What's failing meh!!!!! GPU or PSU? or ...

system spec:
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Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A
Intel core i7-4770k 3.5 Ghz
PSU: Seasonic S12G 650W (80 Plus Gold)
GPU: Gigabyte Geforce gtx 780
RAM: G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400
Hard Drives: main with os: Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB
and 3 other hard drives for storage
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Recently, my computer has been powering off randomly by itself, and it seems to have gotten worse the past 2 days.

Sometimes the computer will just power off like when your house loses electricity, no warning, just everything shuts down... then followed a reboot: (and here are the two different outcomes)

1. system reboots itself and everything is fine, and i can log back into windows and continue whatever i was doing and hope that it doesn't power off again.

2. system reboots with the system running, however, the monitor gets the no signal blank screen. when this happens, i'm forced to turn off the power and wait a good 5 min or so in order to get the monitor signal back.


The pattern seems kind of random also, sometimes it would be when i'm playing games, sometimes when i'm just browsing the internet and not doing any labor intensive stuff.

I have used hwmonitor to check the system, and the temperature for everything seems fine, except TMPIN4 and a few AUXTIN, which after some googling I think are things that I can ignore I believe.

I did run Prime95, which is a stress test application for CPU, and that ran fine, my hwmonitor shows my cpu usage at 100% and the system was perfectly fine.

Then, I ran this GPU stress test called FurMark, and as soon as I hit the button, my computer power offs immediately.

But is this a GPU problem? or a PSU problem? 'cuz I hear sometimes that the system powers off when components in the system are not getting the power they need and system power offs in order to avoid overheating or component failure.

How can i pinpoint the root causes of this issue I'm having?

Can someone help me run some tests? Let me know what i should run, and what information I should display for you guys.

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also when i go to bios i noticed 2 fans in red:

CHA_FAN2 (This is the front fan of my CoolerMaster HAF932.. the big one situated in front of all the hard drives at the bottom of the case, used for drawing in cool air into the system)

CHA_FAN3 (this is the top fan of my CoolerMaster HAF932.. the bit one on top of the case used to blow out the hot air from the system)

both of these are around 450-530 RPM. and in BIOS the min limit is set to 600 I think.

not sure if this can be an indication for anything.
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i used the sniper elite benchmark this time because someone said furmark might not be 100% safe.
I was able to let the thing run its course until it's finished without the comptuer shutting down... however, if I try to alt+tab during the middle of it, then the computer immediately powers off for some reason.

i set the hwmonitor to record when the benchmark sniper elite was running, and here is the zip containing all the photos showing the graphs for everything.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/4xwlnl

How can i pinpoint the root causes of this issue I'm having?

Click to expand...

Swap to another GPU or PSU is the only way to isolate it. Or use your GPU in another system and see if that one does it. I would physically inspect the cards for swollen caps and other anomalies.

Use Unigine Heaven instead of furmark to test the GPU.

Fans in red... what does that mean? Are they spinning as they should?

Please attach pics directly to the post rather than linking them. There is a built-in form tool for doing this if you use the Go Advanced button at the bottom right corner of the post window.

I would not rule out the motherboard as the culprit. But I would start with the GPU and the CPU in your elimination process. Just no other way than to start swapping out parts.

no nearby gpu or psu i could use to swap in and out.. i would've done it already if i could

If you can't try out other parts, then you have no choice but to replace them and see if that works...


....unless someone else can think of a better way?

Try removing the GTX 780 and use the onboard graphics.

i've tried using the onboard graphic card, it just wouldn't work though. i made sure to enable it in bios too. but no display and chassis fans wont work either when I try that.

hmm, i'm looking at this page for a good 850 watts psu at the moment ( I know it's probably a bit overkill, but I might upgrade in the future)
also, using a 640watts psu right now where nvidie geforce gxt 780 page says it needs a minimum of 600 watts psu makes me slightly comfortable, eventhough I know it's not very accurate based solely on what they're saying instead of calculating myself (which I did, and it comes out to roughly 540watts or so.)

But still, seeing how my 640 psu is either dying or not providing enough power, i'd rather just get a 850 for reassurance purposes and to be fail-safe for when i want to upgrade in the future.

I just recently moved to Taiwan, so I hope you don't mind, but every PSU are listed in English of course.

http://24h.pchome.com.tw/store/DRAE2E
this should show all the psu available from the 700-1000 range that are available.

please recommend me a good one! thanks in advance!

But still, seeing how my 640 psu is either dying or not providing enough power, i'd rather just get a 850 for reassurance purposes and to be fail-safe for when i want to upgrade in the future.

Click to expand...

650W IS upgrading in the future. So long as you are using a single GPU, you wont need more than 550W honestly. Assuming it is working properly, it is providing PLENTY of power for that setup.

If you still insist on buying more than you need, see if there is a 750W EVGA SUpernova G2 in that list. If not, please check out the PSU guide that has listed brands and see if your site has them.

therue said:

i've tried using the onboard graphic card, it just wouldn't work though. i made sure to enable it in bios too. but no display and chassis fans wont work either when I try that.

Click to expand...

Woa! If the onboard video doesn't work then I would pause before buying a PSU. Using the onboard video should pull less power than the gtx 780. It's starting to sound like a motherboard issue to me.