PC shutting down....

[danielw2599]

...a few minutes into gaming.

Hi all, been having a few problems lately with my PCS desktop shutting down after a few minutes of starting a game.

Have changed video drivers to the latest Nvidia, updated DX, moved games to a different HDD and finally done a clean reinstall of windows 7 64 bit but not change.

What happens is the screen goes black and the sound reverbs quite badly and I am forced to manually power off then power up and sometimes on power up after intial crash I get 3 or 4 beeps and the PC fails to start untill I restart it again.

No error messages either on crash or start up.

Specs are....

Intell i7-2600
8GB RAM
Windows 7 64bit
Main drive: 120GB Vertex 3 SDD
Second drive: Western Digital Green
Nvidia GTX 580

Normal desktop running...watching videos, internet, documents etc etc not affected.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Dan

 

[AndyL]

Check you temps using HWMonitor and report them back here. Make sure to record the highest temps you see as close to the time as the computer shuts down (if that makes sense). It may not however be a heat issue, it may be a problem with the power supply or motherboard.

 

[danielw2599]

Thanks Andy,

Here are the figures after the latest crash, there was about a 20 second gap between the crash and opening HWmonitor but they look (at least the temps) ok to me

 

[danielw2599]

I have a new symptom. Once I load a game I am hearing a high pitched squeal/noise from somewhere, its not done this before.

 

[PokerFace]

It might me capacitor whine from psu

 

[danielw2599]

Is the whine normal then considering Ive had the PC since about May 2011 and its now only started or is it (combined with my crashing) a sign that something is failing?

 

[AndyL]

Is the whine normal then considering Ive had the PC since about May 2011 and its now only started or is it (combined with my crashing) a sign that something is failing?

It may or may not be related. The temps you posted earlier suggest that temperature is not the cause of your problems - i.e. all temps are perfectly within acceptable ranges.

It may be worth giving PCS a ring and seeing what they say.

 

[vanthus]

Coil whine or cap whine is a term used to describe high pitched sounds that can emanate from components such as capacitors or inductors on the motherboard or GPU for example.
This is caused by high frequency power draw from the PSU & is normal to a certain extent.
If the noise is excessive a replacement PSU may be required.

 

[danielw2599]

Thanks guys, luckly its still within the first year warranty so if any parts need to go back it shouldnt be a problem.

With give PCS a ring (or email) either tommorow or Tuesday.

 

[PokerFace]

Please bear in mind that if PCS are busy it might take a couple of days for them to reply to an email, as the phone calls would take priority. Also, a phone call might be better because it's easier to explain the severity of the problem.

 

[danielw2599]

Thanks pokerface, will bare that in mind.

However Im now thinking it might be software related as Ive just reinstalled FSX and played for 5 minutes and while I dont want to make assumptions or talk too soon, I havent yet had any of the problems I previously mentioned.

 

[PokerFace]

Let us know how you get on. Fingers crossed for you.

 

[danielw2599]

Cheers m8, when I get back from work tommorow Ill install some more games and give FSX a good going over ...I want to be sure before taking it to PCS!

will let you know.

 

[danielw2599]

So much for my diagnosis. Was at work all day yesterday so didnt have time to even look at the PC but come this morning the display output is completely dead and I am greeted with 1 long and 3 short beeps on start up. After a quick phone call to PCS support and following their advice to reseat the card, nothing changed and it looks like the card is now tottally dead.

Thanks to PCS support though as they have already processed my GFX card return so hopefully will be here either tommorow or Thursday and hopefully that will fix the problems.

 

[danielw2599]

New card arrived today....and within the delivery window DPD quoted.

Installed and all back up and running, well chuffed

Tho hopefully I havent spoken too soon.

Thanks PCS!