Completely turning off my desktop

[Helepolis989]

Ok so I have had this game for awhile. I played it when it first came out. And I thought I was having overall pc errors. Because it kept shutting off. And I figured out it was the power surge all my plug-ins were at.

Well I redownloaded my game from steam. And I realized that my game was still causing problems. It doesn't freeze the game. It doesn't crash or any errors. It just randomly shuts off. Like someone pulls the plug out of the wall. Doesn't even go into shutdown mode. It's only this game too. I have newer games that doesn't do it. I even have this all the way down on low settings which doesn't change anything.

I have checked the Internet but nothing really helpful. I play on directx9 because the 10/11 is grayed out for some reason. Some say it may be over heating but my fans don't run very fast during the game. And I'm not sure how to speed them up. And I can get past the part it turns off and I can continue the game. I'll post my stats the best I can

Nvidia GeForce gtx 460
4 gig of ram
Intel core 2 duo CPU e4500 @ 2.20 ghz
Windows 7
Nvidia 650i ultra

 

[timtofly]

Sounds to me you may have a problem with your processor and how it is connected to the heatsink. The bios will close everything down if the CPU is about to over heat, so that it does not damage the processor. To be safe, taking it to a professional that you trust would be your best option. This game is pretty intensive and if your fans were not designed to "speed" up to cool down things, then the bios should turn things off at a certain threshold.

 

[tokala]

Sounds not like overheating to me, though most certainly it is some hardware problem.

nVidia chipset based boards were reputed to be troublesome, might be some quirk in the interplay of PSU, video card and mainboard.

What are the specific models of your PSU and mainboard?

 

[The_J]

I guess your Win7 is in the default mode regarding BSODs?
Because the normal behaviour is to restart the computer without showing the actual BSOD screen.

 

[Helepolis989]

I'm not sure what BSOD is sorry. And what do you mean specific models of the hardware. Didn't I give it in my first post. Or are you looking for something else?

 

[The_J]

BSOD = blue screen of death, a windows error message. It's turned of by default, the compute restarts instead. You might want to turn it on to see what error message it generates.


For the precise data of your hardware please give us your dxdiag file (my what???).

 

[tokala]

"Shutting off like someone unplugged it" is something different than a Windows-induced shutdown, J.

DXdiag data won't help either, as this isn't likely a software issue.

Helepolis, I looking for the manufacturer and model of your mainboard (you can get that from the "mainboard" tab of CPU-z and your power supply unit (you will likely have to open your case to get at it).

 

[The_J]

"Shutting off like someone unplugged it" is something different than a Windows-induced shutdown, J.

?
For me it sounds the same. Where's the difference?

 

[tokala]

Windows shutdown=software controlled shutdown to either reboot or BSOD, depending on windows configuration

Hard shutdown= PSU switching off or getting switched off by the mainboard, usually no reboot

 

[Helepolis989]

Ok I'll get that to you guys here in a hour or so. I managed to start the game and where I pick directx I accidentally right clicked it and saw it had a create shortcut for 10/11. So I tried that. And I played for over an hour without a problem. However this really isn't a great improvement. Could of just gotten lucky. I'll try to find that stuff for you in a few minutes

 

[timtofly]

Sounds not like overheating to me, though most certainly it is some hardware problem.

nVidia chipset based boards were reputed to be troublesome, might be some quirk in the interplay of PSU, video card and mainboard.

What are the specific models of your PSU and mainboard?

I normally do not question, but what does the video card have to do with it? The bios will not shut down if the video card overheats?

How does Helepolis989 turn the computer back on?

Helepolis989 Do you just hit the power button to turn the computer back on, or do you have to unplug the computer or hold the power button a few seconds to reset the power. Sometimes if just the display goes black the computer will still be running, but there is no visual way to properly shut it down.

It seems to me that just Civ V is putting his system in such a state that something is getting over heated. Unless the computer is also doing this at other times when he is not playing Civ V.

 

[Helepolis989]

I'm confused on where to find the manufactorer number for my motherboard. My power supply is a Coolmax cx-550b. Tell me where everything you want is normally located.

And it's not just my monitor that shuts off. I don't have to unplug it. I can just hit the power button like you normally would after you turn it off

 

[tokala]

I normally do not question, but what does the video card have to do with it? The bios will not shut down if the video card overheats?

It might spell trouble if the videocard is trying to draw more power via the PCIe slot than the mainboard is able to deliver, or the PSU might switch off if the system draws to much power from one +12V rail or as a whole (with the card the most power hungry component in the system)

 

[tokala]

My power supply is a Coolmax cx-550b

OK, I think we have the prime suspect here, probably no need to dig for the motherboard.

The coolmax PSUs don't exactly have a good reputation, lots of prematurely dying units in newegg feedback and scathing reviews.
If your problems persist, you might try another PSU instead and see if you get an improvement.

Edit: Just had a look at a review of the "big brother" of your PSU (750b), where two different units went up in flames at 2/3 of their rated wattage.
You really should consider replacing your PSU with something more reliable, regardless if your specific issue is indeed PSU related.

 

[Helepolis989]

Well that's disappointing. I wish I had money for it then. Anyways thank you guys. If this is the problem I'll fix it when I can.

Thanks tokala. I am recovering from surgery so i don't have any money. Since I can't work. I don't want to cause a fire but it's just going to have to wait till I can replace it. Thank you though

 

[timtofly]

It might spell trouble if the videocard is trying to draw more power via the PCIe slot than the mainboard is able to deliver, or the PSU might switch off if the system draws to much power from one +12V rail or as a whole (with the card the most power hungry component in the system)

Ok thanks, I keep getting stuck in the overheating aspect of the game.

 

[Helepolis989]

So I managed to play 4 straight hours since I switched over to directx 11. Which makes no sense to me. Anyone want to explain why the higher directx doesn't overheat it?

 

[timtofly]

It is quite possible that your power supply and the GPU card were having trouble switching into their economy (power saving) modes properly?

Instead of pulling less power, maybe it sent the signal to stop sending power?

The more variables modern computers have today, the harder they are to trouble shoot.

 

[Syntax Error]

Been having this problem myself. And no, DX11 is not an option for me since I run XP. Didn't have this issue in Vanilla.

 

[timtofly]

Can you send a Directx Diag?