Hardware fault somewhere in my PC

[deh-cheesekake]

So, where to begin. This problem started a few weeks ago, I found my PC was crashing (no BSOD, just auto-reboots after the crash). This happened mostly in 3D games but also when I was on the desktop. Asuming this was a software problem I formated the PC and re-installed windows, my necesery drivers & 1 steam game. The problem had not gone away and from the signs I collected I was running under the asumption this was the graphics card. I sent it off to PCS and just got it back today

Since I got the GPU back the PC has crashed twice (Although it is stable in games now). Both of the crashes happened when I was not doing any PC intinsive activities one was whilst watching a YouTube video, the other took place in paint (I was making a "Steam > Origin" avatar). I am starting to get really annoyed with this problem now as it does not seem to be able to go away

Any sugestions?

 

[deh-cheesekake]

Oh, I didn't mention the fun part. The 1 year parts bit of the warrenty has expired

AMD FX-4100
GTX 560 2GB
8GB Kingston Hyper X @ 1600 MHz
Windows 7 HP 64bit
No overclocks

 

[ubuysa]

Have you checked that it's not overheating? Vents and fans are clean and your cooler is working ok? What temperatures are you seeing?

What makes you suspect the graphics card? Can you run with it out (can you plug the monitor into the motherboard temporarily for example)?

It would be worth checking your RAM if you've not done so already. Download Memtest, extract the ISO file, burn it to a CD, and then boot that CD. Memtest will start running immediately, let it run overnight. If there are any errors recorded in the morning you should test each RAM card individually.

BTW. When you say "necessary drivers" I assume you mean all drivers for your hardware?

 

[Boozad]

It certainly sounds like an overheating problem if it's just shutting down and rebooting with no BSOD. As ubuysa suggested check your temperatures and see if anything's running abnormally high.

 

[deh-cheesekake]

Thanks for your replies. I am pretty sure that this is not an overheating issue as it will crashes when the PC has not particularly heavy load on it. During these times the GPU is normally at about 38c and the CPU idles at about 35c. With max load the GPU limits itself at 70c and the CPU has never gone above 50c

Secondly, due to some recent revelations I am getting the feeling that something might be shorting the system. I say this because recently I have found that sometimes the PC will freeze and then return to full working order after a few very tense seconds. And other times it will stay stuck to the end of time. In short, it does not always crash anymore

 

[deh-cheesekake]

I am not sure if this is at all connected to the GPU issue I originally had seeing as the PC is no longer crashing in games