Computer shuts down randomly while gaming

[Grognek]

Hey all, I'd like to start this by saying I am still pretty new to building computers as this is my first, so I'm still not very good at troubleshooting, so forgive me if this is a bit long, but I want to provide as much information as possible, Just in case it ends up being useful in helping me to identify the problem. ok to start here are my specs

Asus ROG Maximus Gene VII

Intel i7 4790k

Asus Strix Geforce GTX 980ti

Corsair Force MP500

Seagate Hybrid Drive ST2000DX001 2TB MLC/8GB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s NCQ 3.5" Desktop SSHD

Gskill Ripjaw DDR3-1333 16GB (2x8gb)

Corsair HX 850W PSU
WIndows 10 64bit home

And now, to the problem(s):

 

So about a month or 2 ago, I moved.  While I admit I hadn't been gaming too much for the month before the move, I had been gaming a lot prior to that, with no problems albeit the temps on the cpu were a little higher than I would have liked (almost hitting  around 80c. so still about 15C below TJMAX). After the move, I decided to drop the money for an SSD. I decided on an m.2 ssd, the only problem being that I would have to update my bios for nvme support, but considering I had already had to update my BIOS in the past for Devil's canyon CPU support. I wasn't really worried. I flashed my BIOS to the latest version available (BIOS ver 3003). I had my ssd, but since I was going to replace a couple case fans and my hyper 212evo with a Noctua NH-U14S, I decided to wait until they were delivered to me. This is when the problem began.

 

I was playing Destiny 2 with a friend, and while we were going around and plugging away at some of the world events, my computer shut itself down without warning, then turned back on after 5 seconds. I had played the game the last 3-4 days for about 2-5 hrs a day before this (but after the Bios update) and hadn't had this happen, so I didn't think too much of it at first. After another 2 days of playing the same amount, it happened again, but at this point all the parts I needed were arriving the next day, I didnt worry too much (one of the suggestions for troubleshooting was reformatting drive, and reinstalling Windows and I was about to do that anyway). So a couple days later everything had arrived and it was time to get to work. Got the ssd,case fans, and the new CPU cooler installed, reinstalled windows on the m.2 ssd and downloaded some games. Unfortunately, a couple days later, a new problem arose. The middle fan of my gpu cooler was starting to show signs of its approaching death (was making an awful chirping noise). Now I had a very aggressive fan curve for my gpu fans, so I put it back on default and set the temp target a bit just in case. And everything seemed fine for another couple weeks but then my original problem came back.

 

Since then I've tried plugging into a different outlet, Im now using a ups ( before I was just using a surge protector) I ran memtest through 2 passes with 0 fails. Ive scoured the event log everytime this happens, but there seems to be no notable events happening before the shutdown

THe shutdowns only happen while I'm gaming and its not consistent at all, it doesn't happen when playing games that aren't very demanding. and even when Im playing games like BF1 or Destiny 2, it only happens sometimes, like maybe 1/4 days that I play at most ( I Usually play for around 2-5 hours) and today is the first day its ever happened more than once. Ive been monitoring my temps very close, and although its still much hotter than I'd like it to be the max cpu temp Ive seen is about 84C on cpu, or around 75 on gpu, which is still a decent bit below the temps needed to trigger a shutdown due to thermals. Before I came here to post this, I ran AIDA64 trial version through the stability test for about 5 min,stressing the gpu as well as the cpu, and at about the 5 min mark my cpu began to start throttling at which point I stopped (If it helps to figure out the problem, I don't mind running this test for longer to see if it start up turns off like it does when I'm gaming). at this point Im fairly certain its the gpu or psu, but I don't really have a spare of either to try out and considering I cant reliably replicate the problem seeing as sometime I go a week with out it happening, I cant really ask my friend to borrow his psu for a quick test, and I'd like to be as sure as I can be of what the problem is before I start dropping money to get new parts. SO if anybody as any ideas of what this might be caused by and how to fix it, I'd be very grateful.

A big thanks to anyone who reads this horrible wall of text for me, and an even bigger thanks to those that reply!

[JakeNTech]

I would start with a few basics:

1- Reset the CMOS, take the battery out for 15 minutes or so, then pop it back in and boot up, the time and date will be wrong and you may have to point the computer at a boot drive

2- Have task manager open on a second screen or play your game windowed and see what happens with task manager when it crashes, it could be that your eating up all the resources of the machine.

3- Use HWmonitor to make sure that the temps are actually fine.

The only other thing i can think of is that windows is a bit broken. If none of the above work then try reinstalling your game. It's unlikely to be the new bios as once the computer has loaded and you see the windows logo the rest is down to that, other then the clock I believe. 

[Grognek]

Its a bit hard to monitor task manager while playing, as there is no warning before the computer turns off, but I do check resource usage and temps at least every 5 min. If theres a way I can have a snapshot of the temps and resource allocation saved at the time when my computer shuts down please let me know.

 

I've reset the CMOS, now to see if it helped, considering the nature of the problem, it might take a couple of weeks for the problem to show itself again, I'll update if anything comes up.

[SkilledRebuilds]

Youtube search how to setup MSI Afterburners OSD.

*Performance Metrics in the corner of your screen,..overlaid over your games.

Once you have the information on screen while playing ur games n realtime, you can judge the metrics at a glance while playing and maybe come to a better conclusion.

 

[Grognek]

TBH that is how I measure temps, I didnt have anything else on though, Anything else I should put on OSD besides CPU GPU and RAM usage?

[JakeNTech]

7 hours ago, Grognek said:

Its a bit hard to monitor task manager while playing, as there is no warning before the computer turns off, but I do check resource usage and temps at least every 5 min.

Can't you just play in windowed mode? Or borrow another monitor. 

[Grognek]

I just had another shutdown, restting cmos didnt help

I now have ram, cpu, and gpu on Afterburner's OSD, and I didnt see anything out of the ordinary when it crashed.

Afterwards I got curious and ran aida64 stability test for about 20 min, didnt crash, got up to 4% cpu throttling at max, I dont see cpu at about around 84C max ( and even then it only stays there very briefly befor going down) while gaming so Im pretty sure its not thermals, although my temps do leave much to be desired. I do notice that aida 64 doesnt really hammer my gpu nearly as hard. If I run hevaen for an hour or so and it cause a shutdown, would that tell me its probably gpu related (or anything else of use)?

 

[JakeNTech]

2 hours ago, Grognek said:

I just had another shutdown, restting cmos didnt help

I now have ram, cpu, and gpu on Afterburner's OSD, and I didnt see anything out of the ordinary when it crashed.

Afterwards I got curious and ran aida64 stability test for about 20 min, didnt crash, got up to 4% cpu throttling at max, I dont see cpu at about around 84C max ( and even then it only stays there very briefly befor going down) while gaming so Im pretty sure its not thermals, although my temps do leave much to be desired. I do notice that aida 64 doesnt really hammer my gpu nearly as hard. If I run hevaen for an hour or so and it cause a shutdown, would that tell me its probably gpu related (or anything else of use)?

 

In that case have hwmonitor open while gaming in windowed mode. Somewhere I have a "guide" to get the best thermal paste install...I am not on my laptop so can't find it...I will try to dig it up on an hour or so. Make sure that the case has sufficient air flow. 80Degrees + is too hot. Unless you are overclocked. 

I would say it's a thermal issue or a windows issue, more likely thermals though. How hot is the GPU getting?

[Grognek]

GPU tends to hit 75-76 while gaming, just ran heaven for nearly 2 hrs and the hottest it got during that time was 72c

[JakeNTech]

1 hour ago, Grognek said:

GPU tends to hit 75-76 while gaming, just ran heaven for nearly 2 hrs and the hottest it got during that time was 72c

Then I would say it's either a CPU issue or a windows one. If you can find another old HDD put a copy of widows on theatre and then try playing the same game. I had a machine once that would die after 10 minutes of watching YouTube. It would freeze up and make a buzzing noise. I believe it was fixed by reinstalling windows.