My PC has suddenly Developed a tendancy to shut its self down (as if someone unpluged it) While playing Graphics intensive games. I recently Flashed its BIOS and it wasnt doing this before.

I flashed the BIOS because i was having isues with my PC not running as fast as it should when ingame, and the motherboards manufacturers website said that the motherboard required a new version of the BIOS to use my CPU.
It worked, the BIOS update process was smooth and My games now run at double the FPS, but if i play them then there is a chance that at any moment my PC could turn its self off.

From what I have read from similar sounding threads it is probably either an Overheating problem or a PSU problem. But since i dont have a higher wattage PSU lying around (currently using a 600W PSU, albiet a cheap one) then i cant realy test it, and i am to worried to test any other methods because every time it shuts off it could break my hard drive.

The only games i have Tested it on are source engine based games (Garrys Mod, TF2 and L4D), and all the settings were maxed, not that it helps. Some of the Games have Muticore Rendering and i have a feeling that these are much more prone to causing a shut down.

I was monitoring CPU temp wile playing L4D and im pretty sure that it couldnt have been over 55C at any time, but i cant say the same for all the Motherboards temperature sensors.

If you need any more Specs then please ask.

HELP!

Hello Dark Ethereal! Welcome to PCHF!

We have a fantastic team of techs here as well as a very knowledgeable member community and I am sure we will be able to help you

I will mark your thread as open and someone will be with you as soon as possible, thank you for your patience.

Regards,

Smokeycheech

thanks, hope I get some help soon, i have seen lots of similar threads but mine just doesn't seem to fit.

Im pretty sure that its not an overheating problem, because i was playing Left 4 Dead with a household fan blowing right into my PC and it still shut its self down.

Also, i tried it on Half-life one and it didnt shut down, then i tried on Half-Life 2 deathmatch but with medium graphics settings and it didnt crash too, so it only crashes on graphics intesive games where the graphics settings are on high

Sounds like a heat problem..............

hmmm, well i used CPUID HWmonitor to check the temps while playing, with the cover on and everything how it normaly was and all the temp sensors were around 51C after playing for a while, exept one, which was at 59 (and i know 60C is bad), and it crashed soon after a temp check.
that makes it sound like heat, but when i took the side pannel of and put a big household fan blowing into it, it STILL crashed, and the sensor which was at 59C before went down to 57, and that was after bit of playing. so i dont know. If it is heat, how do i make sure? i mean if a household fan wont stop it overheating, how can a few 8mm or 12mm fans stop it?

Also my brother has a PC built round the same time, with the same CPU, very simmilar graphics card, more expensive Mobo, more expensive intel CPU (less GHz but more L2 cache), better ram, yet no Heat problem