Computer randomly shutting off?

[jus3288]

I'm new to these forums and I'm sorry if this post isn't in the appropriate section but if anyone could suggest a way to fix this problem I've been having it would be much appreciated

A few months ago I was playing a game (World of Warcraft) and my computer randomly turned off. I thought, "well that never happened before," so I turn in back on and started playing again. An hour or two later it happened again. Now I knew something was up. I don't know too much about computers so I asked my buddy and he told me to lower my video settings in the game. I lowered them all to the lowest they could go and it seemed to have fixed the problem. As of a week ago the problem started occurring again. My computer randomly shut off while I was playing. All my video settings within the game are now at the lowest and it still keeps shutting off when I play. I don't know what else to do.

To note-The computer only shuts off while im playing the game. I can be on for days at a time and it will stay on but then after an hour or so of playing it shuts off.

Thanks

 

[Harvey]

You didn't tell us much about your system. What CPU, motherboard, vid card and RAM do you have? Possible causes include:

1. Your power supply is marginally adequate or beginning to fail.
   
   What is the make and power rating of your supply? If you have any questions at all, try temporarily running your system with an adequate, known good supply.
   
2. One or more sticks of RAM are flakey at a particular address.
   
   Download and run MemTest86 to check your RAM.
   
3. Your CPU or motherboard is beginning to fail.
   
   Look for missing, swollen or discolored capacitors or other components on your motherboard, and run some system diagnostics.
   
4. Your vid card is inadequate or beginning to fail.
   
   I'm not a gamer, but a lot of others will be able to tell you if your card is sufficient to run the game.

Good luck.

 

[boomerang]

This sounds like an overheating issue.

Remove the side cover and clean out the dust and stuff that has collected in there. I use compressed air in my garage. You could get one of those cans of compressed air and do the same thing.

If it's really nasty, take a vacuum to it first. You'll want to blow it out outside.

Then make sure all your fans are spinning when it's running.

Clean, and with working fans and you should be fine.

Welcome to the Forums!

 

[eplebnista]

IMO, the PSU is gradually going bad. The gaming is putting stress on the PSU by using more power and causing the shutdowns due to the PSU's inability to handle the extra load after a while.

 

[dbailey]

I bet your computer is getting too hot from the game, so it's triggering the automatic shutdown temperatures in the BIOS. Boot up and get into the bios(delete or f1 or f2) and look under power managment. There might be an option to set the temp's to shutdown the computer. Up the temps a bit from where they are set to prevent the automatic shut down.