I’ve been using Windows 8.1 Pro for a while now and have been running Unreal 4.0.1 up until the release of 4.1 with no issues. After upgrading to Unreal 4.1 I’ve been experiencing some random PC crashes where my entire computer just powers off. No blue screen, no warning, no error. It has happened within 2 minutes of opening Unreal and I’ve had the editor open as long as 30 minutes before it shuts off. It seems completely random but it does occur every time I run the editor. I still get 0 crashes when running 4.0.1 (or my other, older licensee versions).
Event Viewer is the Win8 program that allows you to check log files for errors and warnings, but as I expected, it shows absolutely nothing useful. It only reports that “an error has occurred”.
I’m running a GTX 680 with updated drivers (I updated from like 3.30 last night to the latest in an effort to resolve the issue), 12 gigs RAM, and a Core i7 920 CPU. I’ve run performance monitors while running unreal and nothing seems out of the ordinary leading up to the crash.
I don’t believe Unreal Engine has increased its power consumption dramatically from versions 4.0.1 to 4.1.
The i7 920 runs naturally hot, but about 6 months ago I started getting critical errors that it was too hot so my mobo/CPU would automatically shut it down. I put new thermal paste on, fixed a broken fan, cleaned out all the dust and put it in a better location where it could get more air flow outside the case. This dropped my CPU temperatures down to a normal level and they haven’t risen since.
Again, it doesn’t make sense to me that everything still works fine on Unreal 4.0.1 and I can run the engine indefinitely with no issues, but crash every time I run 4.1. No other software (video game or game engine or compiler or otherwise) causes my computer to shut down, and I’ve never in this computer’s lifetime experienced a complete shutdown without any error screen or warning or noticeable slow-down prior to the crash.
CoreTemp is monitoring my CPU cores at over 10 degrees higher (in Celsius!) than the windows version of CPU monitor. It could be that once again the Windows version of the software is useless
Im between 92 - 99 degrees Celsius, so that’s probably the issue.
For me it also sound like a temperature issue → download coretemp and see if your cpu gets too hot and also check the temp. of your gpu, so that you can see which part of your pc is causing the shutdown.
Thanks for checking in! I got swamped by conferences left and right and this fell through the cracks on my end as well. Here’s some more information since my last update:
When the auto-recompile shader “feature” (bug?) was fixed in 4.2 I started crashing much less frequently. It was then that I could effectively narrow my issue down to two reliable events - when I have to compile more than 2100 shaders at one time and when I try to package a game with a lot of art assets (I believe it’s also something to do with shaders). I’ve tested this on 8 different games (with 8 different companies), and I’ve tested it with each release up through 4.6.1 (launcher and git version).
I’ve since completely wiped all of my hard drives and re-installed Windows 8.1, I’ve tried with a GTX 970 and 980 (both beta and latest stable drivers on each), and I’ve run various PC monitors while compiling the shaders to see if it’s a heat issue (it wasn’t). The only thing I haven’t tried (which I’ll be doing this coming week) is testing on an entirely different PC. I have two computers here that have all different components (aside from the graphics cards) that I’ll be testing with.
This issue is certainly still a blocker, though lately it’s due to not being able to package games. I have to work with other team members to package and upload so I can download and test before sending the games to conferences, which is a really terrible pipeline.
No problem. Thanks for the detailed update. With any packaging errors make sure you’re posting in the packaging and deployment sections and we can have a look at any particular issues there, if you haven’t already.
The shader compile issue with 4.2 was a big one for a lot of people! Since that time I’ve not really seen any issues crop up that have shut down a computer though. My own included here at work and my mid-range at home. I’m actually running a lower than recommended spec machine at home and have had it compile shaders in the 4-5k range (takes a while with a dual core processor!) and a 750-Ti 2gb GPU.
I have in the past, not specifically related to UE4, had my computer shut down unexpectedly and frequently when using multiple programs or GPU intensive games or programs like 3Ds /Mudbox. My power supply ended up being the culprit in that one. Do know if you have enough headroom with your power supply that it’s not borderline with hitting it’s power limit?
I got excited because I thought this might be the culprit (the only hardware I hadn’t swapped out yet) but I have a 750w Antec PSU and Newegg’s calculator says I should only need 580w for my system (running a single GTX 680 card).
Unfortunately I’ll be a little slow on further unit tests with my 2nd and 3rd machines due to crunching for GDC and PAX East. I should be able to test more thoroughly after those events, but if you have other suggestions I’m eager to try things.
