Troubleshoot PC Turns Off Whilst Gaming

[Theoretical]

PC Specifications:

CPU: i7 4790K
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970
PSU: Corsair CX750 750W
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97-HD3
RAM: 16Gb

Hi, so for a while now I have been experiencing an issue where I would be in game and suddenly my PC would turn completely off, an example of game I have played where this has occurred was DayZ SA.

I first experienced this issue a few months back but took little notice and uninstalled steam because of college work, however recently I tried playing DayZ SA again and the issue occurred again.

I have in the past tried monitoring CPU and GPU temps whilst in game and they were normal when the issue occurred.

I have also considered it might be my PSU causing the issue but considering reliability and stability of corsair PSU's I have not concluded that this is the issue yet.

Any help to assist me in resolving my issue would be very appreciated.

 

[SHvFl]

Do the test in the order i told you. Obviously something is at fault but who knows what if you test all together.

Do the cpu and gpu first for a few hours if temps allow it. Then all night test the ram again don't do a few min only.

 

[_CyberGhosT_]

Ok, now go to the logs and see what triggered it, all your doing now is proving there is an issue, the log will point you to the solution, both event viewer and that software should have logged the crash, without that your playing Cat & Mouse.

 

[Theoretical]

Here is the exact log produced at that time:

 

[SHvFl]

Here is the exact log produced at that time:

It doesn't say anything except that the pc shut down unexpectedly. No logs will tell you why it shut down when the system just closes. You need to do the test as i told you to eliminate what is happening because you don't have parts to replace and test fast.
If you don't want to go to all this troubleshoot test and waste time go to a repair shop which they will have the part to replace and test.
So let me summarize the steps you need to do.

1. Disconnect gpu from power and motherboard and do a stress test on cpu. If it doesn't die go to 2.
2. Connect the gpu and do a cpu and gpu test. If it doesn't die go to 3.
3. Do an all nighter ram test.

Make sure you run the test for more than 1 hour to replicate your issue. I would do 2 hours on 1 & 2.

 

[Theoretical]

Ok, I will carry out these tests and edit this post with the results, thanks for your help.

 

[_CyberGhosT_]

It doesn't say anything except that the pc shut down unexpectedly. No logs will tell you why it shut down when the system just closes. You need to do the test as i told you to eliminate what is happening because you don't have parts to replace and test fast.
If you don't want to go to all this troubleshoot test and waste time go to a repair shop which they will have the part to replace and test.
So let me summarize the steps you need to do.

1. Disconnect gpu from power and motherboard and do a stress test on cpu. If it doesn't die go to 2.
2. Connect the gpu and do a cpu and gpu test. If it doesn't die go to 3.
3. Do an all nighter ram test.

Make sure you run the test for more than 1 hour to replicate your issue. I would do 2 hours on 1 & 2.

See the tab in the lower left of his screenshot ? that says "Details" that's what needs read and "yes" it will tell why
it shut down if you know how to read the log and codes
but you guys go ahead, good luck Theoretical.

 

[SHvFl]

See the tab in the lower left of his screenshot ? that says "Details" that's what needs read and "yes" it will tell why
it shut down if you know how to read the log and codes
but you guys go ahead, good luck Theoretical.

He can try but it will be the random windows error that the pc shut down unexpectedly. It's most probably a hardware issue if it was software he would bluescreen. Anw he can check he has nothing to lose.

 

[aragornnnn]

Try power options and enable high performance also set hard disk to never turn off (see picture below)

#edit
you can also try and turn PCI express power saving to "off" this setting is a bit further down in the list

 

[Theoretical]

Hi update on the situation.

Stress tested CPU alone for 01:37hrs no system shut down, temperatures were between 50-68 degrees Celsius throughout.

Stress tested GPU alone for 01:21hrs no system shu tdown, temperatures were between 60-70 throughout.

Stress tested system memory alone for 01:03hrs no system shut down, temperatures N/A.

Stress tested CPU + GPU for 01:03hrs no system shut down. CPU temp average: 60 degrees Celsius. GPU temp average: 70 degrees Celsius.

Stress tested System Cache, CPU, GPU and System Memory: System crashed within 10 seconds.

I will be running Memtest soon and maybe doing the CPU + GPU test again for longer it's just I'm constantly needing to use my computer throughout the day so stress testing for 2 hours is kind of too long for me but I will try my best.

 

[SHvFl]

Hi update on the situation.

Stress tested CPU alone for 01:37hrs no system shut down, temperatures were between 50-68 degrees Celsius throughout.

Stress tested GPU alone for 01:21hrs no system shu tdown, temperatures were between 60-70 throughout.

Stress tested system memory alone for 01:03hrs no system shut down, temperatures N/A.

Stress tested CPU + GPU for 01:03hrs no system shut down. CPU temp average: 60 degrees Celsius. GPU temp average: 70 degrees Celsius.

Stress tested System Cache, CPU, GPU and System Memory: System crashed within 10 seconds.

I will be running Memtest soon and maybe doing the CPU + GPU test again for longer it's just I'm constantly needing to use my computer throughout the day so stress testing for 2 hours is kind of too long for me but I will try my best.

You need to do the cpu+gpu for longer and the ram for way longer. The fact it closes all together in 10 sec when you test all together i would say it's the power supply but then again it should shut down on cpu and gpu test also because power usage it's very low for ram(2W/ram).

EDIT: You said crashed on the test btw. By crash you mean pc shutdown or blue screened?

 

[Theoretical]

PC turned off then turned back on no blue screen sorry I should have made that clear.

Also when stress testing CPU + GPU should I stress the cache since it's part of the CPU?

 

[SHvFl]

PC turned off then turned back on no blue screen sorry I should have made that clear.

Also when stress testing CPU + GPU should I stress the cache since it's part of the CPU?

Hmmm sure. I thought it tested cpu cache.
Can you test it alone for start and if it doesn't fail test it with the component it matches?

 

[nclr11111]

I'm not going to get into this discussion too much since there are smarter people here but!
Considering your image you are using Ram-slot 2 and 4 instead of 1 and 3! It might not make any difference but I'd change it just to be sure.
My son had similar problems years ago that was related to a faulty Ram-slot..

PS. You should also see if the problem persists while only using one ramstick at a time. 8GB single channel will be sufficient during testing.

 

[Theoretical]

Hmmm sure. I thought it tested cpu cache.
Can you test it alone for start and if it doesn't fail test it with the component it matches?

In Aida64 Exterme there is an option to stress CPU, FPU and System Cache, GPU Local Drives, and RAM. I will do the retests and get back to you.

I'm not going to get into this discussion too much since there are smarter people here but!
Considering your image you are using Ram-slot 2 and 4 instead of 1 and 3! It might not make any difference but I'd change it just to be sure.
My son had similar problems years ago that was related to a faulty Ram-slot..

PS. You should also see if the problem persists while only using one ramstick at a time. 8GB single channel will be sufficient during testing.

My RAM has always been placed in that position and has never seemed cause any issues in the past but I will definitely try putting it into a different slot to see if it helps.

 

[Niente]

Do you have it connected directly to the powerline? Are you using any UPS?

Have you measured PSU voltage? Not only BIOS voltage.

Regards.

 

[LoLs]

i read similar case with this spec Core i7-4790K/GA-Z97-HD3 from here. Anyway if you have multiple hardisk i suggest to removed before the test to avoid lost/corrupt data because unexpected shutdown. And even you didnt overclock,. it's best to reset bios to default, and recheck the default voltage setting

And check the bios version

GA-Z97-HD3 (rev. 2.0)
Initial BIOS Version: F6
Core i7-4790K supported since BIOS Version F6

GA-Z97-HD3 (rev. 1.0)
Initial BIOS Version: F3
Core i7-4790K supported since BIOS Version F5

 

[Tabeer]

It sounds like you've got plenty of power, and have already done some troubleshooting by replacing the PSU. Since that didn't solve the issue, I would agree that it may very well be a heating issue. It could be that the CPU heatsink isn't entirely properly seated or that there just isn't enough airflow through the case. Try to use CoreTemp to monitor my PC's temperature.

 

[Theoretical]

Stress testing the CPU and GPU for 02:18:05 Hrs there was no system shut down. CPU Temperature: 66 Degrees Celsius. GPU Temperature: 70 Degrees Celsius.

I still need to the all nighter Memtest.

 

[SHvFl]

Stress testing the CPU and GPU for 02:18:05 Hrs there was no system shut down. CPU Temperature: 66 Degrees Celsius. GPU Temperature: 70 Degrees Celsius.

I still need to the all nighter Memtest.

And the cache test you mentioned you can do. Try those first if you can.

 

[Theoretical]

Cache + GPU + CPU or CPU + Cache + GPU + System Memory?

EDIT:
Just stress tested CPU + Cache + GPU. Test ran for 00:01:55 hrs (1 minute and 55 seconds) until computer turned off. CPU Temperature: 63 Degrees Celsius. GPU Temperature: 68 Degrees Celsius.