Joined: Jan 09, 2010
Posts: 502
Location: Connecticut
Disclaimer: DO NOT DO ANY OF THE BELOW MENTIONED UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!! I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY, THIS IS ONLY TO HELP AND TO USE AS A GUIDE!!
I had a similar problem and it wound up being my PSU (Power Supply). I downloaded and ran a Hardware Monitoring software
HW Montior
It helps if you have 2 monitors running so that when it happens, you can see what might have caused it, like if it's Video Related or CPU cause you can watch the Voltages and Temperatures here.
If you can't do that with 2 monitors then at least run it on your desktop, as mine started to shut down (after a while) even when i was opening a word doc or IE. I also tested my PSU with a multimeter
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ht/power-supply-test-multimeter.htm and a Paper clip-(don't try this unless you know what you are doing) This has to be done with it completely disconnected from your computer and the paper clip has to be in the right holes.
http://www.overclock.net/faqs/96712-how-jump-start-power-supply-psu.html
I hope this helps?
If you can't take the pain, maybe you shouldn't play!
Joined: Jan 09, 2010
Posts: 502
Location: Connecticut
Or, you can just go get another PSU and try it out..see what you have now and get something comparable, you can always take it back if that was not it, but you might have a restocking fee, depends where you get it. But if you plan on rebuilding in the future, get something that you can use then too, in case this is the problem. Or see if someone has one you can borrow. Be-careful, if this is a Dell, they make their own PSU's proprietary so you can only replace with their stuff. I just thought this might have been a better choice to do in case you didn't want to do the multimeter thing...
If you can't take the pain, maybe you shouldn't play!
Joined: Apr 20, 2009
Posts: 1384
Location: Columbia, MD USA
OK, just finished cleaning the fan, thermal paste off of the motherboard/CPU. Reapplied Thermal paste and put back together. Crossing my fingers.
I have a fairly new PS, so I hope it is not that.
Joined: Jan 09, 2010
Posts: 502
Location: Connecticut
I see you got disconnected again.....Look into trying another PSU...I had this similar thing happen to me and luckily for me, my PSU was still under warranty and they sent me out a new one....Not sure how old yours is...Heck, tell me how much yours is and I might have an old one you can have to trouble shoot it...The one I have is an oldie, it's an ATX-300...not sure if you can use it or not.....
If you can't take the pain, maybe you shouldn't play!
Joined: Apr 20, 2009
Posts: 1384
Location: Columbia, MD USA
OK, it is still not fixed. the GPU temps with a box fan blowing on it full blast is still 107c.
How can I check my PS as part of the problem? How does that contribute to my GPU overheating?
Joined: Jul 13, 2009
Posts: 445
Location: Medicine Hat, Alberta
Joined: Mar 08, 2010
Posts: 242
Location: bracebridge ontario canada
pastor when u come ts we will talk i know ur issue .... maybe.......
Joined: Jan 06, 2011
Posts: 637
Location: Peterborough, Ontario Canada
i would uninstall and reinstall drivers to see if it is a driver issue. I have had the same issue in the past myself and this cured it. also If u have updated your graphics driver recently i would try to roll back to the old driver and see if this corrects this issue. as far as psu if just your graphics card is over heating shutting down your pc then it may very well be u have a defective card rather then psu. What size is your psu? what card do u have? processor? get back to me if u can.
Joined: Apr 20, 2009
Posts: 1384
Location: Columbia, MD USA
Hey Ted: Did all the steps we had talked about...same results.
Astro: I did uninstall and then reinstall the ATI drivers as Ted had suggested. My PSU is 750 Coarsair. My GPU is an ATI Radeon XFX HD 4890. I bought it Mar 2010.
Joined: Feb 24, 2011
Posts: 537
Joined: Jul 13, 2009
Posts: 445
Location: Medicine Hat, Alberta
Joined: Apr 20, 2009
Posts: 1384
Location: Columbia, MD USA
HeHawKiller: yes, the fan on the GPU is working, and I went into the controls and turned it on to be at 100% constantly.
Joined: Apr 03, 2010
Posts: 2971
Location: Loveland, Colorado
Joined: Apr 20, 2009
Posts: 1384
Location: Columbia, MD USA
No code or BSOD, the system shuts down, screen goes black.
Joined: Apr 03, 2010
Posts: 2971
Location: Loveland, Colorado