Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

PC keeps crashing while gaming

Mar 20, 2018 11:29AM PDT

Hello,

My pc often shuts itself down and automatically restarts. It only happens when a game is running, most of the time when there is a loading screen or right after, or when I change the settings of a game. I thought it could be my graphics card, but after replacing it, this still happens. (I wanted to buy a new one, no matter what, so no money lost Wink )

So, what happens and when:

-When: When I start running a game; when there is a loading screen; when I change the settings of a game; once in a while random while gaming; NEVER when there is no game running, so not with YouTube, Internetbrowser, ...

What: PC just shuts down, as if there is a power reset (fans keep spinning), and immediately restarts again

Sometimes, this doesn't happen in weeks, but other times it just keeps happening every time I try to game. Does anyone know what the problem could be and how I can fix it?

Thansk in advance,
Jorik


Spec:
CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 3.60 GHz
RAM: 16 GB
GPU: MSI GTX 1080 GAMING X
PSU: Inter-Tech Combat Power CPM 750W
Motherboard: MSI X79A-GD45
Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
*If I forgot something or if you need some more information, you're welcome to tell me Wink

Post was last edited on March 20, 2018 12:09 PM PDT

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Clarification Request
You have to supply the PSU make and model.
Mar 20, 2018 11:39AM PDT

The 1080 GPU is not a light load and if the PSU is one of the usual dual or quad rails it will buckle under the load.

Be aware it could have worked when newer but PSUs and such age.

- Collapse -
PSU
Mar 20, 2018 12:09PM PDT

The PSU is the Inter-Tech Combat Power CPM 750W
I also had the problem with the GTX 760

- Collapse -
Took a while to find specs.
Mar 20, 2018 1:02PM PDT
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61zxgeIUO3L._SL1024_.jpg shows a split rail with possibly 30A +12V capability.

Many PSUs fib on that rating but while 360W on that rail may sound like plenty as the PSU ages you are never sure it can perform as new.

-> I forgot to ask how old. These split rails are common causes of odd machine issues along with motherboards.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1080_Gaming_X/22.html pegs your GPU at 254 Watts so for this round I'm calling this a bad choice for the PSU.

We can't be sure what else is on a rail so for design we only use a single rail to figure out if the design is in trouble.

The CPU TDP is 130W and we add 20 for each HDD and another 20 for the motherboard.

This gets us to over 400 Watts which is well outside a single rail of this PSU's capability.
Even if we think we can put just the GPU on one rail and the rest of the system on the other rail.

So this is just not a good choice PSU.

You may ask if this is the cause. You won't know till you put in a similar but single +12V rail PSU. There could be issues with the motherboard still.
- Collapse -
Answer
Fixed
Mar 25, 2018 3:06AM PDT

I asked for solutions on other forums too. Almost everyone said it was a bad PSU, so I've replaced it and the problem is fixed. Thanks everyone for helping!