# [SOLVED] WOW Problem and shutdown



## Vasporran (May 29, 2011)

Not sure if this should be here or in the hardware section, but anyway here is the problem i'm having.

My PC shuts down after about 20 - 30 minutes (i havent measured it exactly) of playing on WOW (World of Warcraft). 

When I say shuts down I mean really dies. A complete power failure, everything goes dead.

I need to press the power switch to switch it on again. When it re-boots it does not give me the unsafe shutdown screen, there are no options to restart in safe mode as you would expect.

It just starts up again as normal.

Strange thing is this only happens when playing on WOW, no other software or activity on the computer causes this to happen.

I can leave it on all night and day and this never happens, but as soon as i start playing wow, wham power failure and then normal start when i press the power button.

I've never known a piece of software to have this effect and up until about a week ago everything was fine. I havn't changed anything or loaded anything new WOW related or not.

Somebody please help me. I will speak to Blizzard as well, but I need to know if anyone has any idea what this is as it is a complete mystery to me.

The only thing that has changed is the fans which used to be defeaningly loud are now very quite. Am I looking at WOW causing some sort of overheating and shut down because the fans are not working? Seems a strange thing for only one piece of software to be causing if this in fact the case. 

Anyone with any ideas please let me know.


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## Vasporran (May 29, 2011)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

My PC is a Dell Inspirion 530S Itel Core 2 DUO, windows vista home edition, no mods, all original as from Dell Factory and as i said WOW is the only piece of software that causes the shutdown.


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## JMPC (Jan 15, 2011)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

When you safe WoW is the only thing that shuts the machine down are you saying that no other games cause the same issue? Have you monitored the heat of the CPU and GPU (if you have a discreet card)?


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## -WOLF- (Jan 17, 2009)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

Overheating usually causes this


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## Vasporran (May 29, 2011)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

Thanks for the replies JMPC and WOLF,

Unfortunately WOW is the only piece of software that kills the computer off. No other software running causes the shutdown. It's really frustrating as WOW worked perfectly before.

I tried to download a couple of monitoring programs, but could only get "SPEEDFAN".

Again unfortunately I cannot monitor the temperatures when WOW is on as I cannot open WOW in a window.

Otherwise I have tried running several windows at once, playing movies, songs, and other software and although the temp does show a red flag sometimes nothing substatial enough to cause a shut down.

Also when it shuts down with WOW there is no warning, the PC just dies completely, no restart, no blue screen, no unsafe close down message, it just goes off.

As I said before the only real change about the same time this started happening was the fans becomming quite. They are quite all the time now without a change to the temperature.

WOW may in fact be the largest and most processor use thing I run, but again can a piece of software on its own cause complete power failure.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated, as i've so far had no answer from BLIZZARD about the situation and I guess they would probably say it is a hardware problem?


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## JMPC (Jan 15, 2011)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

Have you tried any other games? If you don't have any other games try either a game demo or a benchmark program like 3DMark:
Futuremark - world's most popular benchmarks and PC performance tests - Benchmarks - 3DMark06 - Download

To monitor the CPU true CoreTemp. For the GPU it depends, if you're using onboard video I'm not sure how you monitor the temps but for a discreet card you can use a few utilities depending on the card you have.


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## Vasporran (May 29, 2011)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*



Not sure what a discreet card is , so i'm assuming mines is onboard.

I have ran Rogue Trooper and Star Trek: Next Generation and neither have caused a shut down.

I also downloaded 3DMark06 and rtan the tests. Apart from the fans getting seriously noisy on CPU TEST1 and CPU TEST2 there was no shut down.

Below are the results from speedfan monitoring as I am typing this reply:-

```
Fan1: 1753 RPM
Fan2: 0 RPM
Fan3: 1607 RPM
Fan4: 0 RPM
Fan5: 0 RPM
 
(just wondering if fan 2 should be active?)
 
Temp1: 45C (this fluctuates between 44 and 46 as I type)
Temp2: 40C (this is constant)
Temp3: -12C (this is constant)
HDO: 50C (this generally reads 50/51C, but speed fan advises that it is too high?)
Temp1: 40C (this is constant)
Core 0: 35C
Core 1: 35C
 
There are also the following voltage readings
 
Vcore1: 1.15V
Vcore2: 3.02V
+3.3V:   3.36V
+5V:      5.08V
+12V:    11.97V
-12V:     -16.64V
-5V:      -8.48V
+5V:      4.97V
Vbat:     3.18V
 
I dont know if any of the above indicates a problem or not, but I have also included the results from 3DMark06 tests.
[B][SIZE=2]ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro video card 3DMark06 benchmark test score[/SIZE][/B]

Processor
 
[URL="javascript:;"][COLOR=#000080] Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6550[/COLOR][/URL][COLOR=#000080]

[/COLOR]Processor clock
1995 MHz

Physical / logical processors
1 / 2

# of cores
2
 

Graphics Card
[COLOR=#000080] [/COLOR]
[URL="javascript:;"][COLOR=#000080]ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro[/COLOR][/URL][COLOR=#000080]

[/COLOR]Vendor
Dell Computer Corporation 

# of cards
1

SLI / CrossFire
Off 

Memory
256 MB

Core clock
0 MHz

Memory clock
0 MHz

Driver name
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT

Driver version
8.420.0.0

Driver status
Not FM Approved 

[B][URL="http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15915040;jsessionid=7tp1fawds1gw?show_ads=true&page=%2F3dm06%2F15915040%3Fkey%3DypBZPsVMFYEKz6NqNyA467p4N84eaQ#"][COLOR=#000080]General[/COLOR][/URL][/B]

Operating system
32-bit Microsoft Windows Vista (6.0.6002)Motherboard
Dell Inc. 0RY007Memory
3072 MBModule 1

1024 MB Hyundai Electronics 7 @ 333 MHz
Module 2

512 MB Hyundai Electronics 7 @ 333 MHz
Module 3

1024 MB Hyundai Electronics 7 @ 333 MHz
Module 4

512 MB Hyundai Electronics 7 @ 333 MHz
Hard drive model
500GB ST3500630AS ATA Device

[B][URL="http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15915040;jsessionid=7tp1fawds1gw?show_ads=true&page=%2F3dm06%2F15915040%3Fkey%3DypBZPsVMFYEKz6NqNyA467p4N84eaQ#"][COLOR=#000080]Detailed scores[/COLOR][/URL][/B]

3DMark Score
1754 3DMarks


SM2.0 Score
588 


HDR/SM3.0 Score
671 


CPU Score
1991 


GT1 - Return To Proxycon
4 FPS


GT2 - Firefly Forest
5 FPS


CPU2 - Red Valley
1 FPS


HDR1 - Canyon Flight
5 FPS


HDR2 - Deep Freeze
7 FPS


Fill Rate - Single-Texturing
N/A


Fill Rate - Multi-Texturing
N/A


Pixel Shader
N/A


Vertex Shader - Simple
N/A


Vertex Shader - Complex
N/A


Shader Particles (SM3.0)
N/A


Perlin Noise (SM3.0)
N/A


8 Triangles
N/A


32 Triangles
N/A


128 Triangles
N/A


512 Triangles
N/A


2048 Triangles
N/A


32768 Triangles
N/A





[B][URL="http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15915040;jsessionid=7tp1fawds1gw?show_ads=true&page=%2F3dm06%2F15915040%3Fkey%3DypBZPsVMFYEKz6NqNyA467p4N84eaQ#"][COLOR=#000080]Settings[/COLOR][/URL][/B]

Default settings used
Yes Width
1280Height
1024Anti-Aliasing
NoneTexture Filtering
OptimalVS Profile
3_0PS Profile
3_0



[URL="http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15915040;jsessionid=7tp1fawds1gw?show_ads=true&page=%2F3dm06%2F15915040%3Fkey%3DypBZPsVMFYEKz6NqNyA467p4N84eaQ#overlayAd"][/URL]
```


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

Speedfan is not as good as it once was, temp 1, 2, 3 could be anything or a phantom reading depending on how the motherboard is setup to use the winbond chip

Try HW Monitor see if list the CPU temp and GPU(video card) along with the voltages 12v 5v, 3.3v, if it does let it run in the background and play WOW then post the results.


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## Vasporran (May 29, 2011)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

I have downloaded and ran HW MONITOR it only shows two temperature readings which are "Assembly" and "Airflow". It doesn't seem to show anything else.

I have put a timer on the WOW shutdown and it occurrs between 10 and 20 minutes after loading the game.


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## Vasporran (May 29, 2011)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

oops, needs the pro version


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## Vasporran (May 29, 2011)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

Sorry my mistake, it records max and min temp for processsor and video card, also voltages etc. will leave it running and load WOW and see what happens, although, if WOW shuts the computer down, I may loose the data from HW monitor?


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## Vasporran (May 29, 2011)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

Ok so i ran WOW for a safe length of time and then came out before it shut the computer down.

The results from HW Monitor are as follows:-

IAN PC
-
DELL INC ORY007
-
Voltages
CPU VCore: 1.15V (value) 1.15V (min) 1.31V (max)
VIN1: 3.02V (value) 3.01V (min) 3.02V (max)
+3.3V: 3.36V (value) 3.34V (min) 3.36V (max)
+5V: 5.05V (value) 5.05V (min) 5.05V (max)
+12V: 11.97V (value) 11.90V (min) 11.97V (max)
+5V VCCH: 4.97V (value) 4.97V (min) 4.97V (max)
VBat: 3.18V (value) 3.18V (min) 3.18V (max)
-
Temperatures
THRM: 40C (103F) (value) 40C (103F) (min) 40C (103F) (max)
TMPIN0: 45C (112F) (value) 45C (112F) (min) 51C (123F) (max) 
TMPIN1: 39C (102F) (value) 39C (102F) (min) 39C (102F) (max)
-
Fans
FANIN0: 1704RPM (value) 1695RPM (min) 2089RPM (max)
FANIN2: 1603RPM (value) 1490RPM (min) 2051RPM (max)
-
Fans PWM
FANPWM0: 0% (value) 0% (min) 0% (max)
FANPWM1: 0% (value) 0% (min) 0% (max)
FANPWM2: 0% (value) 0% (min) 0% (max)

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
-
Temperatures
CORE0: 45C (112F) (value) 45C (112F) (min) 52C (125F) (max)
CORE1: 45C (112F) (value) 45C (112F) (min) 55C (130F) (max)

ST3500630AS
-
Temperatures
Assembly: 49C (120F) (value) 49C (120F) (min) 50C (121F) (max)
Air flow: 49C (120F) (value) 49C (120F) (min) 50C (121F) (max)

ATI RADEON HD 2400XT
-
Temperatures
TMPIN0: 82C (179F) (value) 81C (177F) (min) 105C (220F) (max)

These are the results whilst WOW was loaded.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

The Video card is overheating try cleaning out the heatsink on the card with a can of compressed air available from office supply type stores as well as many other stores.


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## Vasporran (May 29, 2011)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

Just been told by my 12 year old that the same power failure occurs when playing Rogue Trooper, just takes longer to happen. Kids! I did ask him already!!

I will try cleaning heatsink as you suggest.

Will be some time before I answer bacdk maybe 48 hours but will get back to you soon within that time period.


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## Vasporran (May 29, 2011)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

Eureka!

Well I hope so anyway.

Having never had the lid of my PC so to speak, I wasn't surprised to find that on removing the cover I was met with a sea of grey concentrated and condenssed dust. The main parts of the computer were not to bad, but the fans!

My god, what a mess, the one on the side of the case (and this is where my complete lack of knowledge shows itself up) the stand alone one wasn't to bad, but the big one in the middle on top of the huge heatsink was pretty clogged up and I suspect this is the one that was responsable for the noisy running.

Well I had that one off and cleaned, put back on, also sucked out about a lorry load of dust from the slots in the heatsink itself.

Had a look at the Radeon graphics card, heatsink and onboard fan. Discovered the fan was not moving when power was applied, hence this may be why the graphics card was going sky high temperature wise.

Managed to remove must of the dust and gunk from the fan and the heatsink and it now operates with a slight grind, but at least its turning.

The computer is back almost to the silent running performance when I first took it out the box so many years ago.

Have played WOW (not long enough though to check for a power failure) just long enough to capture temperature reading using the HW Monitor and it's showing a respectable 60C (value), 52C (min) and 65C (max), much better than the 80C+ and 100C+ it was before.

I'll leave WOW running for a while and see if thats stopped the shutdown problem.

I'll come back on if it hasn't, otherwise thanks for all your words of wisdom, guys and for pointing me in the right direction so far.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

Just to clarify, did you remove the fan from the heatsink or the heatsink and fan from the CPU 


> but the big one in the middle on top of the huge heatsink was pretty clogged up and I suspect this is the one that was responsable for the noisy running.
> 
> Well I had that one off and cleaned, put back on,


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## Vasporran (May 29, 2011)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

Just the fan from the heatsink and then vacummed the heatsink and cleaned the fan.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

Good deal let us know how it goes, but the video card fan will be an issue at some point.


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## Vasporran (May 29, 2011)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

My son has played WOW for a couple of hours whilst I was at work, with no shutdown problems. 

I've also left the HW monitor running in the background all day and the hottest the video card got was 78C.

So overall a success!!

Thanks for all your help.

P.s. temperatures overall including the cores and other areas montitored by HW are all down by at least 5 degrees. 

So a happy PC all round.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

*Re: WOW Problem and shutdown*

Good to hear that took card of it


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