Thread: My graphic card creating problem ?

I believe you are the only one who can help me with my problem. Whenever I playa game. which has above average graphics, such as 'Mass Effect' or 'Crysis', my computer switches off all by itself. It does not shut down but seems just like the main power is disconnected immediately. When I use the computer for watching movies, listening to music or browsing the internet, it works perfectly fine.

The configuration is
Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 processor, Intel DG31PR motherboard, 4 GB RAM, Nvidia Geforce 8800 GT graphics card, 1 TB Seagate and 320 GB Seagate hard drives and LG DVD writer. I checked with my friends and found two possible explanations for the problem.

1)The GPU reaches its critical temperature when playing games and shuts down automatically. I am not using any additional cooling except for the fans inside.

2)The SMPS which powers all this is only 450 Watts. Hence, I think it can lead to power shortage of some sort.

Could you please help me with this problem? Thanks.

Actually you have answered your own question. Yes, your system is behaving erratically either due to an overheating graphics processor and/or CPU or the power supply unit is not able to supply sufficient power to the graphics card and the rest of the system. To try solving this issue, try replacing the power supply unit by borrowing one from a friend, and check if the problem disappears. Make sure that the power supply unit is more than 450 Watts.

Also clean the graphics card's fan and heat sink to make sure that there is no dust settled between the fans and the heatsink causing the GPU/CPU to heat up. Also make sure the fan is spinning at a good speed to cool the processor. Finally, ensure proper air-flow inside the cabinet to avoid heating of other components of the computer. Make sure you are not overclocking the GPU in any way as overclocking heats up the system and causes problems.