PC randomly shutting itself down

[Muzzius]

for around a year now my PC has been randomy turning off anytime I play games. It happens during any games, it sometimes even happens in online flash games. It started a while ago when after coming back from holiday the wouldn't turn on properly. I turned it on, and all the lights came on inside tower, but the monitor got no connection, and it kept making a clicking noise.
After a while it started coming on then going off again after a few minutes until it eventually it got back to semi normality (where it is now). This is a really annoying problem and I would appreciate any help.

 

[BorisandBailey]

Since this problem occurs under any format--Flash or otherwise--it makes me think that it may be a hardware problem rather than a software problem. My first guess, and I do mean guess, is the graphics card, or lack of one.

If you have a graphics card, take it out. Then go into the BIOS and switch the graphics from the graphics card to on-board graphics. Try out the computer to see if things work even a little better. What we're doing is ruling out if the problem is with the graphics card.

If you don't have a graphics card, it's possible that the computer's on-board graphics can't handle all that math-intensive stuff that games have.

But don't impulsively go out and buy a new graphics card! Ruling things out and testing before you spend any money is the way to go. For instance, what if the power supply is on the outs, or maybe one of the memory sticks is faulty?

But for now, I'd test the graphics card first.

 

[tillertowe]

yeah, GFX card first.
I'd would then try swapping the Ram sticks (if more than one) around if the problem continues after ruling out the GFX card

 

[klepto12]

this sounds like a ram problem more than a gfx problem most computers dont reset because of a gfx card its more than likley the ram or PSU/cpu overheating.