I've been gaming for a while now. When playing certain games this PC goes into overdrive. The fan starts to sound like a jet engine it get so busy. Also I have smelt a smell which smells like glue and possibly burning too (lol rhyme) when this has happened. The fuse blew on the 4 socket adapter I was using recently.
On the following thread someone said this could be due to the PSU not being strong enough to handle the load, in what it seems could be a related issue someone had, although the person who posted this question did say that blowing a fan on their PC stopped it crashing in that case:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2047543/gtx-650-overheating-issue.html.
This is exactly what an answer to this question said:
Your GPU isn't overheating. 70+ before it would shutdown and cause a restart. Make sure your PSU is strong enough to handle your new system at load and possibly run Memtest to check your RAM (although not BSOD'ing and just shutting down points to the PSU).
This (the PSU part) makes more sense to me than it being to do with dust etc, since it seems a more plausible explanation of why the fuse blew.
The PC I've been using has no problems except when playing certain games: i.e. TERA Rising and WoW with add-ons (I think WoW is ok as long as I don't have more than 1 add-on (Healers Have To Die)). I'm just wondering if anyone knows or can suggest what I might be able to do to be able to play these games without this problem occurring.
The PC's spec is this:
- Display: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650
- 8GB RAM (6 available)
- Processor: AMD FX (tm) - 8120 Eight-Core Processor - 3.1 GHz, 4 Cores, 8 Logical Processors
I have read on another post that forcing vsync in the Nvidia Control Panel helped with what seems could be a similar problem, so I plan to see if that solves it, God permitting.
I tried the Vsync thing, and it seems the situation may have improved, although this may be due to something else: i.e. maybe the PC was working harder yesterday, due to just having downloaded a few things or lots of things running. I'm still noticing the funny smell when playing TERA. It's not so much burning: it's more like glue. The smell might have had a burning element to it in the past, but I think it's always had a glue element.
The PSU has this info written on it:
- ATX Switching Power Supply
- Model: E-500ATX.
- 230V
- Current 10A
- Frequency 50-60Hz
- OUTPUT 500W
It also has some other info which I can supply if necessary. Putting the PC plug in the wall socket instead of the power strip seems like it might have reduced the load on the PC quite a bit: I think it sounds less stressed. it has been off for a while whilst I took the side panel off though, so I'll wait to see what happens before getting too excited.
Here's the latest: just playing TERA. The fan's running quite fast again. Hard to tell whether switching to the wall socket has made a difference in terms of strain on the PC: I don't know if one would expect it to. Still seems like it might have helped though. Oh and there didn't seem to be much dust in the PC, although I didn't disconnect any components. I'm still getting the glue type smell. ASIDE: reminds me of someone on a PC near me at the library once who was actually sniffing glue right there in front of everyone while on the PC and he started talking about how he was sniffing glue. lol. That's no joke.
I used this estimator, which estimates the PSU Wattage needed for a given PC:
support.asus.com/powersupply.aspx
I know everything is right unless there is an extra device or two, but I know I got the main stuff right: i.e. processor, VGA card, 2 USB devices and DVD. The Recommended Minimum Power Supply came back as 500W, which is what the PSU's wattage is. An extra device or two does shift it up to 550W, so if there is an extra device or 2 I don't know about, it would be under the minimum.
I've just tried testing the PC's compatibility with TERA and it seems there's a question mark over the OS (Windows 8.1 64 bit), which is not officially supported by TERA.
Here's the link:
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/requirements/tera/11264/?p=a
I tested the compatibility with WoW on the same site and it came back as ok, which might explain why WoW is ok without add-ons (I think it's ok, but I'm not sure: I'd need more time to confirm this, God permitting), but TERA definitely isn't OK: not with this OS anyway.
June 12th: Tera might be ok. I've actually just been playing it and it doesn't seem to have been so bad: there has been a slight glue/burning smell, but the PC's activity hasn't skyrocketed as much as at times in the past. It did throw a wobbly at the start, right after I patched it (there was a new patch today). I ended up switching my PC off with the screen frozen. After I switched the PC back on Tera worked fine but google chrome is broken. lol. I've had to switch back to IE. Been playing Tera for a couple of hours or more since though and as I say, it doesn't seem to have been too bad, except for the smell, which has been there somewhat.
June 13th: I've just used Speedfan to check the temps when playing TERA. Within about 5-10 mins of playing (max) the CPU temp moved up to 53-54C and there was a fire sign next to it. Now I've just started the PC up after having it off for a while (about 30 mins) and the CPU temp is 51C with a fire sign next to it even when just using google chrome and Speedfan. Ah, it's dropped to green tick level now. google chrome has risen from the dead.
June 25th: the smell might not have been coming from the PC: I smelt a smell from the neighbour's lawnmower. The PC is out of action now though, but this happened after accidentally disconnecting 1 or more wires inside the PC. I got it working again after reconnecting a couple of things, but now it's stopped working again. I actually stopped playing Tera before the PC stopped working.
July 17th: well the harddrive failed, so I had it replaced and the PC works again. After having it fixed though, the PC shutdown again while I was using it and I thought 'Oh no! Not again.' Thankfully though, it was the power strip: switching to a different one I found that the PC was still ok. I unscrewed the power strip which was marked as 13A and discovered that there didn't seem to be any fuse in there at all. Maybe this was the case for the first power strip too: I haven't been able to get inside that one so I don't know.
Strangely enough, I can't even say for sure that there ever was a smell from the PC as I had thought at one stage. Even if there was, I'm not sure what would prevent this from continuing to happen, so I can't really accept an answer at this stage. I don't want to risk playing Tera at the moment.
The guy at the shop who replaced the hard drive did ask me if I'd looked at surge protection and that power surges can be a problem. I hadn't even menioned that I thought a fuse had blown.
Questions now are:
- Is the smell something I should sort out (if there is a smell)? (If so, how might I do this?)
- is it necessary to take any steps to prevent blowing another fuse (and if so which step/s?).
- Would getting a voltage stabilizer help and if so would this or the purchase of a PSU with a higher wattage be a better first step?
- Since I've received conflicting advice on the following question (see answers below and note that the estimator link above returns a Recommended Minimum Wattage), I ask it here: would a PSU with a higher wattage improve or worsen the matter (or even have no effect at all)?
- What is the maximum safe operating temperature that a CPU and a GPU should not exceed for extended periods of time (I read on one post it is as high as 80C, but I have a fire icon showing on Speedfan for 50C+, although I realise I can change the temp at which the fire icon appears in the Speedfan Settings Menu)?
- Although the Processor is 3.1 GHz, on the site I linked which uses software I downloaded to check the suitability of PCs for various games, it says '3.1 Ghz (rated as 12.4 Ghz' for the Processor (I think it said 12.4 Ghz anway: it definitely said 12.something). How can this be, what are the implications of this and and does it have any implications which are connected with the fuse blowing and/or the glue/burning smell which occurs at CPU temperatures of 51C+?
- Now that I know I'm using a 13A power strip (I don't know what the amperage of the one blew the fuse was) with nothing but the PC plugged in and I've been told by a superuser user that the highest temperatures the PC's components have reached as a result of playing them have been well within acceptable levels, is it ok to continue playing WoW and Tera, or would it be better not to play either, given that a fuse did blow before I started playing Tera (I had been playing WoW) and I still seem to smell something of a glue/burning smell when playing Tera?
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