PC randomly turns off frequently without warning

[Dea924]

Hey guys I'm new to the forums but hoping you lot can help

I recently upgraded my gfx to a gtx 260 zotac synergy edition from a 9600gt
all was going well until roughly last Sunday, I was playing dawn of war 2 and the pc turned itself off, I figured must be a one off, turned it on everything worked fine, the last few days though whenever I try to run a game of decent quality (e.g gta4, mirrors edge, mass effect, even l4d1) the pc turns off after a few minutes playing.
When I run normal programs such as the Internet and streaming videos the whole system is stable and runs fine, just when gaming it goes off, I'm stumped to be honest it may be a psu failing or the motherboard I'm not sure,
Atm I'm running 2sata hdds,4gbs ddr2 ram, a q9450 @2.66 and the 260gtx, psu is a xpower 580w sli ready, if anyone can help it would be gratefully appreciated

 

[Ritwik7]

Well, this generally happens for 2 reasons:

1.) High temperatures. Check your GPU and CPU temperatures and ensure that they are within their rated / acceptable limits.

2.) Power surge and lack of power protection device. Recently I removed my UPS and connected the PC to a cheap surge suppressor. I had exactly the same issue as you are having now.

 

[Puiu]

Try cleaning the CPU cooler and also use check the temperature when playing games to see which one gets hot (cpu or gpu). The computer will automatically shutdown when it's reaches a certain point. It's also best to test your components if you have the means to do so.

If the temperatures are to blame try adding a case fan to cool things down a bit. It might help to play with the case open if the airflow isn't good.

 

[Dea924]

The temps on the gpu when I stressed it before never reached more than 75 an it's usually 40at idle.
the CPU all 4cores are roughly 55-65 underload, Idle they sit 48ish.

Iv had problems with the sockets before, they would fail and all the electric in the room would go off? But nothing since so it may be that, where do you get these surge protectors? Iv seen somethig in wilkinsons that tell when there is a surge that could damage, is that thesort of thing you mean?

 

[Dea924]

The temps on the gpu when I stressed it before never reached more than 75 an it's usually 40at idle.
the CPU all 4cores are roughly 55-65 underload, Idle they sit 48ish.

Iv had problems with the sockets before, they would fail and all the electric in the room would go off? But nothing since so it may be that, where do you get these surge protectors? Iv seen somethig in wilkinsons that tell when there is a surge that could damage, is that thesort of thing you mean?

 

[Ritwik7]

Another thing I forgot to mention. Try another PSU if possible. It may be a failing power supply.

You could take a look at newegg for power protection devices.

 

[Puiu]

It might be that your PSU is at fault because of a sudden surge that happened in your home. When the GPU starts eating a lot of watts it just stops working.
Normally your PSU should have more than enough power to power you computer.
The only way to be sure what doesn't work is to test it in a different computer or replace it with another to see if the problem persists.

 

[Dea924]

right im running the pc now, i can give an accurate temp and the voltages(i have no clue about volts and stuff? i just knew the wattage 580) for you all.

Voltages value min max
+3.3V 3.38 V 3.38 V 3.38 V
CPU VCORE 1.18V 1.16V 1.18 V
VIN 2 1.94V 1.89V 1.95V
VIN 3 1.20V 1.16V 1.20V
+5V 5.09V 5.09 5.09
+12V 12.06 12.06 12,06
VIN6 1.79V 1.79 1.79
VSB3V 3.39V 3.39 3.39
VBAT 3.10v 3.10 3.10


Temperatures
TMPIN0 21C 20C 24C
TMPIN1 27C 24C 28C
TMPIN2 32C 31C 32C


Fans
FANIN0 2782rpm 2762rpm 2782rpm

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450

Temperatures
core #0 41C 39C 46C
core #1 40C 39C 43C
core #2 48C 48C 54C
core #3 37C 36C 41C

GeForce gtx 260
temps
39C 37C 40C

ST3160815AS
temps
HDD 30C 26C 30C

WDC WD5000AAKS-00
temps
HDD 29C 23C 29C


ive plugged the computer into a new socket aswell to see if its a socket problem or the psu
I'm going to run Mirrors edge now and see if it decides to shut down or not, so il repost what happens

 

[Dea924]

Started the game up.. loaded from Saved state.
30seconds later, pc went off. can only think when the gfx goes from idle using hardly any power to 3D apps in which it draws more then the psu must be failing.?
im stumped though because it uses less wattage than my previous card