Computer shuts off while ingame

[Dietrich]

My computer shuts off during the game with no warning or anything. Im thinking the power supply is too hot, video card failing, bad memory sticks. It just shuts off and i have to wait 5 mins to turn it back on.


Amd Athlon Xp3200+ 2.2GHZ
PC 3200 1 gig ram 400 mhz
160GB WD HD
80GB seagate HD
ATI X850XT 6.3 modified/hacked drivers
Creative X-FI Extreme Music Sound Card
480Watt Antec Power Supply

[Zetsumei]

usually it implies to some part overheating, or an insufficient amount of power being delivered from your power supply. I'd check google for some temperature monitors and run them while playing the game (let the temp monitor create a log) then once you rebooted and get back you can see all the temps. So you know what part could be causing your problem. Probably its your cpu overheating, with videocards you usually start seeing some bugs first .

Edit just checked your specs your powersupply should have enough juice on the 12v rail atleast.

[BURL]

You have plenty of power.... Get some extra fans and some little bolts/nuts/washers and get them mounted up.

[Dietrich]

Thanks for the help guys. I found out that the 120MM fan on my PS stopped working. So i bought another one just like the one stated above.

[Ionius]

I think it may be the PSU. Even so you should add some fans, on my computer i was having HD issues so I put a fan directly on top of my master HD and I have not had anymore issues with it...you said you have two HDs, if there is room in your case you should seperate them an stick a fan in there-they put of a lot of heat. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835117010
The fan on this page is highly effective. Lastly I would check your BIOS--the thermal shutdown temp may just be set very low.

[Floyd]

Originally Posted by BURL

You have plenty of power.... Get some extra fans and some little bolts/nuts/washers and get them mounted up.

Not so fast. It depends upon how that is applied per rail on the psu.
In building my son's new computer, I blindly bought a 530Watt Antec thinking that should be more than sufficient. As we were buying an SLI capable board, I wanted to be sure we were covered if/when we implemented that feature.

The computer would get as far as the Windows opening screen and then reboot. It did that in an endless cylcle. After much hairpulling and study, we went back to his 480watt P/S. The rail supplying power to the M/B on the 530Watt supply was not rated high enough for the power required to drive the new M/B and AMD processor. Gotta read the specs.

The same holds true for those running PCI or PCI-E cards. Check the power requirements of everything you are running on that particular rail and be sure your P/S can provide it. Large wattage P/S's may not necessarily provide the proper amperage on a given rail, or you may be pushing the limits.

Floyd