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[Fuz]

I'm not sure where to post this, sorry if it's the wrong forum.
Well, I need tech support.
I have an I7-4790K with a GTX970. 8GB ram, W8.1.
Since a few months, it started rebooting itself while playing some 3D games (2D is fine). I suppose it could be the GPU overheating, maybe? I don't know for sure.
Anyway, for some games this happens more frequently if I have Firefox open in background (Chrome seems fine, weirdly enough). The problem can somehow be kept under control by just downgrading the games' graphic settings to the minimum (and keeping FF closed. Which tbh is kinda annoying 'cause I am an alt-tab addict).
But I've noticed one really weird thing about this. It gets worse in the evening, at the point that my countermeasure doesn't work anymore and the game I'm playing just makes my PC reboot as soon as I load a savegame. I can play all the morning/afternoon with zero problems, then on the evening it just keeps instantly rebooting. No matter if I turn the PC off for 1/2 hours to let it cool down. It still reboots.
Side note: the fans are all clean and working.
Anyone have some insight on this?

 

[Whims-of-Fate]

Have you checked temp and clocks for your gpu and cpu?

 

[Halo0629]

Sounds like issue with your gpu or a faulty ram but could also be your power supply dying.

 

[Whims-of-Fate]

Yeah, but that morning evening thing is confusing me.

 

[Deleted member 77995]

probably the cpu overheating and instigating a fail-safe measure

would apply new thermal paste and make sure the motherboard is seated correctly. run diagnostic tests on GPU/CPU/RAM temps. loading into your bios when the system starts is also a fairly simple way of checking temps. most bios will color code them.

 

[Paracelsus]

Install MSI Afterburner (and core temp for cpu temp control), push gpu fan to 80% speed minimum and test it again. What cooler does your CPU have, stock or aftermarket?
Also, post model of PSU, because that looks awfully close to the classic "pc shuts down because the power draw is higher than what the psu can provide".

 

[Szym]

First thing to do is check what the temperatures are, Situations like this have two big culprits: temperature and power supply.

 

[LordPezix]

clock timing memory overfill error.

Change your clock to AM in the evening and see if that helps.

 

[888]

I’m going to say opposite of most people. Check your PSU. I just had to replace my Supernova under RMA recently for the same issue. It would work fine for normal desktop style browsing or low end games. One day I started a game of Rainbow Six and made it to round three and then bam. Reboot. Event logs showed improper shutdown. Luckily I had another rig with the same gpu and a similar psu. I targeted the GPU first and swapped them. Same issue. Swapped the PSU and didn’t have issues. Put the supernova back in and the issues came back.

If your CPU isn’t overheating which is easy to check and your GPU isn’t leaving driver related events in your log then check your PSU.

 

[Fuz]

Install MSI Afterburner (and core temp for cpu temp control), push gpu fan to 80% speed minimum and test it again. What cooler does your CPU have, stock or aftermarket?
Also, post model of PSU, because that looks awfully close to the classic "pc shuts down because the power draw is higher than what the psu can provide".

I have this PC since The WItcher 3, it worked perfectly for years. I don't think it's the PSU. It's a corsair vs650, anyway.

clock timing memory overfill error.

Change your clock to AM in the evening and see if that helps

Wut?

Have you checked temp and clocks for your gpu and cpu?

Just had a reboot, 5-10 minutes after they were all around 30-40. BUT I usually heard the fans going wild before... that's even when I don't get reboots, toh.
Edit: Got another reboot, immediately checked temperatures on HWMonitor, everything was under 50°


Btw, I played all morning without any reboot (now it's 20:20 here).

 

[King of Foxes]

Hit the gym and move on with your life.

 

[TrainedRage]

Throw it in the microwave and buy a new computer. It's what Geek Squad would want.

 

[TTOOLL]

First thing, get the hell out of Windows 8.1

 

[Fox102383]

I agree,get out of windows 8.1.

Another good thing is,go into your bios and set it to default settings and save it. Then reboot your computer,see if that helps.

 

[Fuz]

WIndows 10 is shit, so if I ditched 8.1 (by the way guys, it's modded) I would only go back to 7.
I'm waiting for Linux to go mainstream for games.

 

[LordPezix]

WIndows 10 is shit, so if I ditched 8.1 (by the way guys, it's modded) I would only go back to 7.
I'm waiting for Linux to go mainstream for games.

Y2K Clock type errors are more frequent than you might expect.

Have you tried updating/reinstalling your drivers?

 

[888]

WIndows 10 is shit, so if I ditched 8.1 (by the way guys, it's modded) I would only go back to 7.
I'm waiting for Linux to go mainstream for games.

I disagree on windows 10 being shit. And by modded you mean you added classic shell?

 

[Fuz]

Have you tried updating/reinstalling your drivers?

Which ones?

And by modded you mean you added classic shell?

And some other little tweak that removed annoyances.

 

[LordPezix]

Which ones?.

GPU and MB I would try first.

 

[davepoobond]

Take the gpu out and see if it happens still

 

[Fuz]

Take the gpu out and see if it happens still

If I take out the GPU I can't play and I can't reproduce the error

 

[Blam]

Sounds like your pc is protecting you on a power surge, you can turn this off in the bios.

There's also updating to w10 since 8.1 is shit and performance gains on W10 are better then the ones on W7.

 

[davepoobond]

If I take out the GPU I can't play and I can't reproduce the error

You can play games with the on board graphics. Just have to lower the settings.

It’s to rule out the gpu.

 

[ultragee]

I think you just need to edit the settings of the video card and play with the reduced. I also don't have the newest laptop, which is currently suitable for work or study, and given that my recent activity is related to statistics and even the compilation of grouped frequency distribution table is given heavily to it.

 

[Redneckerz]

You might also want to check for bulging caps on your motherboard. They might not absolutely cause this issue (I would indeed follow the other's advice and remove the GPU first and then the RAM) but your PSU might also be suspect. Sudden restarts like these are usually the cause that one of these components (And not a HDD) is not functioning right.

If its neither GPU or RAM, then check your PSU, and if that isn't succesfull, your MB for those caps.

probably the cpu overheating and instigating a fail-safe measure

would apply new thermal paste and make sure the motherboard is seated correctly.

I would want to advise that although this is said easily, it isn't an easy thing to do if you don't know what you are doing. Too much thermal paste and you will fuck up your CPU and thus your PC.

Considering the answers you give on the other questions, i would humbly advise not to try this out yourself, but do this by someone who knows this. This is not an attack on you, i am just saying this to prevent that mistakes are made that might ruin your PC.

 

[StormCell]

OP, does this only ever happen playing 3D games? Does it only happen in the evening? If you play 2D games in the evening, it never happens? Want to make sure I'm understanding the details.

Have you overclocked the CPU?

 

[Gander]

I agree with moving on from Windows 8. It was just a beta for Windows 10 anyways you might as well get the more refined product. I would also check your Task Manager to see just how much resources Firefox is using when this occurs. Do that and make sure both the OS and browser has lastest updates then start from there. You don't want to pull your machine apart when the issue is really a browser setting or OS preference.

 

[Fuz]

OP, does this only ever happen playing 3D games?

Yes. But it's more complex than this: I played some Pillars of Eternity 2 at minimum detail today and in some points was a crashfest, had lots of reboots. Then I played Monster Hunter for a few hours max detail and didn't have any reboot.
Edit: thinking about it, this makes it sound like a memory problem. With PoE2 it happens when spells are fired, and usually there's a brief loading for them. MH seems not to have those "mini-freezes" and it goes more smoothly.

Does it only happen in the evening?

No, but in certain hours is more frequent. About 6PM to 22PM, roughly. Maybe it's because everyone is coming back to their homes from work and turning electrical stuff on and the lines get overloaded? I don't know what to think.

If you play 2D games in the evening, it never happens?

No, never.

Have you overclocked the CPU?

No.

 

[Iorv3th]

Monitor your temps as you are playing, not after rebooting. If you have MSI afterburner there is an overlay that you can have displayed in game in the corner.

If I had to bet money on it. It's either a faulty GPU or PSU.

Check your temps first. Also make sure your GPU isn't overclocked. Might be an unstable overclock.

 

[StormCell]

Monitor your temps as you are playing, not after rebooting. If you have MSI afterburner there is an overlay that you can have displayed in game in the corner.

If I had to bet money on it. It's either a faulty GPU or PSU.

Check your temps first. Also make sure your GPU isn't overclocked. Might be an unstable overclock.

I agree. The first thing I would do is borrow a PSU from a friend and try to reproduce the issue.

 

[Redneckerz]

Yes. But it's more complex than this: I played some Pillars of Eternity 2 at minimum detail today and in some points was a crashfest, had lots of reboots. Then I played Monster Hunter for a few hours max detail and didn't have any reboot.
Edit: thinking about it, this makes it sound like a memory problem. With PoE2 it happens when spells are fired, and usually there's a brief loading for them. MH seems not to have those "mini-freezes" and it goes more smoothly.
No, but in certain hours is more frequent. About 6PM to 22PM, roughly. Maybe it's because everyone is coming back to their homes from work and turning electrical stuff on and the lines get overloaded? I don't know what to think.

No, never.
No.

Some cells on the memory might be malfunctioning.

 

[Iorv3th]

You could also run memtest if you think it's a memory error. Usually though memory errors will give you a blue screen and not an immediate reboot. That sounds like heat or voltage issues.