Sudden unexplained shutdowns

Siberian

Siberian

Member
I've been experiencing frequent sudden shutdowns lately. It's just like the whole thing loses power. A light on the motherboard itself is still lit, so it does have power. I took the whole thing out and blew it clean of any dust and put it in again. This made it happen less frequent, but it's not gone. Can it indeed be because of dust? Didn't see much of it in there. Can it be a software thing?
 
Well, post your temperatures (you can use a free utility like SpeedFan).

Also, have you recently installed any new hardware or software?

You power supply may be on the way out - what is the make/model of the computer? How long have you had it?

You could also try removing all of your extra hardware - remove everything from the board inside and out, including all PCI/PCIe/AGP cards, and USB devices or anything else you have, so that the only thing that we're using is the HDD w/ the OS on it, your monitor and a PS/2 keyboard and mouse. Then see if it still happens.
 
My temps are attached, and I believe they are fine. My PSU could be the issue. Although it's only about half a year old it's an off-brand (Chieftec), 1000W. This is the third time I'm writing this as I've had two shutdowns within 15 mins now.
 

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Are you absolutely sure your system 'shuts down'? It could be a monitor or display-adapter problem. I suggest playing a game or music off a media player, and wait for the 'shutdown'. If the music continues playing with no problems, you can rule out a 'system shutdown', and we could confirm it's the malfunctioning of display devices. However, if the music freezes, stops, or beings looping, your entire system (in general) is the issue.
 
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Definately a PSU issue. Replace it witha good brand one (Corsair, Thermaltake, OCZ and so on) in the 700w range... 1000w is overkill and the chieftec wouldn't be very efficient so it's just upping your power bill really...
 
To rule the PSU out, try a different PSU and see what it does. If it's the problem, RMA the sucker.

If not, I'm thinking a short maybe?
 
Thx for the replies guys. Some further info is that some fan (or fans) in there seem to be reving themselves up and down quite a lot - much more than usual anyway. I'm thinking that's one more finger pointing at the PSU?

Also - in an attempt to rule stuff out - if my GPU was the issue, what would a failure cause? Loss of signal to the screen and that's it?
 
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Do you have onboard graphics? You could just pull he GPU and see if you're still having problems.

I would think if it was the GPU, you would get a BSOD or your graphics would look all messed up or, yeah, maybe just your screen would go blank.

But the PSU powers the GPU so...

Sounds like it's the PSU. I would go ahead and replace it and go from there. But that's just me.
 
So I opened up my cabinet and put my table fan in front of it blowing straight. That calmed the fans down, and the whole rig's been running great for a couple of hours now (before it wouldn't last beyond 15 mins). But I don't really get it, cause the temperatures I posted earlier weren't critical were they? What gives?!
 
I don't know - kind of have to be there...

but when a PSU is going out, it can be very erratic, cutting out here and there, then running fine for several hours or even days, then start up again -

You can keep running like you're running and see how long it lasts - me, I would just order a replacement and be done with it...
 
Hello Friend,
Seems like a DC Jack problem on the motherboard, You can shipping or bring your computer to your nearest computer repair center.

Thanks,
James
 
linkin said:
Post a screenshot of yuor HWMonitor temps, it shows all your temps fort he entire system.
Click to expand...

this. Core temps isn't too accurate. No software application is always 100% accurate, but HWmonitor is one of the better ones. You can download it from here http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

If HW monitor also shows that one of your cores is substantially warmer than the other (they should all be within a degree or 2 of each other at most) then it could indicate either the heatsink on your CPU is not seated properly, or you need to reaply thermal paste. This would explain the shut downs as that core would be getting too hot.

I would think it is a temperature issue rather than power supply as putting a fan on the system stopped the shut downs. You said it is in a cupboard? How much clearance does the computer have each side and does the cupboard have any openings to let the hot air out and cooler air in?
 
Siberian said:
My temps are attached, and I believe they are fine. My PSU could be the issue. Although it's only about half a year old it's an off-brand (Chieftec), 1000W. This is the third time I'm writing this as I've had two shutdowns within 15 mins now.
Click to expand...

Download and install PC Wizard.
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

Tell me what your processors voltage it set to. Then what your power supply is putting out on the 12V rail.
 
Thought I'd finish off this thread by telling everyone what I did to fix it. I got a new PSU (Corsair 750W) along with a new motherboard (that I was gonna get anyway) and now it's all good. Didn't really get to pinpoint the problems origin, but still :)
 
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