PC shuts off while GPU is under load

I just upgraded to a Corsair CX600M 600W PSU and a Zotac GTX 770 (see my system specs). Since the upgrade, my PC has been losing power after 10-30 minutes of gaming. I am not overclocking anything.

 

• There is no blue screen, and Automatic Restart is off. The only message in Event Viewer is a generic Kernel-Power event ID 41, "system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first."
  
• I ran Furmark to test the GPU, and I can reproduce the shutoffs quite easily. The PC shuts off after less than 15 minutes of testing, every time.
  
• To rule out overheating, I used EVGA Precision to limit the GPU target temp to 60°C. At this temp, the GPU is heavily underclocked (running at 70% of base clock freq), and power consumption is only 52% of TDP. Even with those limitations, it STILL shuts off after < 15 mins of Furmark.
  
• Ran Windows Memory Diagnostic and found nothing.
  
• I swapped in my old GTX 650 and it runs fine with no crashes. But since the TDP of a 650 is much lower than a 770, that doesn't rule out a PSU issue in my mind.
  
• Unfortunately I can't test the 770 against my old PSU, since it is only a 500W Antec that came with my case.
  

Prior to this upgrade, my PC was rock solid. So I'm leaning toward either the PSU or graphics card being faulty -- nothing else has changed.

 

Can anyone advise? Should I RMA the power supply to Corsair? Check if the CIA has bugged my AC outlets?

Run Prime 95 solo to max the CPU. Then, if it does not crash, try Furmark on the GTX650 and Prime 95 on the CPU.

Run Prime 95 solo to max the CPU.

 

It turns out Prime95 can kill my PC running by itself. I ran a few different tests:

 

Prime 95 Test                   Result                      
===============================================================
Small FFT                      Ran OK for 30 mins
Small FFT (2nd run)            Ran OK for 35 mins
Inplace Large FFT              PC shut off after 11 mins
Inplace Large FFT (2nd run)    PC shut off after 12 mins
Blend                          PC shut off after 11 mins

The "Small FFT" tests did fine: they ran for 30+ mins until I stopped the test. Everything else shut off my PC in < 12 minutes.

 

Any suggestions on how to proceed? I'm not sure how to interpret the results.

 

My ideas for next steps would be:

• Run memtest86. (Edit: I did, and no errors turned up.)
  
• Swap in my old PSU & old video card, then run Prime95 again to see if it becomes stable.
  

OK, I ran Prime95 again using the GTX 650. And again my PC stuff shut off (although it took longer this time: 17 mins vs 12).

 

Prime 95 Test (w/ GTX 650)       Result                      
===============================================================
Small FFT                        PC shut off after 17 mins

 

I guess the next step is to swap my old PSU back in, and see if this rig becomes stable. If yes, then I can conclude the new PSU is at fault.

 

If not... then I have a lot more troubleshooting ahead of me. :-|

CPU temps during Prime95 are very high: 80-87C (I'm using a stock cooler).

 

But the temps don't correlate with the PC shutoffs. For example, look at Large FFT vs Small FFT runs: both had peak temps of 86-87C. But Large killed the PC after 12 minutes, whereas Small ran for 35+ mins with no problems. Not sure what to conclude.

 

RealTemp logs:

• https://gist.github.com/anonymous/61bc00c4f1b424b538dc (large FFT crash)
  
• https://gist.github.com/anonymous/2e544286c01aac8f982a (small FFT OK)
  

 

Regardless... I just bought an aftermarket cooler. Will install it and hopefully rule out CPU temp as a factor.

Well, I returned the PSU to the store and got a replacement (same model: CX600M). Tested it with Prime95 and it rebooted in less than 5 minutes of testing.

 

So that narrows it down: the problem is either the motherboard, the memory, or the CPU.

I installed the aftermarket cooler I bought earlier. CPU temps are 15-20C less than before: idle 30-40C, peak 68-70C. And that (knock on wood) seems to have fixed my problems with CPU stability. I can run any Prime95 test for at least 30+ mins with no issues.

 

However, stability under heavy CPU+GPU load is still poor.

 

OCCT results:

• CPU test: works OK for 30+ mins
  
• GPU test: crashes in under 10 mins
  
• PSU test: crashes in under 3 mins
  

 

I tried messing with the RAM a bit: removing some sticks, using only 2 slots instead of 4, boosting the DRAM freq from 1.5V to 1.6V, increasing the clock from 1333mHz to 1600. None of this made any difference.

 

This is frustrating. Guess I'll RMA the video card?? I don't want to RMA the mobo unless I absolutely have to -- it would put my PC completely out of commission.

Back again. I borrowed a Geforce 8800 GTX (768MB). It sucks down ~180W of power, so it's midway between the GTX 650 (65W) and 770 (230W). And with the 8800 my PC still shuts off, exactly the same as before.

 

This thread's getting long, so here's a summary of the troubleshooting I've tried:

• Replaced the PSU
  
• Tested every RAM slot by itself
  
• Tested every RAM stick by itself
  
• Tried underclocking RAM,
  
• Tested both PCIe ports (x4 and x16)
  
• Tested 3 different video cards: GTX 650 (seems ok), 8800 GTX (dies), GTX 770 (dies)
  

 

And my current state is:

• Run memtest for 60+ mins = no issues
  
• Run Prime95 for 35+ mins = no issues
  
• Run OCCT CPU test for 30+ mins = no issues
  
• Run OCCT GPU test for < 8 mins = PC shuts off. :(
  

 

Anyway! At this point, I should blame the motherboard, right? I think I've done enough tests to rule out the RAM, CPU, PSU, and video card.

 

But I'm still puzzled that swapping in the 650 makes a difference-- if the mobo is faulty, why would it tolerate a 650 but not the other 2 cards?

In frustration, I finally took the PC to a repair shop. They did some tests & found the PSU was defective -- meaning I got 2 bad CX600M's in a row. Ouch.

 

Anyway, they're fixing me up with a different model, so my problem is solved.

 

Thanks for the suggestions you guys posted here.