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New PC Build - Crashing

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Onehate

Member
I was hoping to get some help troubeshooting an issue. I am not really profecient at hardware issues or how to go about resolving them. I have a new PC built, it runs great execpt when I am trying to game, well some of them. I have a 6870 and have tried to play both Crysis Warhead and New Vega but the PC is giving me problem.

Crysis - the PC will power off while loading the first stage
New Vega - I can play it with no issues on low and medium settings but testing it last night I tried going to ultra just to see how it would preform. After about 3 to 5 minutes of listening to the PC start working hard and the fans blowing the PC just powered off.

I have done some research and these issues appear to be either GPU overheating, or power suppply. THe questions I have is, is there any way to narrow down the scope of the root cause, and if there is what steps can i go through to resolving the issue.

This is my first PC build and I am learning as I go but would really appertiate any help with this issue.

Thanks

PC Specs

ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 2 x 2GB DDR3
Phenom II x4 955
MSI Twin Frozr II 6870
Ultra LSP750 750-Watt
 
Your problem are probably faulty hardware, as you say.

IMO, the defective part is, in descending order of probability:

Video card
RAM
PSU
Mbo
HDD
CPU

Let's rule some of them out. Get a copy of Ultimate Boot CD from their website, and run Memtest 386, a CPU torture test, and a RAM test. If you pass these, you have rule out everything apart from video card and PSU.

(You might in rare cases get false positives on the tests, but I think that this is unlikely in your case).
 
Just turning off can be the BIOS detecting the CPU overheating and shutting it off. In fact, fans spinning up really high will point to that as well, since the only fans that would do so are either the CPU or GPU fans. Run some kind of software that monitors (and logs) CPU and GPU temperatures and fan speeds. For the GPU, use Rivatuner. For the CPU, use Realtemp.

Another possibility is the PSU shutting off because it can't handle the load. Ultra LSP PSUs aren't really that great so it is a (remote) possibility. Oh yeah, the PSU fan can also ramp up in speed too. If the CPU and GPU don't get too hot, then maybe it is the PSU.
 
Zap said:
Just turning off can be the BIOS detecting the CPU overheating and shutting it off. In fact, fans spinning up really high will point to that as well, since the only fans that would do so are either the CPU or GPU fans. Run some kind of software that monitors (and logs) CPU and GPU temperatures and fan speeds. For the GPU, use Rivatuner. For the CPU, use Realtemp.

Another possibility is the PSU shutting off because it can't handle the load. Ultra LSP PSUs aren't really that great so it is a (remote) possibility. Oh yeah, the PSU fan can also ramp up in speed too. If the CPU and GPU don't get too hot, then maybe it is the PSU.
Click to expand...


Agreed. The first thing I'd check is the CPU cooler to make sure it's properly seated and that the TIM is properly applied.
Next, if that's good, I'd suspect the PSU.
 
Agree with the others. It is most likely a cooling issue. Make sure your CPU heatsink is properly mounted and the correct amount of thermal paste is applied. Check your temps using CPU-Z, and GPU-Z.
 
Okay soo the first step is to check the core temps on the CPU and GPU. What type of temps are going to be in the acceptable range? The CPU was mounted with the paste attached to the fan when I received it, I have some paste remover and new paste I can mount if needed.

I am at work atm but I have some asus programs installed and the core seems to run at 45 degrees under normal load, not sure about the GPU. I will get these programs installed and do some testing once I get home and see where I am at.

Might need some more guidance once that is done, soo thanks for your help and cheers!
 
Make sure your GPU fan is spinning atleast 65% to keep cool while gaming. Make a profile to easily switch back and forth between fan speeds.

Run some memory tests - like Memtest HCI > Memtest 86 and some CPU tests. I'm not sure if the motherboard sub-system is important to test out anymore due to changing ways (i keep forgetting we aren't in the 775 era anymore - hah) but try LinX, and Prime 95 small and large FFTs They are all free downloadable utilities.
Furmark will test your GPU but be careful with this one. Make sure your fan is spinning higher than default.
 
Onehate said:
Okay soo the first step is to check the core temps on the CPU and GPU. What type of temps are going to be in the acceptable range?
Click to expand...

For CPU probably no more than 65-70°C.

For GPU probably no more than 85°C.
 
Okay, so I got home and tested the CPU and GPU with MSI afterburner and AMD Overdrive. The CPU barely broke a sweat, topping out at 34 with the benchmark running. On the other hand my GPU was running around 105 with the fan spinning at 100% before I turned the benchmark off. Also the CPU process peg out @ 100% and I cannot even run the Kombustor normal benchmark without the pc crashing. I am not overclocking atm so I would think the card should be fine, heatwise, but the PSU is underneath the card, could this create a heat issue? This card actually has 2 cooling fans...

The card is running between 83 and 85 degrees in Windows, does this sound normal? RMA the card?

So I guess the card is bad? Is there anyway to benchmark the PSU while I am at it?

Thanks guys and Cheers!!
 
Last edited:
Onehate said:
Is there anyway to benchmark the PSU while I am at it?

Thanks guys and Cheers!!
Click to expand...

Use a wall wattage reader. For example Kill-A-Watt from New Egg or you can go to lowes or Home depot and they have one called Reliance, which is an appliance reader that works the same exact way... this will just tell you how many watts you are drawing from the wall.
 
^ I think he may be more interested in monitoring PSU output while under stress e.g. 12V rail.

Although a hardware multimeter is a more true way to monitor PSU output, a simple software check (using something like SpeedFan or OCCT) should show whether your PSU is maintaining a true 12V output.
 
Onehate said:
Okay, so I got home and tested the CPU and GPU with MSI afterburner and AMD Overdrive. The CPU barely broke a sweat, topping out at 34 with the benchmark running. On the other hand my GPU was running around 105 with the fan spinning at 100% before I turned the benchmark off. Also the CPU process peg out @ 100% and I cannot even run the Kombustor normal benchmark without the pc crashing. I am not overclocking atm so I would think the card should be fine, heatwise, but the PSU is underneath the card, could this create a heat issue? This card actually has 2 cooling fans...

The card is running between 83 and 85 degrees in Windows, does this sound normal? RMA the card?

So I guess the card is bad? Is there anyway to benchmark the PSU while I am at it?

Thanks guys and Cheers!!
Click to expand...

First make sure that the GPU fans are actually spinning and that you have a decent amount of airflow inside the case (take off the side panel to test). If that doesn't help, go into CCC and force the GPU fan to 100% and see if the temperatures drop. If that doesn't work, it would appear that there is a problem with the mounting of the HSF on your card. You can either try to remount and reapply thermal paste yourself or RMA it.
 
It was the POS ultra power supply. I got ahold of a ocz stealthstream 600, put it in and wow what a difference...


Cheers for the help!
 
I'm not surprised that your PSU was faulty. Ultra isn't one of the better brands of power supplies.

I AM surprised that you had those kinds of heat issues with your video card...yet the power supply is the cause of your problems.
 
Yea I was also, once I changed out the PSU and rebooted, the core temp of the GPU dropped down to around 43. The PC stopped overworking like it was. I loaded Crysis up, which would not even load a lvl before, and its now playing on max settings with the GPU not going over 50. The PC is very stable now. Thanks for the help guys!

Cheers
 
BoomerD said:
I'm not surprised that your PSU was faulty. Ultra isn't one of the better brands of power supplies.

I AM surprised that you had those kinds of heat issues with your video card...yet the power supply is the cause of your problems.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that is pretty weird. I can only think of two (long-shot) possibilities:
- The voltage was too low and was causing the temp. sensor to read wonky
- The voltage was too high and was burning up the VRMs.
 
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