Computer randomly shutting off

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Hordfest

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OK, this is my first tech post, and I know that the more information I give the more likely it is that I will get productive feed-back so here's the problem:

My computer is a little over two years old and here are some of the specs:
-GA-MA790X-UD4P Gigabyte Mobo withAward Modular BIOS v6.00PG
-4 GB G-Skill RAM
-AMD Athlon(tm) 7750 Dual-Core Processor, ~2.7GHz
-HIS ATI Radeon 4850 512mb video card
-550 watt Rosewill Power Supply

Recently whenever I play World of Warcraft, or Star Wars: The Old Republic (i'm a game tester), my computer randomly shuts down. Like I'll be just walking around minding my own business and "boom," random shut down, no error screens or anything. When I'm playing League of Legends though, or just web browsing, or doing anything else basic on the computer, it doesn't shut down.

At first I thought my graphics card must be overheating so I removed the side of my tower to give it more room to breathe but the problem persisted. Eventually I took a full sized tower fan (not a computer tower but like an actual 3-4 foot tall fan) and had it blowing on my open case and it WORKED. I stopped getting random shut downs.

However, my computer never had this problem in the first one and a half years I owned it, and I had been playing World of Warcraft that whole time, so I'm wondering, should I just get a cooler to go with my four case fans? Or would that just be putting a band-aid on a greater problem? Instead, should I replace something? And if I should replace something, do you guys think it's the video card causing the problem, the PSU, or what?

Any and all help would be appreciated!
 
I bet you it's your CPU overheating at danger temps. When it gets up to a certain temp, the system will shut down. When a GFX card gets hott, it normally just gets sluggish.

Get HWMonitor and show us a screenshot.
 


That is idling. I can run something like Prime95 if you want to see it stressed.

hang on that picture is horrible resolution let me try to upload a better one

Ok, this one works better if you click on it and then zoom in on imageshack.




Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Your CPU looks fine for idle.
Your GPU temp looks a little warm for idle though.

Max CPU operating temp is around 73°C.
GPU should be around 45-55°C idle and 65-80°C load.

Try downloading MSI Afterburner or EVGA Precision to check/control fan speed on the GPU.
 
Yeah, try Prime95 or Linx. See what your load temperatures are like.

Your GFX temps are a bit high. Higher than I would like to see it on idle. Is the fan on the GFX working OK? Might want to try Furmark, see if running it causes an automatic shut down. Watch your temps, too.

Also, your -12v is a little off. Rosewill isn't one manufacturer of PSU we would recommend around here.

But let us focus on the GFX, make sure it is in working order.
 
Ok, I ran FurMark and after a mere 60 seconds of it's base burn-in test, my GPU hit 110°C, and it was still rising but I stopped the test for fear of my computer combusting lol. The fan IS running but it's apparently not helping at all. I feel like 110°C is a bit high.


I'm going to go play basketball and let Prime run for a while to make sure my CPU isn't running hot either.
 
Yeah, that is quite hot. I do not think it is any longer your CPU, but GPU. At this temperature, yes, it can shut down the system. I just wasn't expecting this hot..

You might want to reapply the thermal grease on the GPU, if you know how.

You happen to have another card laying around that you can test with?
 
Ok, I'm going to go ahead and order a new graphics card, bigger power supply, and a cooler. Any recommendations?

For GPU, I'm looking for an ATI Radeon card that gives bang for the buck and can play games at a high level, but not necessarily max.

For PSU, really just something that is going to last me and is bigger then 550w.

For a cooler, I have no idea. I'm new to the idea of a case cooler so I will need some serious recommendations on this one.
 
Post up a thread in the "General Building Buying..." forum. You will get a lot more help than here in the troubleshooting section. Be sure to add a budget to it as well.
 
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