My PC shuts down when playing games

Hello, i'm new to these forums and i'm having a really annoying issue thats been ongoing for a bit over a year now and i cant seem to figure out the issue, anytime that i play games slightly graphically intensive, my pc will shut down (Not restart) it can range from anywhere from 5-10 minutes to a few hours but it always eventually crashes

The spec's for my rig are:

OS:Windows Xp HE SP3
CPU:Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, 2.4ghz
Mobo: Asus p5n32-e SLI, with BIOS Version 1503
Ram: 2x 2gb Mushkin DDR2
GPU: Geforce 8800 GTS 640 MB w/ Latest Nvidia drivers (91.07
PSU: NZXT. 850 Watt

My idle temps are about 42c/44c/36c/37c for cpu, and about 52 c for the gpu, under load
85c

I've tried cleaning it out completely so there is no dust, i have 3 fans, one on the front of the CPU, one on the proccessor and then the psu fan, smaller fans nothing special

If you need any further details on my specs or anything else please feel free to ask.

With my limited knowledge of computers, i havent been able to figure out why this is happening all i know is if i can get this issue resolved i'd be a very happy man, thank you for reading.

 

Seems you have a problem here.

Have you tried removing the graphics card, running off the VGA on the motherboard then putting the computer underload to see if its a faulty graphics card which I suspect.

Could try reseating the heatsink and fan on the cpu with some new thermal paste

Could try another powersupply unit to see if when under pressure its your psu thats giving in.

Have you got a big house fan you can put next to your pc with the side off when playing to rule out the idea of it being heat related.

Good luck

 

Currently, i have a house fan blowing on it with the side case off, but what i'm trying to find is the actual issue, because i dont have alot of money to spend on new parts right now

I never thought of trying to run a game without the video card, i didnt think it would run, so i just take the video card out and run my ususal game to see if it crashes?

Thanks for the quick reply Captain.

 

I don't think that board has onboard video. so you wont be able to try that. I too, suspect it's a faulty video card, or a heat related issue. Has there been any crashes since you have the side off and the fan blowing on it?

have you done any overclocking on the board for the ram or cpu? also, do your memory timings match up with the stock timings? Try running memtest to rule the ram out. http://majorgeeks.com/Memtest86_d4226.html

 

Yeah, it still crashes just like normal even with the case off and a fan blowing on it, i've done hardcore stress tests and burn tests on it and my GPU gets to 85c MAX under full load with those tests, and still it doesnt shut off, but if i play a game it shuts off pretty quickly

I've done no overclocking to either cpu or ram, memory timings matching with stock timings? i have no idea how to see that, thanks for the replies

 

the only other thing i can think of is use something like driver sweeper to remove the nvidia drivers, and reinstall the newest for your operating system.
http://downloads.guru3d.com/Guru3D---Driver-Sweeper-(Setup)-download-1655.html
luckily the 8800's have a lifetime warranty (if you registered with the manufacturer when you purchased it) and if you do find that it's the video card that is the problem, you can get a replacement.


you can use something like cpu-z to the memory timing that is currently being used, and you can compare that with the numbers that are for your memory.
http://majorgeeks.com/CPU-Z_d425.html

very technical description of this is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_random_access_memory#Memory_timing

in short, your motherboard/bios will set certain numbers, and sometimes it will default at different values than what the ram will run optimally with. these can be changed in the bios. and maybe a bios update will help, but with the instability of your system, I would advise against this, unless you're sure the shutdowns only occur while playing games. come to think of it, your problem is sounding less likely that it's a RAM problem, and more likely a driver problem.

you can also get updates for directx here
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3