PC switching off when using SL

My PC keeps switching itself when running SL, at random intervals.
I have a quad core pc running at 2.4ghz, 8800gt graphics card, X-fi soundcard, 3GB ram, Dvd drive, 250gb sata hard drive and a floppy drive.
All have the latest drivers.
I am a pc technician myself and i can't figure this one out.
If i use anything other than SL, then the PC never switches itself off.
So it seems to be some problem with SL, either on my PC or the server.

Somebody help please....it is very frustrating!!!!!!!1

sl and the server have no way to shut down your pc

start by looking at your power supply and internal heat

Install SpeedFan, play SL in windowed mode so you can see the temp thing on the taskbar, and watch your temps.

The PSU is 600W so is ok to run everything.
I monitor the temps with the ASUS utility, and they stay within safe limits.
The PC is in a well ventilated area, and has plenty cooling in it.

ok is the psw 600MAX or RMS

see if its 600 watts MAX it can only be putting out 200-300 watts before it turns into a heater, providing crap power when its needed freakin out the pc and causing it to shut down

And how much do you trust the Asus utility? I know the AOpen and Gigabyte ones were rubbish.

Do you have any other graphics intensive games you can test with?

UT3 demo or something?

the temps are 21 CPU
31 MB

internal temp 36

Not really that high

My PSU is an EZCool ATX-600 JSP 600W, with short circuit protection

have played Crysis and UT3 and the PC does not switch off

Have you tried running Orthos?

I use it for a burn-in test, it may not diagnose the problem, but will tell you whether it's SL or there's something not-right with your system.

http://sp2004.fre3.com/

Just tried Orthos and temps only went into low - mids 30s, no problems

Run it for a couple of hours to make sure. Back when I was arm-wresting the memory timings in my bios, it'd take a while to start getting errors.

If that comes out okay, try re-installing SL, making sure you delete the
C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\SecondLife and manually nuke the cache before re-installing.

And maybe someone else will pipe up in the thread.

When you say your computer switches off do you mean it turns the power off as if you pressed the reset button or on/off button? Or is it crashing to desktop or crashing to a reboot?

I'm pretty sure SL does not have a soft on/off like operating systems. If it is shuttng down the power to your computer I sure wouldn't be looking at the SL client or servers as the cause...........that is not where your problem lies.

the specs of that ps are 600 MAX, 1 single 12v rail @ 20 amps

ohms law says W = V * A so 12*20 = 240 watts

your running all that system on a single 240 watt 12v rail, it only handles a 600 watt spike (ie system startup) but cannot sustain

oh and this

"with short circuit protection"

is a dead give away, i have power supplys from the 1960's that say this ... even then its only in small print because it was a given by then, promotion of duh features = marketing inflation

its kinda like saying "beer now with even more water!"

Isn't that one of those wires in a glass tube?

lol yea technology so old i cant find a reference of when it was designed, probably with franklin after his fence wire melted

I have a similar "problem" with SL.

5 minutes or so into any session and the PC just closes down and reboots itself.

It only ever happens with SL.


Thinking back, about 4 months ago I had to replace my NVidia graphics card as it had burned out and just wouldnt work no matter what.

What did I replace it with?

Well, it wasnt an identical card - as a better spec card was available for exactly the same price.

So, what should I do? I DO have a spare fan that`ll sit in a pci slot and can vent out of the back of the PC, but is rather noisy. Should I consider siting that next to the graphics card (either the side with the fan or the non-fan-side)?

OR

should I consider upgrading my psu from a 580 watt system to a MUCH more powerful one? thing is, cost could be a problem there.


Ahalfa

depends, does the fan stop the issue?

eventho they are related heat and power are 2 different things if the fan does the trick and your power supply is in spec id look for a quieter fan

if the power supply is not working right then its not that expensive to get a "true wattage" supply, most computers are not going to go over 600watts, unless its all blinged out with 2500 lights and a cigarette lighter

usually a 6-7 hundred (real) watt ps with a big 120mm + fan can be had for less than 90$

i recently bought a 680 watt rms antech for 74.99

I bought an extra fan for my computer a few months ago for about $20 from Office Depot. Best Buy had one for $2 less but I figured it would take that much or more in gasoline to go to BB. 120mm............the 80mm was about $15.

i have been using these

http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=94626

@42db they are just abit louder than your "best buy" fan (the dynex i think is 32db) but move 2x more air (at just about 2x the wattage)

i recently used 1 in the back of a 2.8ghz dual core athlon, 800mhz ddr2 ram and a geforce 8500 gt (overclocked) using all passive (no fan) heatsinks

that, the 120mm in the powersupply and a well ventilated case keeps the computer just above "room" temperature no problem

Oh I had this problem for weeks, thought my system just wasnt up to it anymore. I took my hard drive cover off, took out my ram sticks and coughed and spluttered at the dust that had accumalated over them. Gave all a good gentle dusting and inside the hard drive caseing and around all inside and since then has not crashed at all. Worth checking that out.
Nikki

good point!

i just got ahold of a coworkers "beater" computer, a OLD athlon xp transision compaq (the time where the athlons were just ending and the xp's just started POS)

using a air compressor i bet i blew out 4 lbs of dust, with no other modifications the computer gained 16% speed in pcmark