for 30mins to an hour a better benchmark. (Temp test again.)

Like others have said your mobo may have been taken out.
If you post your exact hardware you may find that some other forum members have had similar problems with similar hardware.

[MyloInKY]

i just really want to avoid telling my wife that i need a new computer because i cant play video games anymore hehe. i think she would kill me with my own headphones cord while i wasnt paying attention.

Go out and buy a cordless set of headphones. PROBLEM SOLVED!