PC restarts on its own?
By
AllYourBase,
Posted on: 2011-07-21 20:48 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
Most likely culprit is that your power supply isn't good enough. Intense graphics equal card drawing extra power equals power drop that causes the system to reboot.
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As Mandu says this is probably a PSU problem
What is happening is the 5V reference line from the PSU is registering a voltage level which is out of spec - either high or low and so is powering down the PSU to prevent possible hardware damage - it isn't always quick enough though and the spark from a blown PSU can be impressive.
It can be caused by the PSU fan failing to cool the PSU sufficiently so try cleaning that with a can of compressed air.
However you say you have just upgraded your video card so my suspicion is your new card is drawing sufficient power to overload the PSU in which case you will have little option but to replace it - steer well clear of cheap unbranded ones - their regulation is often appalling at moderate loads and their thermal efficiency even worse. A quality 500W PSU will probably outperform a budget 1000W one.
If you post your general system specs someone will probably be able to recommend a decent one.
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The cheap PSU is the cause of many a non-specific PC issue; especially if you've just bought a new graphics card as those things can be insanely power-hungry.
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Replace the power supply asap or you could lose everything if it goes out.
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It's not unheard of for a PSU to take other things with it when it finally bites the dust either; I'd suggest replacing that sucker. I've had good luck with Antec PSU's and they've a new budget line that seems pretty solid without a lot of frills like modular cables.
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Originally Posted by Noyjitat
Replace the power supply asap or you could lose everything if it goes out.
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My old PSU managed to take a DVD drive with it when it went. Found scorch marks on the power attachment point and a partially melted power cord. Very scary. I was lucky enough to be awake when it happened, otherwise, decent chance of a fire. |
Originally Posted by Call Me Awesome
It's not unheard of for a PSU to take other things with it when it finally bites the dust either; I'd suggest replacing that sucker. I've had good luck with Antec PSU's and they've a new budget line that seems pretty solid without a lot of frills like modular cables.
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I did get a new power supply too when I got the other stuff, is there a way to verify that it's the cause?
I had a problem with spontaneous reboots when CoH first launched. I had then-recently built a machine from scratch (i.e., parts I bought online) for the sole purpose of playing CoH. After about two months of testing different things I discovered that the stand-offs I was using (little metal things meant to act as spacers to keep the motherboard from contacting the case frame) weren't long enough to keep one section of the motherboard's backside from touching the frame. So what was happening was every time it tried to check the floppy disk (which apparently happened every thirty minutes), it would cause a short and reboot.
A second set of spacers later, no issues. Until the motherboard spontaneously nuked itself about a year later. Oh well. Funny how that stuff happens.
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It is possible that you have some software error, and that your computer is auto rebooting on the error. (Windows XP, Vista, and 7 are set this way by default.)
If you haven't already stopped that behavior, you might want to disable that first and see how things go.
How to disable auto restart in XP
How to disable auto restart in Vista
How to disable aut restart in 7
Run this program.
[URL="http://home.roadrunner.com/%7Edasloth/CoH/CoHHelper.html"]CoHHelper
It will show us what hardware you have.
Also if you still have the box for your power supply (always keep the boxes in case something goes wrong during the warranty period. It makes returning them easier) then give us the brand and part number.
Don't count your weasels before they pop dink!
Don't modern PC's reboot when one of the CPU chips are dangerously hot?
That may be a problem if the OP's cooling is insufficient and some chip is overheating.
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Originally Posted by Primantiss
Don't modern PC's reboot when one of the CPU chips are dangerously hot?
That may be a problem if the OP's cooling is insufficient and some chip is overheating. |
Yes they do. And CoH does stress the cpu more than most programs. But it is best to start with the most obvious possibility and eliminate that before moving onto other possible causes. The overheating cpu/gpu is less likely because although there isn't as great a strain on them CoH still stresses them enough that they would probably be overheating even in empty zones if that was the problem. It could be incorrectly applied thermal paste or any number of other things. But it's still best to take it a step at a time.
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Also have you disable restart on system crash? That way you may have a better idea as to the why.
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I had this problem about a week and a half ago and thought it might be heat related. An in game friend suggested I try this program called open hardware monitor, it monitors the temps of the main processors and gpus.
It is located here.
http://openhardwaremonitor.org/downloads/
A few days after, I awoke and the PC would not power on at all. Ended up being the PSU died.
With this software, I noticed a dramatic reduction in GPU temp with the new PSU installed. My guess was that as the PSU was in the process of failing, not enough power was getting to the fans to spin them fast enough to cool.
I would get a PC reboot every time some heavy graphics occurred like is happening with you.
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My PC restarts on its own when I'm in areas with lots of players/lots of active powers (RWZ, I-trial). It seems to be okay outside of the game, or when I'm playing solo. I'm not sure about small/non-league teams
I think turning down graphics would help, but I just upgraded my graphics card (and memory and CPU) so I wouldn't have to do that anymore. What's causing the restarting?