Recently I purchased a 6870 to replace my flickering 5770. It works fine, except when I run certain games. I can play LoL completely fine, but when I play Minecraft the game lags horribly and when I play a real game (CoD4, GTA, etc, anything with good graphics) my computer shuts off after a few minutes. It's not instant, it shuts off after a few minutes.
I stress tested my CPU with Prime95 and it shut down my computer. Now, before with my 5770, it worked fine without shutting off during a stress test. I think this may have to do with my PSU: It's only 500 watts D:
I want to replace it, but obviously I need to make sure that is the problem.

6870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948&cm_re=6870-_-14-102-948-_-Product

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171031

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846

I would assume that the computer overheating for whatever reason.

However there are pleanty of reasons.
Make sure that there's nothing mechanically wrong first as its the most likely issue (dust in fan, overheating, loose cables (exposed) shorting out computer. Basically put you hand near you fan (don't get your finger cut off though ) if its really hot you have to take away your hand than its overheating. Next check for loose or exposed cables shorting out your system. Finally clean you fan if possible (if not then blow compressed air at the fan)

Another common issue is a virus is slowing down your computer to such a point you can't handle your games...

Thirdly it could be that your power supply isn't sufficient for your new computer component(s) (however i wouldn't be proficient at anlysing your specs so try to ask someone that knows what power supply you components require. (ie when you battery tries to play these games w/ good graphics it drains too much of your power shutting it off)

Hoped this helped.

Shutdowns are almost always power or heat related.

How can I check to make sure which it is?

you should be able to feel the heat out of one of the vents, you can look at the power supply of your computer, if it's less than 200 watts that might be your problem silly me

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Jul 15 2011, 7:04 pm by jjf28.

Lol what? I have a 500 watt psu. and feeling the heat out of the vents would give me NO indication if it's overheating...

You should read the OP first.


Hmm. If the stress test shut off the computer, my guess would be overheating. But since this is only happening after you replaced the card, then that would suggest PSU issues. Most of the time, people will suggest isolating components to test them and see if they are causing the problem, but this seems more like a catch-22 scenario. That card alone is using about 200 to 250w of your PSU, so I think it would be a safe bet to assume it is the power supply. That would also be an easier fix than if it is overheating.

I had unlocked 2 cores on my CPU. I believe this makes the CPU draw more power than the PSU can handle, due to the new GPU. I went back down to 2 cores and now my computer appears to work better. I think the problem still stems from the PSU, though, and I'll get another one soon -- 500 watts is laughably small anyways, and I'd like to be able to use all 4 cores.

feeling whats coming out of the vents is not a accurate measure of whether parts are overheating but it can indicate whether your computer is experiancing significant temperature changes. Source

Make sure you buy a quality PSU. Wattage alone means nothing.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044
Would be my recommendation at the time.

qft.
You can get better results with good (e.g. Corsair) 500W PSUs than with shitty (cheap) 750W PSUs. Usually a low price is a good indicator of a shitty PSU. However a high price doesn't necessarily mean a good PSU.

But first, identify your problem. Diagnosing power problems can be tricky so we check heat problems and if its not that we know it's a power problem.
Use hwmonitor to measure your temps (no install, no extras just extract and read temps. That's why I prefer it over Everest). If GPU goes > 100°C or CPU > 80°C then that's it.
Hardest last: Your PSU. It usually has no temperature probe so what you do is actually what jjf28 said: Put your hand at the exhaust of the PSU and feel if it's hot. If unsure try to smell anything unusual. If you've never done it before it can be hard to judge but a PSU shouldn't get too warm so when in doubt try to report your experience and we should be able to tell. Also a good indicator for too hot PSU is that your computer won't turn on for about a minute or more after a shutdown.

Okay I already made a pretty good post but here is a simplify way.

-Most computers have a fan and a vent connected to the battery so putting your hand near the vent tells if your battery is most likey overheating (usually)(if it is so hot you have to move your hand away its most likely the battery
(However not all computers have the battery connected to the vent so might now work)
-If you have access to some compressed air use it on your fan (too clean dust will help for either scenario as too vent the heat easier)
-preform a virus scan (slow downs can be caused by viruses)
-make sure that your computer has at least 3 inches of space on all sides (only the hard drive)
-check for loose wire as this can mean its shorting out

If above fails to gain any results consider buying a new psu or battery

Tempz I hope you're trolling. There is no battery in a computer except the CMOS battery which isn't an issue to begin with.

That graphics card would run in a much lower power mode when you are not running a game (but not quite as low as your 5770), so considering that the non-GPU stress test causes the shutdown as well, it might be the CPU overheating. When idle, the GPU on that card will still be a little hotter than your 5770, as its idle power usage isn't quite as low (a 6850 would have been), but not likely much hotter. Your CPU could be overheating because of unlocking those cores or even those 2 cores might be unstable. Run hwmonitor to monitor your temperatures while doing that Prime95 test; it will even show per-core temperature, depending on your CPU.


Tempz: The sides where you need space depends on your computer case. For example, my Antec Solo (one of the Antec cases that Ex actually does not object to, IIRC) only needs space around the back of the case and the sides of the front panel. It mostly depends on where the vents are on a case, but if there are any external heatsinks (not common) those must also have some space.

COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus RS-500
This shouldn't be the problem, as I doubt you're pulling more than 400W, but cooler master sucks.

If furmark doesn't shut down your computer, then I think it's your ram.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194038
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194087
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194085
other buys which are on sale/good deals due to rebate.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jul 17 2011, 5:09 am by rockz.

I've never heard of RAM causing a computer to shut down. I've heard of crashing, but not shutting down.

I still think it is most likely related to the CPU, particularly with heat, unless something is found otherwise. Most likely the new card is making the CPU hotter and/or it is too hot because of unlocking the extra 2 cores. Newer AMD graphics cards do not use so much power when they are not being used for 3d graphics (they get down-clocked significantly at idle or near idle), and last I heard, Prime95 does not use the GPU. Also, shutting down after time when stressed is probably more indicative of a heat issue than a power issue (and when heat-related, the shutdown is most likely to occur as a result of something overheating that the motherboard can monitor). I'd definitely recommend checking temps before trying anything else attempting to fix it.

You can test if using too much RAM is the problem


but i probably initially misunderstood rocks - Faulty RAM

Post has been edited 4 time(s), last time on Jul 18 2011, 5:55 am by jjf28.