Second opinion on PC error

[mazex]

Originally Posted by Oldschool61

My PC currently is shutting down after a couple minutes of playing. Its fine in windows doing normal tasks. When I enter a game be it BF3 or Clod after a couple or few minutes the PC will either shut down or in CLod the game will minimize and then sometimes launch another exsistance of the game.

My best guess is that my power supply is probably dieing and not supplying enough power during games and this is causing the shutdown. Any thoughts???

Well, when errors occur I like to start with the question: "Did it work before, and what has changed since that point?". If your power supply worked before it really should work now? (but sure - they can get problems with age like everything else ). It really sounds like a typical low power or overheating problem as it only happens after a number of minutes of full load? So, have you tried running Prime95 for some hours and checked your temps?

From another post I did here recently, this is my tests after building a new PC...

I always run Memtest86 over a full night to verify that the memory and CPU works as it is supposed to do (you download the ISO and burn a CD that you boot it from):

http://www.memtest86.com/

Or you can of course use the built-in memtest in Windows 7 from the boot menu but I like the stand alone memtest better as you boot it from a CD so you don't even need to install the OS first.

After that I run Prime95 a full night to see that it's stable and not overheating under load in the OS...

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/

Combine with Core Temp while running Prime95 to watch the temps:

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Starting out with these could get you started, but the important question is still - was the computer stable for months and then suddenly this happens under load? Are you heatsinks and fans maybe filled with dust? Complete specs would help when talking if your PSU is too weak too.

Good luck! /Mazex