Computer help needed - random shut downs

[ps1074]

I need some help with my computer. For one week now it shuts down randomly. Well, not really randomly because I noticed it only shuts down when I play a game or watch a movie, so my guess is it has something to do with the video card... I can surf the net or work on it for a whole day and it won't shut down. When I start a game, it will shut down in 10 minutes or so... I wanted to see a movie and started the player and it shut down after just 5 minutes. I restarted it and tried again and it shut down in just 2 minutes, so I gave up :(

It doesnt overheat, it doesnt have any viruses... it just started shutting down. Any suggestion as to what might cause it? :shrug:

I'll also cross post this in the computer help group...

[slj0101]

1. Wow. It could be anything.

I am having a similar problem, but I have deducted that it's being caused by a faulty memory stick. Enjoy a weekend of diagnostics. Best of luck to you.

[qnr]

2. Actually, it might be overheating, just not the CPU. When you're down, try opening

it up and checking the condition of the heatsink and/or fan on your graphics card. In addition, many mainboards have fans for the AGP chip. You might want to see if that is functioning properly.

Edit: My original thought was that it might be RAM, but by your description, it seems to be related to graphics-intensive programs, so my guess is that isn't it.

[ps1074]

3. I've done that.

Fans are working fine and the temp is okay. That's why I ruled out the overheating.

Could it be the power supply?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. Sure

you could be at the power supply's limit. push it a little beyond that, a good power supply will shut itself down for protection. How many watts is it?

[blogslut]

4. shut down or sleep mode?

?

[ps1074]

5. shut down

total :(

[blogslut]

6. hmmm

How old is your machine? Have you recently started to play games and DVDs on it?

[ps1074]

7. it is 1 year old

and no, I've been playing games and watching movies on it since day 1.

[blogslut]

8. Could be some weird spyware

...or maybe one of your games/DVDs installed some odd player software. so, I assume you're using XP?

[ps1074]

12. it is XP

The games are installed since day1. I havent installed anything for months now...

[blogslut]

15. hmmm

Because I've noticed that sometimes DVD movies come with their own player software. That's why I brought it up. Could be that third-party software is overriding your normal experience.

You could look for hardware conflicts. It could be that.

Have you done the basics? Defrag the hard drive. Scan the disk for errors? Cleared the cache?

[johnnie]

10. I have had computers that shut down like that

Twice it happened on two separate machines at different times. Both times it ended up being bad RAM. I don't know if that is it, but it was for me...twice.

[billyskank]

11. Dying power supply has to be near the top of the list of likely culprits

[ps1074]

13. damn

:cry:

[billyskank]

14. They don't cost too much

although changing one is a bit of a pain in the ass. Lots of wires and plugs, you see. Look in the computer's BIOS to see if there is a voltage monitor utility in there. If there is, take a look at the voltages - there will probably be three. If they are varying wildly (say more than 10%) from the proper values, your PSU is probably on the way out.

I'm not saying it is your PSU, but they are responsible for a great number of random problems with PCs. Especially as OEMs tend to use the cheapest shitty ones possible. I'm talking like a couple of bucks here.

[tk2kewl]

16. is that cat in your sig line chewing on the power cord?

:shrug:

[seemunkee]

17. Do you have all the latest driver updates?

See if there is a newer driver for the video card.