Please, I need help with my pc. It shuts off!

Sam

I am on the verge of killing myself here!

For months my computer suddenly shuts off during intense gaming.
At first I thought it was overheating; so I bought a Zalman 9700; nothing. Because I still thought it was overheating, I put my case next to my window AC unit, and it NEVER shut off. Temps were very low.
But 4-5 mins after turning off the AC, my pc shuts off during gaming! (I play gothic 3, battlefield 2, hitman blood money).

I called Asus and they told me that it has to be the chipset that's faulty; so they gave me an RMA number, and then sent me a new motherboard; it arrived last Friday. I've played my games for a week, and everything was allright. But today, playing battlefield 2, it shuts off! I tried it on Gothic 3, and it shut off also. I don't know what the hell to do!
If Asus sent me a new board, it must have been cause the last one was failing. Why then does my pc keep shutting off??

System Specs.
m2n sli deluxe
amd 5200+ am2
2.6 ghz
evga 7950 gt
2gb corsair.


I would really appreciate any help!

Kentigern

Sam wrote:

I put my case next to my window AC unit, and it NEVER shut off. Temps were very low.
But 4-5 mins after turning off the AC, my pc shuts off during gaming!

The above does seem to indicate over-heating.

You probably have checked all fans including the ones on your graphic card & PSU are actually working correctly, not just slowly.
Are the fins on the fans free from dust.

Sam

Yeah, I checked those. I have also used a leaf blower to blow inside my case.

What I don't understand, is if ASUS gave me a new motherboard, it must have been cause the one I sent was failing, right? so they sent me a new board and a week after using it, my pc crashes.

Thrax

Your old one may have been killed, not died on its own volition, because something else is amiss with your PC. The PSU comes to mind.

Sam

It came to mind too a few weeks after building my new pc; which is what I wrote down for specs. I used to have a 400w psu, and then I bought a cooler master 600w.

What I've been thinking about today is: This problem FIRST happened when I was playing Need for Speed Most Wanted. At first thought it could be Hard Drive, so I bought a new one. I then bought a new OS, Windows XP Home; but it still failed. I went through software after software testing; memtest86, orthos, nvidia stress test, nod32, etc... so it's definetely not software, otherwise it wouldn't shut down as if somebody had pulled the plug.

I bought the new pc in February of this year; the only thing that's left from the old pc, is the HD, but that was the first thing I changed when the pc died.

I was thinking: I have my Sony stereo, my monitor and my pc all plugged into the same outlet (those three plugged into one white thing, and that white thing plugged into the outlet on the wall; forgot what the white thing is called); could there be any electrical problem that makes my pc shut down?

Thrax

Can't really say without testing the voltage from your wall.

Sam

What would be the right volts from my wall? I have a voltmeter around, I can check it if you want.

Thrax

110v or 120v, 60Hz

Sam

I'll check it in about 25 mins when my dad gets home, he has it in his car.
thank you.

Sam

My dad let someone else borrow it.... And that was a month ago.

Either way.

Something I've been thinking about.
Could there be some kind of feature that makes my pc overclock?

I have AI Gear, which came with the mobo. This utility lets me set the performance level of my pc. When I cold boot my pc, my computer sounds as if it was gonna explode. I go on AI gear, and the default performance of the pc is on MAX (MAX-HIGH-MEDIUM-LOW). When I change it to high, my computer slows down; and it's much quieter.

Could it be that this entire time my computer has been over clocking itself without my knowledge?
If so, maybe that would explain all the shut; and why my mobo was replaced by a new one (ran out of life).

I'm checking that out right now.

RichD

I bought an ASUS M2V motherboard at my last upgrade and it stank like stale vomit! Mine kept reseting randomly and after about a week and a half it just died! The power light on the MB would not light up as though the power suply had died but the PSU worked fine with another board. My conclusion was that sopmething had gone big time wrong on the board so I went and bought a new Gigabyte S3 series from PC Word. £60, it went straight in not messing around. I was really disappointed because all my old boards were ASUS before upgrade and they ran solid as a rock for four years!

I wouldn't rule out overheating though. What case and fans are you using?

Sam

Im using the retail fans of the case. I also bought a zalman 9700 for my processor. My case is open and the fans are blowing the right way.

I am gonna send my processor chip to AMD on monday, they paying for my overnight shipping.

we'll see how it goes from there.

Sam

I am starting to believe that it could be my Power Supply.
I did buy a new one when my pc started crashing, but my brother has found out something.

Could my PSU not have enough juice to run at full gaming?


These are my PSU specs.


CoolerMaster ATX12v
RS-500-PCAR 600W

AC Input: 110v-115v/220v 10A/6 3A50/60hz

DC Output: +3.3vl+5vl+12v1l+12v2l-5vl-12vl+5Vsb

Max Output: 28Al 30Al 18Al 18Al 0.8Al 0.8Al 2.0A


Someone said in another forums, that my video card, 7950 GT, needs at least 12v@22A.
And I have 12v@18A.

I just read in the EVGA website, that my video card requires a minimum of 12v@20A.

could that be the problem?

Thrax

It's 22 <i>combined</i> amps. You have two 12v rails, at 18 amps a piece.

Your PSU is fine.

csimon

Just a suggestion ...make sure all of your drivers are up-to-date. I'd been having problems for the past 6 mos and this simple step was the solution to all of my woes. Try it ...might help.

Sam

All my drivers are up to date. Just yesterday I downloaded my vcard's driver; and it still shut down.

Could it be that it's a faulty PSU then??

I am **** out of ideas as to what it could be.

Qeldroma

Have you flashed your BIOS to the latest version?

If so try clearing and reestablishing your settings. DO NOT OVERCLOCK. You may want to try shutting off any power-save features to see if that helps.

Vintage86

Could it be that your graphic card is overheating, I had a Ati 9800 pro that was doing that.

Sam

I used my brothers 7900 gt and my pc still shut down.

I emailed Cooler Master ( For my PSU), so I'm waiting on a reply.

GHoosdum

What case do you have your computer inside? If it is very restrictive of airflow, you might be experiencing overheating when the AC is off because of stagnant hot air inside the case. Also see what happens if you leave the side of the case off during gaming without additional AC cooling.

adarryl

You say you have 2 gigs of Corsair ram. If that is 2 modules, pull one out and test your PC. If it works without shutdowns, swap the ram modules and test again. There is a possibility that one of your ram dimms is defective and this test would narrow it down if that is the case. Just a thought. GL!

RichD

My guess says it is not memory as it seems to be affected by load on the PC. This suggests either Power or Heat issues. Try playing with your memory but I would test your PSU. I would also try removing you CPU heatsink, cleaning it up and refitting it with fresh thermal compound. If you have tried a different GPU I dont see it being a problem with that.