Strange restarts when playing WoW.

[Trato]

Hi there everyone, I have recently purchased a new computer and it likes to restart after playing WoW for about 10-60minutes, it will do this a few times then usually let me play for hours on end. I have turned off automatic restart in the "My Computer" options but it still restarts every time, when windows re-loads I am prompted with a screen asking me if I want to boot in safe mode, safe mode with networking or normal settings.

Spec:
Antec Truepower Quattro TPQ-850 850W
XFX Nvidia GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB 1024MB PCI-Express 2.0 DDR3 HDMI Graphics Card
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 320GB ST3320613AS SATA-II 16MB Cache
Asus Striker II NSE Nvidia 790i SLI DDR3 Waterblock Motherboard
Intel Core 2 DUO E6850 CPU 3.0GHz 4MB Cache 1333FSB
Corsair 4GB 2x 2GB PC3 12800 Dual Channel DDR3 TWIN3X4096-1600C7DHX XMS3-1600 C7 DHX
Windows Vista 64Bit

I'm not very good with all the technical stuff and a friend built my PC for me, the drivers on my GFX card are fully up-to-date (from xfxforce.com) and I have no idea why it keeps rebooting. I have looked over many other technical support sites and I've found many other similar cases, but sadly I haven't been able to resolve my problem. Can anyone please offer some advice?

[jschild]

I bet it is your card (or CPU) getting overheated. First, open the side and turn on the computer to ensure every single fan is turning freely. One stupid cable can mess the whole works up (by preventing it from turning).

If all that is good, then when your computer reboots, switch to your Bios when your computer starts up (usually by hitting delete as soon as it boots). Then there should be an entry to choose that will let you see how hot your CPU is running. Then google something like "Intel Core 2 DUO E6850 CPU 3.0GHz temperature ranges" to see if your CPU is the problem.

If that is good, then go to Nvidia.com and download a program called ntune. Once it is installed, bring up your Nvidia card properties (where you can adjust all of it's individual settings). You will have a new option to set the fan speed (automatic or manual) and see how hot it is running (do this right after a restart). If it is running hot (again, google XFX Nvidia GeForce 9800 temperature ranges), switch the fan to manual and run it at 85-100% to eliminate the problem.

And, of course, always ensure all your drivers are up to date.

[Kalos]

Just a hunch, but run Memtest for ten hours or so, if it crashes your machine is fundamentally unstable and most likely in the RAM. It's the DDR3, it has a bit of a track record for screwing up when the voltages haven't been tuned for the individual motherboard. Of course, DDR3 being the cause is an assumption, hence the Memtest'ing to make sure it actually is an instability in that area.

[Trato]

The fans all appear functional, however the heatsink was loose - 3 out of 4 of the pins were secured down but the last one just wouldn't go in. I tried bending the plastic around the pin into place so that it could lock in, however the plastic bits around that one pin have cracked off. I have gone out and bought a replacement heatsink, could the loose heatsink have been the problem?

I downloaded speedfan and a couple of the temperature's were going over 70 degrees whilst playing WoW for only a few minutes which can't be good.

I'll post again tomorrow, my mate said he'd come over and take the whole rig apart, put it all back in from scratch with the new heatsink so hopefully that will resolve it. If not, I'll check the temp after reboot in bios and get Ntune.

Huge thanks for the help guys!

[jschild]

It very well could have been. They require a good seal to effectively transfer that heat.

Does speedfan allow you to control the fan like Ntune? If it does, knock it up to 100% and see how it performs.

But the heatsink, if not seated was probably the biggest problem, don't know what a 9800 should run at, but 70 is hot for the 8xxx series and my can crash a game at that temp ( I use ntune and run mine at 85-100 depending on what I am doing, since auto is useless).

[Trato]

We installed the new heatsink and configured Ntune and WoW has been fine since. Thank you so much guys!

[Trato]

Ok, I managed to play for longer than usual but sadly the PC has restarted again. I'm running WoW on default settings apart from the screen resolution which I have maxed at 1280 x 1024. I ran Ntune immediately after the restart and it clocked my GFX card at 60 degrees which can't be bad. I forgot to check the bios for the processor though. Any other ideas?

[elsegundo]

when you changed the heatsink, make sure you clean the surface where the heatsink makes contact with the graphics processor with rubbing alcohol (90%). then use a artic silver or some other thermal paste/grease. you need this to make sure the transfer of heat is at its optimum. if you dont know how to put this on, a lot of sites will show you. its fairly simple.

anything over 70 degrees isnt going to be good. thats like using a card with just a heat sink and no fan. something around 50-60 degrees is better. but aim for 50. =]

[Trato]

I'm playing WoW right now, Nvmonitor states GPU1 61degrees, GPU2 58degrees. We did make sure to use the thermal paste when installing yet I have had restarts since. Could it just be WoW? :S

[elsegundo]

sometimes its just drivers when something happens.

i know that if my mic ever turns on, ever, that my computer will restart (yes i know, update drivers, but im lazy and dont really need in-game voice). but i dont know if something triggered the restart for you.

[Kalos]

I repeat my request for the setup to be properly torturetested. If it fails a low-level test like Memtest or Prime95, you know it can't be an OS, driver, or software problem but a physical problem with the hardware. Considering how bleeding edge it is, it should definantly be done as I seriously doubt many of these variety rigs are stable without tuning, and you can't have seriously tuned it if you don't even test the thing.

[Trato]

Hmm I started my PC up for the first time today and got the bios up. I checked my CPU temp, it was at 70degrees :S On the sound issue, I have an old plantronics headset with non-compatible drivers for vista, however it is working fine. I'm on the memtest, I'll post the results tomorrow :)

[Kalos]

I take it that's 70 degrees celecius? You have certainly got your heat sink mounted wrong, or the fan isn't plugged in. One or the other, a Core 2 Duo should never be that hot (unless you're overclocking, which you aren't). Something is very seriously wrong when it is 70 Celcius in the BIOS without any real processing load.

He may have whacked a better heatsink+fan on it, but he may not have properly applied the thermal paste (there's a real knack to it, it's not simply splatter on the IHS and whack the heatsink on top of it) or it just isn't making contact with the processor properly.

Upside of this is, there's very rarely two mega-problems in a rig, and this CPU temp thing is certainly one on it's own, so the Memtest will probably find the memory ok (we should most likely ask for it to be run again once we have brought those temps on the CPU under control to be sure).