OS restart when using Regnum

[Anpu]

Hi, I have a following problem: I log into Regnum and after like 5 minutes, my system just resets/restarts. I tried lowering details from all on max to disabling trails, shadows, long distance and quality of animations/characters/terrain. But it didn't help. I am using Shader 4. I didn't try to decrease shader to 2, like suggested in some other thread. Usually one core goes 90% when Regnum is running, always free 2GB RAM and FPS in game is 240-260. Regnum is configured in Firewall system.

Computer info:
Intel i5 760 (2.8GHz)
GTX 460 + latest drivers from Nvidia site
4GB RAM 1600MHz
Windows 7 64bit

Thanks in advance.

[Ashnurazg]

Disable the automatic restart when windows crashes (howto) and post that the error message what's shown at the blue screen.

If it is "STOP: 0x0000007F(0x0000000D,0x00000000,0x00000000,0x0000 0000)", try to play it under OpenGL.

[Narzoul]

Since I had the same problems during the test phases of the New Technology engine, I'll share my experiences with you.

At first I thought the problem was related to the New Tech changes, but then I installed the Crysis demo for testing and noticed that I also often get a restart at the very beginning of it, at the parachute part (before hitting the water). I think I had a restart on every second or third try on average, and randomly after 2-15 minutes in RO (sometimes up to 1-2 hours). Oddly enough if my system survived the parachute part in Crysis there were no restarts, at least for the 15-20 mins I tried playing afterwards on a few occasions.

I tried some more benchmarks and stress tests (3DMark, CPU-Burn, Prime95, Furmark) but I think I only had restarts with Furmark after 5-10 mins. Then I upgraded the cooling of my CPU and PC case thinking it may be an overheating problem. Didn't help, though temps got better they weren't dangerously high to begin with.

I should also mention I had strange graphical artifacts with the Crysis Benchmark Tool after it ran for a few mins; no restarts though.

I had an old, dusty and theoretically much worse "noname" PSU (Power Supply Unit) lying around. I had to get some adapter cables just to be able to power my graphics card with it, I thought it may not even be able to start up my PC, but it did, and all restarts and graphical artifacts were gone while using it...

I was eventually able to get my system stable with the original PSU too, by downclocking my graphics card to standard clock rates (it's a factory-overclocked model). I also set safer BIOS settings just in case (disabled auto-overclock features and such, though those alone didn't seem to help anyway).


You didn't mention if you see a BSOD before restart so I assume you don't (I didn't either). Still you could try the following: Control Panel -> System -> Advanced system settings -> Startup and Recovery Settings -> make sure to check "Write an event to the system log" and uncheck "Automatically restart". If you do get a BSOD you should be able to read it now and take notes without the automatic restart. You can view the system log in Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Event Viewer. Look for critical events and perhaps errors. It wasn't very informative for me as it could only tell there was an unexpected shutdown every time...

If you can't find the Control Panel items I'm referring to: there's a "View by" setting on the top right corner, switch it from "Category" to "Small icons".


Anyway, my best bet is overheating or power supply failure, but there could be tons of reasons... this is unfortunately not easy to troubleshoot. You can try removing all unnecessary hardware and see if the problem is gone. This is about all the comes to mind now (apart from usual stuff like driver updates/downgrades).

[ieti]

This can be power supply problem or overheating. Check this PSU calculator. It gives approximate power supply needed. For me for hardware you posted you need 550W or more good power supply - noname chinese ones are very crappy and usually give half watts with very bad parameters.

You can try to change graphics card drivers, run some memory tests, some heavy benchmark like SuperPI.

[Anpu]

Thanks for replies!
No, I do not see BSOD, it simply just reboots (though thanks for the info about logs, I am still learning where is where in Windows ). I added temperature gadgets to monitor CPU and GPU temperature, and found out it might be overheating. When Regnum is running on shader 3/4 with max details, GPU can even reach 70C quite fast as all 4 cores too (then I stopped Regnum).
So my guess it is heating problem as no system coolers are installed (terrible mistake, but I didn't have on my mind that at all...). PSU is LC Power SilentGiant 600W for which I think it should be stable. I tried calculator Ieti posted and let's say result was around 465+W (not all parts where in the list).
Anyway, going to try what Narzoul suggested. I will post results here.

[ieti]

Try to search more for this power supply. It do not sound very good for me. Maybe i'm mistaking but it is worth to ask for it in some forums and hardware sites where you can find advice. Post hardware specs too so people can decide and help you. Usually noname power supplies are relabeled lower power models and they can cause alot problems later, so you better have good power supply.

In Bulgaria we have such hardware site and there for 600 Watt PSU they recommended CoolerMaster Silent Pro M600.

You can read some articles in this site too.

[Anpu]

I think I need for start 2 back fans. I ll see if solution in coolong system will improve situation,and will post feedback here.
Thanks all for help!

[UmarilsStillHere]

Cant offer any more help than that given but nice to hear you can (if this is fixed ) play effectively again, its been a while

[Narzoul]

70C for GPU shouldn't be problematic. For reference, I was using a passively cooled Nvidia 9600GT for 3-4 years, it had an idle temp of 70C on Windows desktop, 90C under lighter games and over 100C under heavy load. It still works fine, I just switched it for a better card. 70C under load on your card isn't something to worry about I think.

70C for CPU doesn't sound as good but still shouldn't be dangerous. Mine regularly reached 70C too under load before I got better cooling for it, and it didn't seem to cause any problems.

Nevertheless it is a good idea to invest in better cooling anyway. Even if it's not the cause of your problems right now it could improve the lifetime of your hardware components.

[Anpu]

Yes, I talked with store, they said 70C is acceptable. 90C would be a little worrying. But for the sake of CPU cooling, I ll add one fan at least. When PC idles, cores are ~42C, GPU 35C.

Now, I have tried couple of benchmarks.
First, I ran Heaven Benchmark v2.1 to test DirectX 11. Graphics was max 69C, cores around ~55C.
Then, I ran FurMark for gfx and I let it to go to 80C (when OS restarted while RO was on (but DX, not OpenGL), it was 72C).
And after that, I ran prime95 to test CPU and it went to 76C (3 rounds of tests, then I stopped).
So, I loaded every part and it didn't crash OS or anything. It seems Regnum is one tough benchmark. :P
It might be PSU, maybe combo of CPU/GPU. Maybe I should try with some heavy game and see if same happens. But so far, only with Regnum PC restarts, which confuses me. I also tried OpenGL, shader 4, all max (except weather and weapon trails). It worked stable though FPS was 50-65.

Tomorrow we ll do in store 3DMark. I also found that enabling SATA AHCI mode for SATA 2, crashes OS login window. So it offered me recovery fix etc but no changes. Might be hdd too?? (it's WD Black edition SATA II 7200 32MB, 640GB)
I am still not sure why OS restarts with Regnum on. Thanks all for help, especially to Mira who was helping me all day about this. <3 If anyone has any other idea/theory, I would be thankful. And by the way, event logs say all the same:

The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

@Uma: I was little on today, as soon as I fix this, you ll see me very often I hope :P