GPU or PSU Overheating Issue?

nhartwell1986

New member
Hello everyone, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm at a loss here.

First I'll post my specs

Case PCS ALPHA TRION 7622B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4690 (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® Z97-E: ATX, USB3.0, SATA 6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE
Memory (RAM) 8GB Kingston DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 4GB AMD RADEON™ R9 380 - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 12, Eyefinity
2nd Graphics Card NONE
1st Storage Drive 1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
2nd Storage Drive NONE
3rd Storage Drive NONE
4th Storage Drive NONE
1st M.2 SSD Drive NONE
1st PCI-E SSD Drive NONE
2nd PCI-E SSD Drive NONE
RAID NONE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NONE
External Hard Drive NONE
Memory Card Reader NONE
Power Supply CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting 60cm Blue LED Strip - To Compliment The Colours of Your Case
Fan Controller NONE
Extra Case Fans NONE
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Router/HomePlugs NONE
USB/Thunderbolt Options MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Firewire NONE
Operating System Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Windows Recovery Media Windows 10 (64-bit) Home DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Browser Google Chrome™
Monitor NONE
2nd Monitor NONE
3rd Monitor NONE
4th Monitor NONE
Monitor Cables NONE
Eyefinity Adapter NONE
Keyboard & Mouse LOGITECH® K120 USB KEYBOARD
Mouse PCS S300 USB OPTICAL MOUSE
Gaming Mouse Pad ROCCAT™ Taito Mini Gaming Mouse Mat
Game Streaming NONE
Games Controller NONE
Speakers NONE
Webcam NONE
Headsets NONE
Surge Protection MasterPlug SRG62 6 Socket 2m Surge Protector
Cable Management NONE
Printer NONE
Warranty 3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)


Ok, now to my problem :)

Up until around 3 weeks ago I had never had any issues with my PC having had it for a shade over 3 years. I could happily run games like Total War Warhammer 2, Assassins Creed Origins on very high or Ultra settings plus many others requiring less effort from my PC. Then i started noticing a stuttering lag. The Frame rate would be smooth for a few minutes and then for another few minutes it would be fine for 1-2 seconds and then "stutter" I managed to replicate this exact thing on Heaven Benchmark a day or two ago and its showed the FPS going from 75 down to 35 and then back up again etc continuously and very rapidly causing a jerky motion. After 3-4 minutes my PC just shutdown all together without rebooting. I would turn it on again OK and the same would happen when i put it under duress. I have this issue as well in Civilization 6 of all things after 10 minutes of play now every single time. Previously never any issues. Assassins Creed Origins is now unplayable on any setting but doesn't crash oddly. As an aside, my PC works perfectly when not gaming....

I looked at my on Radeon settings and it was showing the temperature of the GPU at well over 90C and virtually no fan rpm (like 150 or so). The only time the fans did seem to fire up was when I was testing Hearts of Iron 4 last night to see if that worked. The fans were audible and seemed to throttle up and down constantly and at a very quick pace, almost as if they couldn't keep going consistently. That game doesn't crash but does have the stuttering FPS i first experienced 3 weeks ago. This seems to happen after 5-10 minutes of play and then doesn't go away Oddly, I DON'T hear the fans working on much more intensive games like those mentioned above and Radeon Wattman only shows an increase of fan RPM on this game so far. It is also the only game of the 4 I've tried that doesn't reach 100C....hovers at 97-98C.

Whilst I'm waiting for a can of compressed air to arrive I have taken the time to clean the blades and the heat sink of my GPU with a very soft toothbrush and did it very gently, but this has made no difference to the temperatures or performance. I haven't cleaned my PSU yet but will do tomorrow with an air can as I've read that might be an issue.

Finally, I updated my drivers before I did any of the above and made sure Windows 10 was up to date but to no avail. Im now at a loose end as to what it could be after looking online as I've read a whole host of different answers on different forums from various dates and for different systems etc and I was wondering what the best way to proceed would be? Is it likely my GPU or my PSU has packed in or maybe both have? Or is this something that can be salvaged? Is there anything else I can do before taking it to a computer shop (I live a long distance from the nearest and don't drive so would rather avoid this but obviously will do if needed)

Sorry for the long post but just wanted to provide as much info as I could so you guys might be able to help me better :)

Many thanks

nhartwell1986
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Don't use a toothbrush for cleaning PC components as it can generate static electricity.

When cleaning fans with compressed air, you probably won't want to let them free spin.

Be careful when using the fan of air, as the can itself can become extremely cold and it can also spray some of the refrigerant out. You don't want this on you or on PCBs, or ideally on anything else though it's not likely to do any harm heatsinks and fans if a bit sprays out.

You'll want to clean the PC's insides carefully, including case fans, case dust filters, the CPU heatsink and fan, etc.

While cleaning the PC is important, it's possible there's another cause to the fans misbehaving. A problem with the GPU drivers can screw up the fan profile.

You could sweep the drivers with DDU: https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html
and then perform a clean install of the latest drivers from the AMD website. If that doesn't help, DDU the drivers again and try a clean install of some much older drivers.

Did anything happen 3 weeks ago? A Windows update for example?
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
It does sound like overheating to me, so a good clean is your first course of action.

I'd go further than Oussebon regarding using compressed air - based on painful experience. First, ensure the air you buy is low pressure, made for cleaning computers. Second, spray in very short bursts with a long pause (about 30 seconds) between each one. The pressure reduction as the air comes out is chilled well below freezing (that's the same principle that a freezer uses). If you use high pressure canned air or you spray for too long you will freeze components. Even if that doesn't damage them electronically it will make the plastic brittle - so brittle that it starts to disintegrate. I destroyed a very expensive satellite phone handset that way some years ago.

:)
 

nhartwell1986

New member
@Oussebon Thank You for the advice, I'd already tried using DDU with no difference. I don't re-call a specific update as they are scheduled automatically on my Windows. I've tried a system restore as well as using DDU again but no joy unfortunatley.

@Ubuysa Thanks for the tip :) I'll make sure I get the right one later today.

I'll report back on here after the cleaning with the results and the next step if that doesn't work. Thanks for the help so far:)
 
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