Windows Restarts During Games Only

[M41Ncu7]

I have been having some ongoing issues with my PC. The latest is that it will restart itself consistently whenever I am playing any game from Shogun 2 to Starcraft 2 to Skyrim to League of Legends. It does not BSOD, it only restarts itself whenever I am in game. Sometimes it does it right away as soon as I start the game, other times it goes for twenty minutes before it restarts.

My PC is an Alienware AURORA_R2, Processor is Intel Core i5 760 @ 2,80Ghz, 12.0 GB RAM, 64-bit Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium and Service Pack 1. My Display adapters are two ATI Radeon HD 5670 cards.

I have a feeling that it is a graphic related issue and have attempted to update my graphics drivers several times, and it has said that they are updated. I have also tried system restore and it has not fixed anything.

This is very frustrating.

 

[pra40]

Check the temperature of the CPU and graphics card. Clean your PC if there is so much of dusts.Either you can check the temperature from BIOS or installing a hardware monitor.
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[writhziden]

If you find it is not temperature related, continue with my analysis.


You do not have your Windows updates installed beyond SP1. Please install the remaining updates.


Run some hardware checks.

• If you are overclocking any hardware, please stop.
  
  
• Monitor temperatures during the following tests.
  
  Use the following programs to monitor the temperatures.​
  • Real Temp is a good CPU temperature monitor.
  • Speccy - System Information - Free Download will monitor all hardware temperatures.
  • HWiNFO, HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 - Hardware Information and Analysis Tools can be inaccurate for CPU temperatures, but is a good program for GPU temperature monitoring.
  • Use FurMark: VGA Stress Test, Graphics Card and GPU Stability Test, Burn-in Test, OpenGL Benchmark and GPU Temperature | oZone3D.Net to test the graphics card GPU. Let it run until the GPU temperatures even out or until the GPU temperatures reach a dangerous level (you can find the max temperature for your card on either the nVidia or AMD sites; if you are not sure, ask us). The goal is to get a steady temperature, find out if the GPU is overheating, or to see if there are any artifacts present in the test itself: look for strange pixelated patterns on the screen or colors that do not look like they belong. Then use the |MG| Video Memory Stress Test 1.7.116 Download to test your graphics card memory. Let the memory test run for at least seven passes; the more the better.
    
    
  • Run http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100352-hardware-stress-test-prime95.html to determine any hardware problems. Run all three tests for a few hours each. If you get errors, stop the test and post back here.
    
    
  • Follow the steps for doing CPU stress test using IntelBurnTest
  
  
• Run the boot version of Memtest86+ paying close attention to Parts 2 and 3 of the tutorial. Also, in case Memtest86+ misses anything and comes up with no errors, run the extended version of the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool for at least five passes. These you may want to run overnight since they take a long time to complete (run them an hour before bed each of the next two nights and check before going to sleep that they are still running).
  
  
     Warning

  Before you proceed with the following, answer these two questions: Are you still under warranty? Does your warranty allow you to open up the machine to check hardware? If you are unsure of the answers to these questions, contact your system manufacturer. :warn:WARNING: The steps that follow can void your warranty!!!
  
  
  For Part 3: If You Have Errors: If you swap any memory components, follow these steps for ESD safety:
  1. Shut down and turn off your computer.
  2. Unplug all power supplies to the computer (AC Power then battery for laptops, AC power for desktops)
  3. Hold down the power button for 30 seconds to close the circuit and ensure all power drains from components.
  4. Make sure you are grounded by using proper grounding techniques, i.e. work on an anti-static workbench, anti-static desk, or an anti-static pad. Hold something metallic while touching it to the anti-static surface, or use an anti-static wristband to attach to the anti-static material while working. If you do not have an anti-static workbench, desk, or pad, you can use your computer tower/case by finding a metal hold in it, such as a drive bay.
  Once these steps have been followed, it is safe to remove and replace components within your computer.

Problematic software:

Start Menu\Programs\AVG PC Tuneup 2011	Public:Start Menu\Programs\AVG PC Tuneup 2011	Public
Start Menu\Programs\Free Registry Cleaner	Public:Start Menu\Programs\Free Registry Cleaner	Public

The above programs can also cause random restarts due to registry damage and system damage causing instability. I would recommend removing the software and thinking about doing a clean re-install of Windows 7: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164

• Many of us on the forums actually do not recommend automated optimization tools for Windows 7. Windows 7 does a much better job of handling its own optimization than its predecessors did. We especially do not recommend registry cleaning as an "optimization" step because automated registry cleaning causes more harm to the registry than it actually repairs.
  
  In the future, if you need help optimizing Windows 7, please post a thread in Performance & Maintenance - Windows 7 Forums or follow the tutorial enclosed in that forum to http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ws-7-a.html?filter[2]=Performance Maintenance.

 

[M41Ncu7]

Thank you two for the feedback! I will try all these steps.

 

[writhziden]

Let us know if you need help as you proceed. Otherwise, let us know the outcome and whether you find the cause.

 

[M41Ncu7]

Yeah okay, I'm just looking at Speccy right now and it is showing that Crossfire is disabled for my vid cards. So I tried to open the Catalyst Control Center to enable it and I get this message ! Catalyst Control Center cannot be started. There are currently no settings that can be configured using Catalyst Control Center. So I went into Steam AMD Driver Updater and the AMD Catalyst Install Manager is currently Analyzing and ' Enumerating Source Media for Installable Packages'. I remember using this before and having it get stuck on this step.
My CPU temp was chowing as 40 Celsius, Mother board at 45 Celsius, and graphics cards at 50 and 51 Celsius.
I'm just sort of blundering my way through here. Enabling Crossfire for my dual vids should certainly help I'm thinking.

 

[M41Ncu7]

Okay so I just downloaded the catalyst control center and tried to enable crossfire but can't do it. When I select Enable AMD CrossfireX then click Apply it goes back to selecting Disable AMD CrossfireX. Also I just went into my device manager and my graphics card drivers were showing 'up to date' but when I clicked on search for updates it installed something and my screen went blank for a few seconds then came back and it said that the driver had been installed successfully. Next I'm going to power down my PC and look inside to see how much dust there really is inside. Speccy is currently showing CPU at 42, motherboard at 48, my two radeons HD 5670's at 52 and my hard drive at 29 Celsius.

 

[M41Ncu7]

I just powered down, and looked inside there's hardly any dust inside my PC so I think its something else. When I just restarted and opened Speccy its only showing a temp for the first of my two graphics cards, as if its only recognizing one. Then when I went to open the Catalyst Control Center I got the message "No AMD graphics driver is installed, or the AMD driver is not functioning properly. Please install the AMD driver appropriate for your AMD hardware." I clicked OK then got the "Catalyst Control Center cannot be started. There are currently no settings that can be configured using Catalyst Control Center." There's definitely something weird going on with my graphic cards/drivers.

 

[M41Ncu7]

I think I'm gonna try this next
http://www.sevenforums.com/graphic-...control-center-ccc-will-not-open-install.html

 

[M41Ncu7]

Okay so fixing my ccc seems to have solved the issue. I loaded into skyrim and it seemed fine, then I played three games of starcraft 2 and no restarts. Looks good, thanks for all your advice!

 

[writhziden]

You're welcome, although I just pointed you in the right direction. You did all the hard work, and you did it well apparently. Nice job!

When you are confident enough to mark this thread solved, feel free to do so.

 

[M41Ncu7]

Not fixed

Okay so I was wrong, the ccc fix has not solved my restart issue. I will follow your steps writhziden and post back on my success.

 

[writhziden]

That's a bummer.

Let us know if you need any help as you proceed through the steps or when you are finished. Otherwise, post back if you find the cause. Best of luck!

 

[M41Ncu7]

Back at it

Hey so I am finally trying to get around to doing the tests on my PC that you outlined for me. But I;m a terrible procrastinator and I have to go to work soon. I do have one question though. I just fired up HWiNFO64 and under the memory tab its got the Maximum Supported Memory Clock at 666.7 MHz (5:1 ratio) and its showing the Current Memory Clock at 668.3 MHz (5:1 ratio) that seems bad to me, but is it actually a problem or no?

 

[writhziden]

668.3 MHz is within specs. With a pre-fabricated system, BIOS settings are typically unavailable, but we may be able to tune down the frequency if you are concerned about it. I do not think it will be an issue, though.

If you do decide you want to tune it:

• Download and install CPU-Z and Upload screenshots of the CPU, Mainboard, Memory, and SPD tabs. In the SPD tab, upload an image of each slot.
  
  Also, go into your BIOS and post all Voltages (CPU, RAM, NB, IMC, etc.) and all RAM settings (timings, frequency, etc.)
  
  Thanks to Dave76 for help learning RAM Stability

 

[M41Ncu7]

Furmark

Okay so I just downloaded FurMark and loaded it up and started the Burn-in test. It ran for about eight to ten seconds before my PC restarted itself, exactly like what happens when I run any game.
I am also wondering if my problem could be about some hardware that came loose when I moved back in January, but I am apprehensive about poking around inside my case. What would you advise for now?

 

[writhziden]

What temperature showed up during the FurMark test? Keep a close eye on the temperatures when you run it. They show up in the FurMark program itself toward the top. You may need to run it a few times until you find the temperature and can keep track of what it reaches before the PC restarts.