Computer shuts down abruptly, help me please? :(

My husband built this computer for me about 6 years ago and has replaced a few other parts since then, like the graphics card is about 2 years old and I just purchased a new PSU last night. If someone is willing to give me some advice, I would greatly appreciate it. :?

My entire computer has been shutting down on me while playing The Sims 4. I haven't really touched my computer in about a year (just had a baby boy, i've been busy), so I wasn't sure if it was just TS4 or my computer. I thought maybe it was my power supply since it's the oldest piece (6 years now, 700w), so I purchased an EVGA 600w at BestBuy last night and installed it. I had the same issue this morning, so I booted up Skyrim to see if it was only TS4. It shut down on me again, and flat out would not turn back on for a few minutes. This was new.

I installed HWMonitor to check the temps, and I'm not 100% how to read it but my google searches led me to believe that the CPU temps were the numbers to look at. It sits at about 45°c, and then reached about 80°c with TS4 before shutting down. I don't know what the skyrim temp was because it was being funky about alt tabbing.

I have both TS4 and Skyrim installed and running through my SSD. Don't Starve does not cause my computer to shut down and it's installed and ran through my old HDD, but it's also less graphic intensive so I don't know if that matters.

Operating System - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 965
- Deneb 45nm Technology
RAM - 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 573MHz (7-6-6-19)
Motherboard - ASRock 870 Extreme3 (CPUSocket) 22 °C
Graphics - ASUS VH236H (1920x1080@60Hz)
- 2048MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 (EVGA) 49 °C
Storage - 111GB INTEL SSDSC2CT120A3 ATA Device (SSD)
- 465GB Maxtor 7H500F0 ATA Device (SATA) 28 °C
Optical Drives - ATAPI DVD A DH16A6L-C ATA Device

I've been trying to figure this out myself, but I'm feeling a bit defeated now so I'll be happy with any advice at all that I can get. Thank youu. ):

Posts

  • ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    It sounds like your motherboard has an automatic overheating shutdown process enabled and set to trigger at ~80°C. Maybe try removing the heatsink/fan, cleaning off the processor of thermal goop, and reapply a new layer of thermal paste + reseating the heatsink.

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  • NatabearNatabear Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    It sounds like your motherboard has an automatic overheating shutdown process enabled and set to trigger at ~80°C. Maybe try removing the heatsink/fan, cleaning off the processor of thermal goop, and reapply a new layer of thermal paste + reseating the heatsink.

    I'll read some stuff about how to reapply the thermal paste and do it tonight, then. Thank you. (:

    Natabear on
  • LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    Make sure the cpu fan is running also.

  • NatabearNatabear Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    LD50 wrote: »
    Make sure the cpu fan is running also.

    I turned it off and took off the side panel, blew out the dust with an air can and tried to turn it on with the side off to see if the cpu fan was working, and it wouldn't turn on until I put the side back on. Is that supposed to happen? Is there another way to see if the cpu fan works?

    Natabear on
  • RoeRoe Always to the East Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    Is your CPU Heatsink working correctly? Sounds like your processor is overheating.

    The fan is supposed to be on indefinitely.

    *Edit* I figured out what's happening was that you actually did not install the PSU correctly. I'm thinking your CPU or GPU isn't getting enough power because you installed the wires incorrectly. Try checking the cables again and see if you inserted them correctly.

    Roe on
    oHw5R0V.jpg
  • mr_michmr_mich Mmmmagic. MDRegistered User regular
    edited February 2016
    Edit: whoops wrong thread

    mr_mich on
  • NatabearNatabear Registered User regular
    Roe wrote: »
    Is your CPU Heatsink working correctly? Sounds like your processor is overheating.

    The fan is supposed to be on indefinitely.

    *Edit* I figured out what's happening was that you actually did not install the PSU correctly. I'm thinking your CPU or GPU isn't getting enough power because you installed the wires incorrectly. Try checking the cables again and see if you inserted them correctly.

    I should've said the computer* wouldn't turn on until I put the panel back on. I'm not entirely sure if the fan is off at any point or not, but the cpu was still overheating and causing my computer to shut down before I replaced the PSU last night. I'm gonna check the connections though since it was being funky.

  • RoeRoe Always to the East Registered User regular
    Some people have had the problem you're having with their SSD. Try installing your games on your normal HD and see how things go, at worst, you may need a new SSD.

    oHw5R0V.jpg
  • NatabearNatabear Registered User regular
    Thank you guys so much for your help. We pulled everything out, gave it a deep clean and replaced the thermal paste. It's sitting at 30°c now, and it only gets up to about 50°c during gameplay. I'm not having any problems now. :) I'll be sure to keep up on the maintenance from now on.

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