On the list of most annoying things in the world, computer restarts when gaming has to be in the top 5 right after finding no snacks in the middle of the night.
Yes, playing games all day and not doing any work might disappoint your parents, and it hurts, but when you are playing games with the boys and the PC suddenly shuts down, disappointing your teammates hurts on another level.
And if the game doesn’t have autosave or you haven’t found a checkpoint yet, all progress is lost. But no worries, the ultimate guide is here.
In this article, I’ve explained why your computer keeps restarting when you are playing games and how to solve this annoying problem forever.
Let’s begin.
Why Computer Restart When Gaming?
Your computer keeps restarting might be happening because of some power supply issue or power settings, a lousy GPU, or your GPU doesn’t meet the requirements for the game or overclocking the CPU. Dirty fans, heatsink, or old, ripped-off thermal paste can make the CPU overheat and shut down your PC.
“A problem well defined is half solved,” Charles F. Kettering.
You need to find out what’s causing this problem. Is it the CPU or the GPU? The power supply or the power settings? Or some other settings that you’ve knowingly or unknowingly changed.
Here are the reasons that might cause your computer to restart:
Game Requirements Not Met
Check the requirements of the game that’s causing your PC to restart. If the conditions don’t meet, it might be causing too much stress on the CPU, and you shouldn’t play that game without upgrading your PC.
Power Settings
In case the power settings are set to Save energy mode, the CPU won’t push itself to a high-level performance causing the PC to shut down.
Overheating
Some modern graphics-intensive games eat a lot of resources, and playing those types of games for long periods at a time might be too much for your GPU or CPU to handle. They might overheat and cause your PC to restart.
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Faulty PSU
Power Supply Unit (PSU) is the main component that supplies power to the motherboard. A defected PSU could be causing this issue.
Dirty Heatsink
A dirty heatsink won’t be able to carry heat properly, causing the CPU to overheat and, as a result shutting down your PC without any warning.
Overclocked CPU
Though overclocking will boost your CPU’s performance, it might produce stress on the CPU, causing it to overheat and restart your PC.
Changing BIOS Settings
If you change BIOS settings to prioritize your devices’ performance, some games might not like it. They prefer to run on default BIOS settings and cause your PC to restart.
Bad GPU
A third-party Chinese poorly manufactured GPU can cause restarts.
These are the main reasons that are causing this annoying problem. Let’s fix them one by one.
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How to Fix Computer Restarts When Gaming
The restarts can be happening due to one thing or multiple things. Whatever the reason, I’ve provided all the solutions that will fix the issue as well as check the health conditions of your PC’s components.
Here are the solutions to fix the computer restarts problem:
1. Scan for Virus & Malware
Purchase a good antivirus, keep it updated and perform an in-depth full scan of your device. This might take a while. If you’ve got Windows 10, it will come with Windows security, and you don’t need to purchase another antivirus.
In case a virus or malware is found, follow your antivirus’s instructions to get rid of it.
2. Update Graphics Driver
An old, outdated graphics driver deteriorates your computer’s performance and eventually causes your PC to restart. Update and keep your graphics driver up to date.
Here are the steps to update the graphics driver:
- Right-click on the Windows icon.
- Select Device Manager.
- Expand Display adapters.
- Right-click on your graphics driver and select Update driver.
- Click Search automatically for drivers.
If an update is available, Windows will download and install it. After that, restart your PC.
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3. Check Graphics Driver
Sometimes a third-party graphics driver such as Nvidia or AMD might not be compatible with the OS version you are using. Disable your graphics driver and check if the problem is solved or not.
Here’s how you can disable the graphics driver:
- Right-click on Windows.
- Go to Device Manager and select Display adapters.
- Right-click on your graphics driver.
- Click Disable driver.
After these steps, do a quick restart.
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4. Change Power Settings
The CPU should take power according to the workload. Suppose your CPU grabs a lot of energy when it is not doing much of anything; the CPU will easily overheat and cause your PC to shut down.
Here’s how to change minimum power settings:
- Click the Windows icon.
- Go to Settings > System > Power & sleep > Additional power Settings.
- Select Change plan settings of the plan the laptop is currently running on.
- Click Change advanced power settings and expand Processor power management.
- Set Minimum processor state between 0% to 5% for both On battery and Plugged in option.
Oh, and don’t forget to reboot the device.
5. Check Game Updates & Requirements
Don’t play third-party cracked versions of any games. Also, update the game and check if your PC fulfills game requirements.
You can reinstall the game as well and check if the issue is resolved or not.
6. Update Windows
A defected process running in the background or a temporary bug might be causing your PC to restart.
If that’s the case, check for Windows updates, update your drivers if available, and restart your PC after updating. It will stop any harmful processes and remove bugs.
7. Check PSU
If you still have the restart problem, it might be because your Power Supply Unit (PSU) is not providing power supply properly to all components.
Make sure your power supply can keep up with the graphics card. If it can but still failing, that’s because the PSU is faulty, and if it cannot, then you need to purchase a PSU that provides more power.
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8. Avoid Overheating
If the CPU gets too hot, it’ll shut your computer to protect itself. You need to prevent the CPU from getting too high temperature.
Just keep your computer desk clean, check if the heatsink is fine, ensure all the fans are working correctly, and keep them clean.
9. Disable Auto Restart
Make sure your Windows auto restart feature is not enabled cause if it is, it will do exactly what the name suggests.
Here’s how to disable Windows auto restart:
- Click the Windows icon.
- Go to Settings > System > About > Advanced system settings.
- Select Settings in the Advanced tab under Startup and Recovery.
- Uncheck Automatically restart under System failure.
- Select Apply and OK.
It should stop the auto restarting.
10. Restore PC
If all these fail, one last thing you can do is restore your computer to a point when the world was simpler and you didn’t have this problem.
Be very careful; all your softwares and configurations you’ve made on your PC after the restore point will be deleted.
Here are the steps to restore your PC:
- Right-click the Windows icon and select Run.
- Type exe and click OK.
- Choose the point when you didn’t have any problems with your PC and click Next.
- Follow the instructions, and finish the process.
After this process, your PC will go back to the past.
FAQs
Why does my computer suddenly shut down when I play games?
Most of the time, the computer shuts down because of the Power Supply Unit. But it can also happen due to CPU or GPU overheating, dirty fans and heatsink, and overclocked CPU.
Can graphics card cause computer shutdown?
Yes. A faulty, outdated graphics card can crash your PC. it can cause a bluescreen crash, shut your PC down and even restart it.
Can overheating GPU cause shutdown?
If a GPU is under constant stress, it’ll get too hot and shut down the PC completely to protect itself.
Final Thoughts
In this article, I’ve given all the possible reasons why your computer is rebooting and how you can solve it. After going through all the solutions, you won’t have to face the problem again.
Let me know if you have any questions regarding your PC. see you in the comment section.
