Custom built PC Randomly Shuts Down..Any Ideas?

S

Sorceress21

New Member
Hello all, I hope everyone out there in cyberland is having a stellar day! :)

I am having a wee bit of trouble out of one of my machines and I would like to see if any of you folks have some ideas or input that I have not yet come across in my research on this problem thus far.

What my PC is doing exactly: Regardless of workload the machine randomly goes dead. A total and instant shutdown. Not a crash but a power down like it is what a PC would do if the plug was yanked out of the wall. After this occurs I turn it back on immediately and it functions normally, sometimes for days until shutting down again. On average it is happening about once every two days if I leave the machine on continuously. There are no associated OS problems, no operational glitches or freezups at all.

What I have learned thus far insofar as possible causes:

Bad Post- (Not quite fluent enough in geek to understand what that is so I can't comment to its possibility)

Virus/Spyware- I don't think this is the case. I use AVG and a number of different anti-spyware programs and run daily scans and removals. Also the PC functions, not only normally but performs very well apart from the shutdown problem.

Bad PSU- I am leaning towards this as the culprit. I think what may be happening is that the fan inside the PSU may be intermittently failing and the unit overheats and shuts down or just fails outright due to any number of different causes and simply restores function with a restart.

CPU/MoBoard malfunction or Overheating Problem-This would be my second guess but my CPU fan is big and loud and I would hear it if it shutdown. My tower is not located in a place where ventilation is an issue and the the cooling fans are plenty powerful enough for my specs. Apart from the Processor or Moboard having some kind of odd issue I have a hard time beleving this is the problem simply because an immediate restart results in days of normal continuous operation.


So, what do ya'll think?
 
I had this problem - it was my powersupply. you will need a new one. this happened to me but only when gaming, crysis powered down the computer in about 5 mins :P other games it could take hours or it wouldn't happen at all.'

But yeah, time for a new PSU. out of curiosity what are you using now?
 
Not sure what brand but its 375 watts. Thanks for the response..I think it is the PSU as well...I'll get a new one here in a while.
 
yer has to be PSU.
maybe its underpowered. but yer. see if you can borrow a stronger one before you go get one. jsut in case its something else.
 
Sounds like RAM to me.

Do you know how to use memtest? Or know what it is?


And you guys are seemingly forgetting about the "regardless of load" portion of his problem. RAM would be the easiest thing to check, before buying a new PSU.
 
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Bad Post- Power On Self Test, very unlikely seeing as the computer apparently boots ;)

Virus/Spyware- Still could be the problem. If not malicious, simply bad code. AIM was (well probably still is) notorious for causing BSoD

Bad PSU- Most liekly in my eyes. Sounds like you have a weaker/cheap power supply.

CPU/MoBoard malfunction or Overheating Problem- Pretty rare that the CPU gives any problems. It either works or doesn't most of the time. The mobo could be acting up, but still less likely than other things.

As others have said, I'd test the RAM first, then try another PSU if it comes up clear. Just take the sticks out and test them individually and for extended periods of time (say overnight)
 
Could always take a look at the motherboard as well and see if any capacitors have popped, granted that would be more of a random blue screen rather than random shutdowns, but it still can't hurt to look.

close-up.jpg
 
on one of my old motherboards all of its capacitors had a leak and it didn't work. (there could of been hundreds of things making my mobo not work) and so i just put it in the oven (like everyone was doing with their broken GPU's) and the capacitors no longer had that rusty looking stuff on top. although my mobo still doesn't work.
 
OP says that pc randomly shuts down. meaning powers off. meaning no bsods, no errors, no virsues. Same thing happened to me. Straight after replacing the PSU i never had the pc shut down like that on me again. ever.
 
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linkin93 said:
OP says that pc randomly shuts down. meaning powers off. meaning no bsods, no errors, no virsues. Same thing happened to me. Straight after replacing the PSU i never had the pc shut down like that on me again. ever.
Click to expand...

Just saying, checking the RAM is a simple thing to do and could still be his problem.
 
True, but if RAM was bad wouldn't it not post at all? thats what happened with me. I'm just telling from a personal experience.
 
this could be anything, you must use process of elimination, take out each ram one by one reboot, if not theram, then replace CPU, if not CPU, replace PSU, if not psu, replace mobo, if not mobo, could be a virus
 
@ OP: what hardware are you running? 375 watts and a generic brand, plus other good hardware could be your problem. the psu is probably maxing out and shutting down to prevent overload. much like a cpu shuts down to prevent heat damage
 
Im wondering how old the computer is because a generic 375 watt power supply may mean that the computer is pretty old and its a possibility of the psu being dead thus overheating... But then again, she said everything boots up fine and later on it shuts down so im thinking dead PSU.
 
mind my post if someone else wrote it im just flying to the end of the thread, did you put a sufficient amount of the thermal paste between the fan heat-sink and the processor?
 
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