Random Losses of Power During Games?

[KnickNut3]

Hello. Somewhat troubling problem:

Lately, in games, my computer will randomly cut out. The monitor will go blank (and lose a signal instantly). The PC will keep it's lights on and I still hear some noise (possibly fans, not sure). The only way to restart it is to flip the switch in the back off and on, and it restarts as if nothing happened.

So far, this has happened while I was playing MVP Baseball 2005 and Madden 2005. It happened multiple times in MVP, usually after at least a half an hour--sometimes in the actual gameplay, sometimes in the season management menus. I wasn't sure if it were game specific until it just cut out of Madden about a minute after I started the game up (hadn't even gotten to a real "game" yet).

I haven't had any issues in Windows (except for extreme slowness coming out of long periods of idleness, but that's another issue I'll work on later). I haven't played any other games, but the issue has been specific to games thus far.

Any suggestions? Know why I'm losing power like this? I doubt it's an overheating issue, since it happens in the menus sometimes and just happened after a very short period. PSU is enough, too, I think.

Rig's in the sig. Thanks so much for the help.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

From your specs,

Video Card: Uh... check back with me

doesn't help. Would be helpful to know the driver version also.

DirectX version?

Have you installed XP SP2?

What PSU do you have?

What are your system temps? (check your BIOS after a similar lockup)

 

[KnickNut3]

Oops. Sorry about that.

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
DirectX 9c (used to have B)
Yes, have SP2. It happened before I had it, though. In fact, I reformatted yesterday (partially because I was just due for one, but hoping that getting rid of these problems might be a nice side effect.
Temps are good. CPU never gets above 50. Was 48 after my last lockup. Case was somewhere in the 30s. PSU is, per Newegg, CMAX 450WCX-450B. It's about 9 months old.

 

[KnickNut3]

Ugh, happened again. Bump.

 

[KnickNut3]

I fixed it by putting all my voltages to stock and underclocking a bit. Now, about 2 weeks later, it's back, however. Even at stock speeds. Looks like my 5v is all over the place (although not in these 2 minutes)... should I RMA?

| 10/11/2004 | 10:37:45 PM | 1953 MHz | 27° C | 46° C | 0° C | 1.63 V | 2.62 V | 3.34 V | 5.03 V | 11.98 V | -12.77 V | -4.99 V | 0 RPM | 0 RPM | 0 RPM |
| 10/11/2004 | 10:37:35 PM | 1953 MHz | 27° C | 46° C | 0° C | 1.65 V | 2.62 V | 3.26 V | 5.03 V | 12.04 V | -12.44 V | -5.04 V | 0 RPM | 0 RPM | 0 RPM |
| 10/11/2004 | 10:37:25 PM | 1953 MHz | 27° C | 46° C | 0° C | 1.63 V | 2.62 V | 3.26 V | 5.00 V | 12.04 V | -12.27 V | -5.24 V | 0 RPM | 0 RPM | 0 RPM |
| 10/11/2004 | 10:37:15 PM | 1953 MHz | 27° C | 46° C | 0° C | 1.65 V | 2.62 V | 3.30 V | 5.00 V | 11.98 V | -13.51 V | -4.59 V | 0 RPM | 0 RPM | 0 RPM |
| 10/11/2004 | 10:37:05 PM | 1953 MHz | 27° C | 46° C | 0° C | 1.66 V | 2.62 V | 3.28 V | 5.00 V | 12.04 V | -12.11 V | -5.79 V | 0 RPM | 0 RPM | 0 RPM |
| 10/11/2004 | 10:36:55 PM | 1953 MHz | 27° C | 46° C | 0° C | 1.66 V | 2.62 V | 3.30 V | 5.00 V | 11.98 V | -13.09 V | -4.99 V | 0 RPM | 0 RPM | 0 RPM |
| 10/11/2004 | 10:36:45 PM | 1953 MHz | 27° C | 46° C | 0° C | 1.66 V | 2.62 V | 3.31 V | 5.00 V | 12.04 V | -12.85 V | -5.49 V | 0 RPM | 0 RPM | 0 RPM |
| 10/11/2004 | 10:36:35 PM | 1953 MHz | 27° C | 46° C | 0° C | 1.65 V | 2.62 V | 3.34 V | 5.03 V | 11.98 V | -13.51 V | -4.94 V | 0 RPM | 0 RPM | 0 RPM |
| 10/11/2004 | 10:36:25 PM | 1953 MHz | 27° C | 46° C | 0° C | 1.63 V | 2.62 V | 3.34 V | 5.03 V | 11.98 V | -13.42 V | -5.14 V | 0 RPM | 0 RPM | 0 RPM |
| 10/11/2004 | 10:36:15 PM | 1953 MHz | 27° C | 46° C | 0° C | 1.65 V | 2.62 V | 3.34 V | 5.03 V | 11.98 V | -13.18 V | -4.84 V | 0 RPM | 0 RPM | 0 RPM |
| 10/11/2004 | 10:36:05 PM | 1953 MHz | 27° C | 46° C | 0° C | 1.65 V | 2.62 V | 3.33 V | 5.03 V | 11.98 V | -11.78 V | -5.19 V | 0 RPM | 0 RPM | 0 RPM |
| 10/11/2004 | 10:35:55 PM | 1953 MHz | 27° C | 46° C | 0° C | 1.65 V | 2.62 V | 3.36 V | 5.03 V | 11.98 V | -13.83 V | -4.59 V | 0 RPM | 0 RPM | 0 RPM |

 

[OMGoddess]

Get a new PS.

 

[KnickNut3]

Problem is, I'm at school, so I don't have any others to switch in and try, and an RMA would put me without a PC for two weeks... hmm...

 

[Balt]

Originally posted by: KnickNut3
Problem is, I'm at school, so I don't have any others to switch in and try, and an RMA would put me without a PC for two weeks... hmm...

Well, as OMGoddess and you yourself said it does look like an issue with the power supply, so you may have to bite the bullet a bit on this one. Maybe order a new PSU before sending in the old one and after it comes in return the old one for a refund? You'll get hit w/ a 15% restocking fee, but that may be worth it since you won't have to go at least two weeks w/o a computer.

After you pay for shipping it back and get hit with the restocking fee you may not even feel it's worth it to make the return, though.

 

[KnickNut3]

Well, PSU's a year old, so the best I could do is RMA it. I'll try to weigh my options (or deal with the power cutouts until I get home).

 

[Balt]

Originally posted by: KnickNut3
Well, PSU's a year old, so the best I could do is RMA it. I'll try to weigh my options (or deal with the power cutouts until I get home).

Doh. Forgot about that part. Maybe order a new PSU, RMA the old one, sell the replacement they send in the FS/FT forums or on fleabay? You'll still take a pretty bad hit doing it that way, though.

 

[Machine350]

Yep, sounds like PSU on the frits.

 

[Cheetah8799]

I vote for PSU.

I was at a lan party last year when my power supply blew up on me... wouldn't give enough juice and the mobo decided the ram didn't need all that voltage... memtest was failing, but only some of the latest greatest ram eating games would die. Older games like bf1942 ran fine.

anyway, good luck.