BSOD only while gaming

[phillpower2]

Create a new system restore point then try whatever games you have installed and get back to us with an update.

Can I ask that while we are troubleshooting this that you do not install any new programs or change any system settings, thanks.

[DadoPanda]

Ok I just had another BSOD during a different game. Everything froze and the BSOD screen was all messed up, with white lines instead of letters. And there are no dump files made in the Minidump.

[phillpower2]

Calling it a day now as I’ve been online for 11hrs and need some sleep, back tomorrow morning UK time.

What you describe was not a BSOD and that is why there are no crash dmps, see my canned explanation below;

We are going to need the correct info for you PSU, the info that you post previously leads nowhere and what you describe happening has all the trademarks of an overheating/weak power supply.

Software such as Windows can crash and when it does crash you get a BSOD and when enabled a crash dmp is generated.

Hardware failure such as a weak power supply and/or overheating are not software related and when a computer freezes or suddenly turns off etc the behaviour should be described as the “computer shut down unexpectedly” and not as having crashed as the latter implies a software issue as opposed to an obvious hardware issue when described properly.

Having the correct info means that helpers will not be looking for a software issue when the problem is clearly hardware related.

[DadoPanda]

What I shared about my PSU was all that is written on it, I don’t know where else I could look for the info. There’s also ‘‘AC 220V/50HZ’’ written on a red label on the back, underneath the PSU cable. That’s all I got.

Well thanks for trying to help and have a good night.

[phillpower2]

I completely forgot to post the PSU, my apologies: it says Blueberry model: PS8450

Reason why we could not find anything on the PSU was because the info provided was not quite correct, we were looking for PS8450 when in fact it is PSB450, either way it is complete garbage and needs to be replaced, labelled as 450W when it cannot even produce 200W, see attachment below, this PSU is killing your computer, see specs here it doesn`t even mention any warranty period

Short version, you need a new PSU.

[DadoPanda]

I suspected as much. The PSU was literally the only thing that came with the case (which is also a Blueberry). I just had no idea what could be the problem when it looks like it works fine (as in no noise, the fan is spinning normally etc). I guess I’ll replace the PSU then, I hope that resolves the problem. But yeah, I should replace it either way.

[phillpower2]

You have not been able to purchase a PC case that also shipped with a good quality PSU for many years, last ones that I can recall were from Antec, simple reason being is that a good quality PSU costs more than a junk PSU meaning that fitting a good PSU in even a mediocre case would make it look expensive.

When replacing the PSU, don`t go cheap or you will end up back in the same predicament, ask your yourself whether or not you want to go for an add on video card in the future then make an allowance for the extra power that you would need and finally use the dimensions of the present PSU to make sure any replacement will fit, the present PSU dims are below;

Dimensions
15cm x 8.6cm x 14cm ( W x H x L )

I just had no idea what could be the problem when it looks like it works fine (as in no noise, the fan is spinning normally etc).

As a PSU puts out various voltages +3.3V, +5V and +12V it may appear that the PSU is working correctly but it is not, any significant drop of any output can prevent the system from booting up, the other scenario is a significant increase in the output which can be worse as it can fry one or more major components such as the MB, CPU, RAM, add on video card etc.

[DadoPanda]

Gotcha, I guess that’s what I’ll do then Thanks a lot for your time!

[phillpower2]

Long shot I know but is there anyone that you could borrow an appropriate PSU from to swap in for testing purposes, any decent 300W or above unit that has the required cables will do.

You are welcome btw