Computer loses power randomly (newly upgraded GPUs and PSU)

[Reasoner512]

SYSTEM:

Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3

Intel Core i5-2500k 3.3GHz

G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3

Sapphire R9 290x TRI-X OC (x2 in crossfire) - NEW UPGRADE

Corsair HX850 PSU - NEW UPGRADE

 

Old GPU was an HD7770 and old PSU was an Antec TruePower Trio 650.

 

 

No OC'ing or anything. Everything is stock cooling. Case is very clean with good airflow (5 fans total).

 

So basically this only happens while playing Skyrim. I can play Farcry 4 and 3dMark benchmarks without a problem. I don't get a blue screen or anything. It just acts like the power gets unplugged suddenly. I have to turn the switch on my PSU to OFF and then back ON for the computer to be turned back on. I have 170+ hours of Skyrim logged with my old setup (7770 + TruePower Trio) and I never had one power off. I just started getting power-downs with the new GPUs and PSU so I am thinking it has something to do with one of those. Like I mentioned earlier though, this ONLY happens during Skyrim. Anything else has been fine so far, so almost seems that Skyrim itself is the problem. My mod setup is almost the same as before, but I have changed things around slightly. I wouldn't think that would matter though. I beat the HECK out of my old setup. I would run so many mods to the point that I would get around 10 FPS (for screenshots) and never had any power-down issues..

 

My first thought whenever a system suddenly power off is that the PSU is bad or not powerful enough. I would think that a gold rated 850 watt PSU would be more than enough even for crossfire though.

 

The weird thing is that I have been playing Skyrim for a few days without a problem. I also played yesterday for probably 4 hours straight. That is when it started turning off. I started it up again and it turned off within 10 mins again. Then again... and again a 4th time. At this time I loaded up 3dMark and played Farcry 4 for a bit with no issues at all. I then monitored the temps.

 

TEMPS:

GPU: Under heavy load It's usually in the high 70's, but I've seen it jump to 80-81 before.

CPU: Under heavy load it's around 71.

 

These are a bit high from what i've read, but I'm not sure if it's high enough to be causing a system shutdown.

 

I then loaded up Skyrim again and played for a good 30-45 mins or so before it turned off again. Turned it back on and played for the rest of the night (over 1 hour) and it didn't turn off. Hmmm...

 

Any ideas on where to start troubleshooting? The only thing I tried was disabling crossfire. It seemed to be stable (didn't shut off), but I didn't run Skyrim very long so I'm not sure if that was just luck or what.... since the issue seems to be pretty random. I did noticed that the GPU temp didn't really go above 75 with crossfire disabled, so it ran a bit cooler. I do have 1 slot free in between the 2 video cards. About 2 inches between them (don't have any more room to separate them).

 

I am going to start some troubleshooting when I get home from work and want to ask where I should start and everything I could check. The GPUs and PSU are new so I can RMA one of those if need be. Thanks.

 

 

 

[bben46]

Temp is a little high in the 80s. But I have seen some video cards run fine at 90 :ohmy: . Check air flow through the box. Remember that you need fans pushing air out as well as pushing air in. Try for a balance between in & out. Normally you want input fans mounted low in the front and output high on the back.

Make sure there is not a lot of stuff - such as cables blocking the air flow.

Power loss is typically caused by the +5 V line falling too low. Speedfan can monitor the voltages as well as fan speeds and temperatures.

Just because your PS is new that doesn't mean it can't be bad.

[Balloran]

If you still have the old hardware; put ONE back in [doesn't matter which] and try again, if it doesn't do the shutdown you know which piece is henkie if it does, Same. if you don't have the old hardware than try opening your case and placing a box fan against it for LOTS of airflow [this isn't ideal nor a permanent fix just for testing] Run Skyrim and see if you shutdown, if you don't than you know your fan set up isn't cutting it, add fans, strap the cables out of the way as much as you can, etc.

 

I'm suggesting you test this way as I play on a laptop with intel graphics with detail setting on high and while it gets hot, never even to warning levels, so i suspect its hardware Not software. your BIOS settings Should have an auto shutdown setting when pc gets to a certain level [different for CPU than mainboard] and you're hitting at least one or 2 them. TBH you should add fans or move them regardless as your PC IS running hot.

 

good luck

 

p.s. the box fan method IS temporary, it does move lots of air, but not necessarily in the way the PC needs it.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Balloran

[Reasoner512]

Temp is a little high in the 80s. But I have seen some video cards run fine at 90 :ohmy: . Check air flow through the box. Remember that you need fans pushing air out as well as pushing air in. Try for a balance between in & out. Normally you want input fans mounted low in the front and output high on the back.

Make sure there is not a lot of stuff - such as cables blocking the air flow.

Power loss is typically caused by the +5 V line falling too low. Speedfan can monitor the voltages as well as fan speeds and temperatures.

Just because your PS is new that doesn't mean it can't be bad.

 

Here is a pic of my case. 2 fans in the bottom front and 2 in the top rear. Also one on the side that's not pictured. Not all the cables were hooked up when I took this, but I keep them out of the way. I've used my case for about 2 years and it's been great.

 

Also I will try Speedfan tonight when I get home and do some testing.

 

Also one thing I want to note is that I did run one single R9 290x with my old PSU (Antec TruePower Trio 650) for a few days without a problem. It was when I got the 2nd card and new PSU that I started having issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Temp is a little high in the 80s. But I have seen some video cards run fine at 90 :ohmy: . Check air flow through the box. Remember that you need fans pushing air out as well as pushing air in. Try for a balance between in & out. Normally you want input fans mounted low in the front and output high on the back.

Make sure there is not a lot of stuff - such as cables blocking the air flow.

Power loss is typically caused by the +5 V line falling too low. Speedfan can monitor the voltages as well as fan speeds and temperatures.

Just because your PS is new that doesn't mean it can't be bad.

 

What temps should I be shooting for? I know mine are high, but high enough to cause a shutdown? I haven't looked at my mainboard temp. Maybe that is overheating...

 

According to the little testing I did last night with 1 card (and the few days I had 1 card in with my old PSU), it seems my system is completely stable with just 1 card inside. That makes me think:

 

1. The PSU isn't powerful enough to handle 2 cards... (this seems unlikely) or

2. The 2nd card is giving off too much heat when combined with the 1st card, making the entire system overheat.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Reasoner512

[Balloran]

am i seeing this right; 2-4 fans in front, and power supply on bottom of rig, 2 120mm fans in top rear corner.

too bad you don't have a power supply tester, you could safely check it and not risk any hardware. what is the rated wattage and max wattage of your PS, and what is the min for your video cards?

 

...so you can play stuff, and do benchmarks [i'm assuming they aren't burn-in benchmarks that last hours] but put a graphics intensive skyrim and your system shuts off, no warnings; how long into the game, any particular areas or patterns?

 

Check your BIOS shutdown temperatures, see what they are set at [for example my main box, not my laptop] is set to warn at 65, and shut down at 70 for the main-board and 70/72 for the CPU. i don't have a shutdown temp for the video cards; that should be preset by the manufacturer and they usually can run hotter. <-= your Bios may have a Status page that will list your PS's output! this would save the need to get Speedfan, but you would have to watch it for a bit, i.e. not actually playing or using your PC just watching BIOS

 

your system could be shutting down because of heat or shorting out because the PS isn't working properly or even the new Video card has bad ram that only is apparent when that particular chip gets utilized...

 

you didn't say weather you had access to the old, Known good and working, hardware. do you have access to a copy of Sandra or similar multi-testing utility?

Edited March 2, 2015 by Balloran

[Balloran]

links didn't post... Your Video cards require 750w

 

Your power-supply's tech-sheet says 840w standard oh and this:

Continuous Output Rated Temperature (°C)

50°C

so if ITS getting hotter than that... something is henkie

Edited March 2, 2015 by Balloran

[Reasoner512]

 

links didn't post... Your Video cards require 750w

 

Your power-supply's tech-sheet says 840w standard oh and this:

Continuous Output Rated Temperature (°C)

50°C

so if ITS getting hotter than that... something is henkie

 

 

So I didn't see anything in the BIOS about shutting down the system. I see it says there is a warning alarm, but that is disabled.

 

If you're saying 1 card needs 750w, are you saying that 850w isn't enough for 2? I did some research and many people seem to think my PSU is plenty for my 2 cards.

 

As far as testing old hardware... I still have the old PSU and card. Here is what I have determined.

 

The old PSU and old video card work fine... no shutdowns.

The old PSU with ONE of the new cards work fine.

I can't test the old PSU with both cards because it's not powerful enough.

It's only when I have the new PSU and both new cards that it fails.

 

Also when you refer to the 50C temp, are you meaning the PSU temp? I never though of that overheating. Is there a way to monitor the temp for that?

 

Also here is a screnshot of my idle temps. What does Temp1, Temp2 and Temp3 mean? Also GPU 2 says 0. Does that mean it's turned off when idle?

 

[Reasoner512]

So I think I basically just can't run crossfire.

 

I started Skyrim and within 10 mins it shut off. The fans on the video cards started to get really loud and there was lots of hot air that I felt.... then it turned off shortly after that.

 

I disabled crossfire and ran Skyrim for 20 mins with no problems. I can physically tell that there is MUCH less heat circulating (I have the side panel off) and my temps are lower too.

 

At full load the CPU was around 60 and the GPU was around 70. Much lower than before.

 

These cards are GIANT and produce a ton of heat. I think you need a pretty HUGE case with tons of fans in order to run crossfire IMO. Maybe I need more space in between the 2 cards? I don't know. I am thinking I just need to give up on the whole crossfire thing and just stick with 1 card.

[Balloran]

according to Corsair your PS is fine for both cards

 

so Make sure you have it configured properly; and try the box fan trick. if it works, than you will need better fans to utilize crossfire it would appear.

 

[you do have the newest drivers of course, and what ever catalyst profile it says you should use for Skyrim...]

Edited March 3, 2015 by Balloran

[Reasoner512]

I think I'm just going to use a different ENB, or just not use ENB at all. When I turn on ENB I can hear the GPU fans start to go pretty wild. If ENB is off, then it's much quieter. I can play other games with crossfire enabled (tomb raider, farcry4, 3dmark benchmarks, starcraft 2, diablo 3) with no problem and my tower stays pretty quiet.

 

I played Skyrim last night for quite awhile without ENB on (case was closed with no box fan blowing). All other settings were high and I had a lot of other high res texture mods.

 

So I honestly think whatever ENB I was using was just literally breaking my GPUs. The link below is the ENB preset that I use. I use the ENB engine v0.266. I have modified the ENB preset a bit to make my own custom look, but I haven't really changed much.

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37978/

 

If I can run 3dmark and all my other games without issue (including Skyrim without ENB), but get problems as soon as I run Skyrim with ENB, I am blaming the issue on ENB for now haha.

 

With that being said, I do want to keep my rig cool. However, I only have 1 more spot in my case for a fan. When you said I need better fans what do you mean by that? A fan is a fan, right? I suppose I could get fans with an external knob for controlling the speed and just turn it up. I don't want my rig to sound like a jet engine though.

 

I was thinking up at least getting this for my CPU:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-RR-212E-20PK-R2/dp/B005O65JXI/

 

Also, thanks for everyone's help so far.