Hardware problems - random rebooting

**Scienter** · 02-07-2010, 00:14

Last week, my computer started randomly rebooting itself during Mass Effect 2. No BSOD, even after I went into system ettings and turned off the auto restart. A month or so ago, it did this a few times while playing Borderlands.
Other people smarter than me thought it was a thermal problem, and it sort of was. SpeedFan said my computer was running too hot.

So, yesterday I installed a huge heat sink and a top panel with a 120mm fan in it. Now my cores idle at 28-31C. When I play Mass Effect 2, they get up to 55-60C. Tincow and google say that this is acceptable temperature range for playing games. I played for several hours yesterday. No problems. I played for about an hour and a half this morning. No problems. Then, I left my computer on (game off) for a while. I tried to play ME2 again and the rebooting problem started again. Now, I can't get the game to run for more than 5 or so minutes. I uninstalled my video drivers and installed the most recent ones.

Tincow thinks it might be my power supply. It's a 600W power supply. I don't remember when I bought it. It's at least a year old I've got an intel i5 750, a geforce 8800 GTS, 4 gigs of ram, and the usual dvd and cd writers, sound card, and 4 fans. My computer has not restarted randomly except when I play ME2. Other than rebooting, I don't have any other dying psu symptoms like the computer not turning on or a bad smell.

Do I need more than a 600W psu for my processor and vid card? Or, are my motherboard and/or CPU toast?

**naut** · 02-07-2010, 10:36

~~What OS are you running?~~

Some Google-fu says you aren't the only one with this issue. And the common factor is an nVidia graphics card.

**Scienter** · 02-07-2010, 15:52

Originally Posted by Psychonaut

~~What OS are you running?~~

Some Google-fu says you aren't the only one with this issue. And the common factor is an nVidia graphics card.

I should mention that I had this problem with Borderlands, too. Just on one day, it rebooted about 5 times when I tried to play on our LAN. And then it never happened again with Borderlands. This was before I got the heatsink and blowhole.

Tincow has the same video card as me: geforce 8800 GTS and this hasn't happened to him.

**naut** · 02-07-2010, 16:14

Hmm. Your CPU temp is ok.

- What about the temp of your GPU?
- Your power supply might not be providing stable power.
- Disabling automatic reboot may help. You will get a BSOD instead, but it may provide info into the cause.

**Scienter** · 02-07-2010, 17:27

Originally Posted by Psychonaut

Hmm. Your CPU temp is ok.

- What about the temp of your GPU?
- Your power supply might not be providing stable power.
- Disabling automatic reboot may help. You will get a BSOD instead, but it may provide info into the cause.

My GPU seems to hover between 45 and 55C. Since Tincow and I have the same card, I swapped them. I figure if it was my nvidia vid card, I should be able to play with his in my computer. But I had the same problem. And then my computer wouldn't boot at all, it kept trying, but then restarted even before XP could start up.

One of the first things I did was disable the auto reboot, it still won't give me a BSOD. There's nothing in the XP event logs either, from what little I understand it shows a clean restart and then reconnect to the internet.

I hope it's the power supply dying and not my CPU or motherboard, they're new!

**naut** · 02-08-2010, 02:51

Your GPU is fine.

If it is the PSU, it's either the connectors or it is simply overloading. I'd get a new PSU, at least 700-800W.

**Joh** · 02-08-2010, 10:27

I also have a 8800 GTS and I was having the same problem for a while, even though I did get a BSD (I was stupid enough not to have disabled auto reboot so never got to see it actually). I had everything updated, and also tested older driver versions just in case.

Well, first I changed my memory, as I had added some later modules. I thought timing setting mismatch might be causing the problem (even though as far as I knew they had the same specs). No help.

I also thought it might be due to GPU overheating, even though the occurrence did not always happened during play. Manually changed the GPU's fan settings so that the temperature would be max'ed at 65 C. No help.

Then, I thought it might be due to the PSU and changed my crappy almost default 550W for a 1000W. Did not help.

Finally, the problem was solved with a full windows install. I know, this is the news you don't want to hear, but it is the only thing that worked for me.

**Scienter** · 02-10-2010, 02:08

I replaced my PSU, and so far, so good. I've got my fingers crossed that the PSU was the problem. I really don't want to buy a new motherboard or do another Windows install.