Computer keeps turning off randomly.

75 degrees in guild wars is pretty bad actually very bad... I hit 62 with 5.0 Ghz in battlefield 3 on ultra... What is your CPU cooler?? My AMD used to freeze and shut down, I went to check temps and they were around 90 when I touched CPU radiator I got pretty bad burn on my finger... Cleaned the heatsink from dust and it was fine again.

My money is on CPU shutting down due to high temps... I would not be surprised that if you open your case you will find a lot of dust which is causing cpu and gpu to work pretty hot.

yea i have the coolermaster thing that came with the raptor bundle from last year? so i assume its a good cooler, ill just buy some diamond thermal paste or something to sort out the temps, but first i need to establish the whether these other things are causing it.
 
Okay so i pressed the cmos button at the back, which made the computer shut down, so that's done ( i hope that's correct!)

now I'm wondering where the voltage control is for that 12v thing? all i can find is cpu and ram voltage.

do you know where that would be listed?
 
okay ill try a cmos reset and change that voltage to 12! as for the number its alright nobody ever phones us :) (and i realized this too :P)

Don't mess with the voltages for the love of god. Just do the CMOS reset. This removes the overclock and the CPU will run cooler at stock and should be stable at these settings.

The temps at load look high. Did you fit the heatsink yourself? How much paste did you use?
 
Don't mess with the voltages for the love of god. Just do the CMOS reset. This removes the overclock and the CPU will run cooler at stock and should be stable at these settings.

The temps at load look high. Did you fit the heat sink yourself? How much paste did you use?

i used a thin scrape of paste, yea it didn't come prebuilt just the overclocked bundle, ill have to buy some more paste, is the 24 carat diamond one actually good at keeping temps low?

and okay, ill make sure it fully resets and just leave the voltages as they were when it was overclocked!
 
Okay so i pressed the cmos button at the back, which made the computer shut down, so that's done ( i hope that's correct!)
"Try this or try that" without any reasons to do so? Shotgunning. Long before trying to fix anything, first learn what is wrong.

Numbers from "Speedfan" said a power system (which is more than just a power supply) is defective. Unfortunately, "Speedfan" can only read numbers from a multimeter built on the motherboard. These are badly calibrated. Therefore the voltages could be OK. But the on-board meter is reading defective.

Your problems could have existed months ago. Typical is for a defective supply to still power up a computer. But the defect could have been seen on day one if using a multimeter. The same tool necessary to calibrate the on-board meter.

Those posted numbers identified a defect. Unknown is whether those numbers are properly calibrated. Anyone doing computer work has a multimeter - even £7 in Maplin. So that even a new supply can be verified long before its warranty expires.

BTW, a 1000 watt supply for hardware that typically consumes 200 watts? Or is your computer as hot as a four slice toaster?
 
"Try this or try that" without any reasons to do so? Shotgunning. Long before trying to fix anything, first learn what is wrong.

Numbers from "Speedfan" said a power system (which is more than just a power supply) is defective. Unfortunately, "Speedfan" can only read numbers from a multimeter built on the motherboard. These are badly calibrated. Therefore the voltages could be OK. But the on-board meter is reading defective.

Your problems could have existed months ago. Typical is for a defective supply to still power up a computer. But the defect could have been seen on day one if using a multimeter. The same tool necessary to calibrate the on-board meter.

Those posted numbers identified a defect. Unknown is whether those numbers are properly calibrated. Anyone doing computer work has a multimeter - even £7 in Maplin. So that even a new supply can be verified long before its warranty expires.

BTW, a 1000 watt supply for hardware that typically consumes 200 watts? Or is your computer as hot as a four slice toaster?


so what you're saying is i need to get a multimeter to get readings from the power supply to make sure this is still functioning correctly?

how do you mean hardware that consumes 200watts?

I wouldn't know how much power it consumes,
its "Radon Utahraptor" Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30Ghz @ 4.40Ghz Overclocked Bundle - MSI
with ZOTAC GeForce GTX 470 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
4 hard drives
8gb ram (after cmos reset is running at 1333mhz)

Are you saying i don't need that much power. i think i originally bought this as a replacement for a 600watt supply that blew up.
 
so what you're saying is i need to get a multimeter to get readings from the power supply to make sure this is still functioning correctly?
Not exactly. A supply is only one component of a power system. Voltages must be measured by a meter with everything interconnected and working.

Take measurements with the meter. Compare those to numbers shown by "Speedfan". If the 3.3 and 12 volts are what "Speedfan" displayed, then your power system is defective. Those numbers were reporting a failure.

How to measure: Set a multimeter to 20 VDC. Black probe attached to the chassis. Touch the red probe to the purple wire where is connects the PSU to the motherboard. Just push the probe into that nylon connector to read about 5 volts. Record that number to three digits.

Repeat for the green and gray wires. Also measure the 3.3, 5, and 12 volts by touching any one orange, red, and yellow wires. Report those three digit numbers to learn what really exists, to calibrate the meter that “Speedfan” reads, to learn more about how computers really work, and to learn that a booting computer may still be defective.

Most computers only consume 200 watts. Never more than 350 watts for a short period. But due to so many computer assemblers without electrical knowledge, we then tell assemblers to buy a supply that is double what is necessary.

Little relationship exists between watts and quality. In fact, some manufacturers will diminish quality while increasing wattage. That increases profits. Because they are marketing to computer assemblers.
 
I'd lean towards heat issues too. Inspect the HSF for dust and so on, if you have some T.I.M re-install the HSF. Sometimes running with the side(s) of the case off will help isolate heat problems.
Also, on the topic of power, I don't know the details of your PSU but if you arent already use one 4pin chain for the GPU, another for the drives etc (often makes no difference at all, sometimes can help, costs nothing, give it a shot). If the details are in the manual you should be able to separate the highest load components onto different rails (not all manufacturers tell you what connectors are on what rails though).
 
"Try this or try that" without any reasons to do so? Shotgunning. Long before trying to fix anything, first learn what is wrong

It's very hard to troubleshoot a PC "virtually". You should know full well a CMOS reset is the first port of call. His overclock is drawing more power from the PSU for a start and it's increasing the temps. It's good practice to troubleshoot from stock settings.

I've already said the PSU is a candidate for the problem (post #11), trouble is his temps are quite high.

2500K intel spec sheet

the Tcase is 72.6 degrees (that's not the max safe temp just the highest the Tcase sensor should ever read) so you are looking 80 degrees before heat is causing issues.......he is showing temps close to that. If he tried realtemp and a few other programs he'll see that the recorded temps can vary from program to program.

I'll make some assumptions and go out on a limb and guess the PSU is faulty. Infact maybe even the fan has failed in the unit. At 50 degree temps it will struggle to maintain it's output. Seeing as it's an old PSU it's not going to putting out was it was new anyway.

If the fan was sucking warm air in from the case it would run warmer but at the same time was helping to cool the CPU. The hotter your components are the shorter they live is the rule of thumb.

If the machine is still failing at stock speeds. Investigate the PSU, easiest way is to use a known working PSU. Can you borrow one from a friend (a good 500W PSU is all you need for that system)?

I would bet that will solve your problem, If you have had the PSU 3 years thats good going to be fair but I am suspecting you need to look at your case cooling too. What case and fans do you have installed and where is the computer kept?
 
Everyone is pointing at your PSU, but I still maintain its a CPU heat problem. Your cooler is not dissipating heat effectively for whatever reason. Heck, you may have left the plastic sticker on the CPU when attaching cooler. I know some people have done that.

30c boot
35c idle after a few minutes
+5mins of GuildWars
58c load

PC on for long period I assume
53c idle
+3mins of GuildWars
75c load

Have you logged temps while gaming for more than a few minutes? It's highly likely you're hitting the thermal shutdown temperature during heavy load (large fight scenes for example).
 
It's very hard to troubleshoot a PC "virtually". You should know full well a CMOS reset is the first port of call. His overclock is drawing more power from the PSU for a start and it's increasing the temps. It's good practice to troubleshoot from stock settings.

I've already said the PSU is a candidate for the problem (post #11), trouble is his temps are quite high.

2500K intel spec sheet

the Tcase is 72.6 degrees (that's not the max safe temp just the highest the Tcase sensor should ever read) so you are looking 80 degrees before heat is causing issues.......he is showing temps close to that. If he tried realtemp and a few other programs he'll see that the recorded temps can vary from program to program.

I'll make some assumptions and go out on a limb and guess the PSU is faulty. Infact maybe even the fan has failed in the unit. At 50 degree temps it will struggle to maintain it's output. Seeing as it's an old PSU it's not going to putting out was it was new anyway.

If the fan was sucking warm air in from the case it would run warmer but at the same time was helping to cool the CPU. The hotter your components are the shorter they live is the rule of thumb.

If the machine is still failing at stock speeds. Investigate the PSU, easiest way is to use a known working PSU. Can you borrow one from a friend (a good 500W PSU is all you need for that system)?

I would bet that will solve your problem, If you have had the PSU 3 years thats good going to be fair but I am suspecting you need to look at your case cooling too. What case and fans do you have installed and where is the computer kept?

Okay, well im currently on the stock settings, still at 80 degrees, very high temp even on the stock settings with two copies of gw open

instead of trying to explain the setup ive made a video of it!

this shows all the components, all the installed fans and obviously that i keep the side off, previously i DID have the side on but decided to take that off thinking it may be causing overheating issues, also I couldn't put a side fan on as the cooler is so big it fills that area of the case.

I can try to reconfigure the power cables aswell, but as you can see the airflow of the system shouldn't be too bad, although its a compact space in the case. http://s272.photobucket.com/albums/jj179/dantoshou/?action=view&current=CompVid.mp4

there you go, that hopefully shows the system, i also tried to show the speedfan status, but that was blurry.

currently seems to be 83 degrees gpu and 80 cpu.


*edit*

just for clarification, heres the speedfan on a screenie

Todaysloadtemp.png













*edit again!*

Everyone is pointing at your PSU, but I still maintain its a CPU heat problem. Your cooler is not dissipating heat effectively for whatever reason. Heck, you may have left the plastic sticker on the CPU when attaching cooler. I know some people have done that.

30c boot
35c idle after a few minutes
+5mins of GuildWars
58c load

PC on for long period I assume
53c idle
+3mins of GuildWars
75c load

Have you logged temps while gaming for more than a few minutes? It's highly likely you're hitting the thermal shutdown temperature during heavy load (large fight scenes for example).



yeah, ive been on the pc about 2 hours now, ill keep logging them as i progress but it seems to stay at 80+ during gaming/video editing.
 
Last edited:
Buy a new case mate.......cable management is non existant :(

Why is the case so bad? Your PSU is mounted at the top of the case. Hot air rises, the PSU is sucking all that hot air into it (direct from the CPU heatsink too i might add) and exhausting it out of the case. Modern cases have the PSU at the bottom of the case where the air is cooler and quite often there are vents at the bottom so the PSU fan can suck in cold air from outside.

You still need to test the PSU, I think you'll find some of the vault lies here, it been just slowly cooking itself to death in that case over the last 3 years. A new case and a PSU (modular would be nice) would be a wise investment.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £46.98
Total : £109.27 (includes shipping : £10.25).



I don't know what budget you would have for parts so this is just to give you an idea.
 
Buy a new case mate.......cable management is non existant :(

Why is the case so bad? Your PSU is mounted at the top of the case. Hot air rises, the PSU is sucking all that hot air into it (direct from the CPU heatsink too i might add) and exhausting it out of the case. Modern cases have the PSU at the bottom of the case where the air is cooler and quite often there are vents at the bottom so the PSU fan can suck in cold air from outside.

You still need to test the PSU, I think you'll find some of the vault lies here, it been just slowly cooking itself to death in that case over the last 3 years. A new case and a PSU (modular would be nice) would be a wise investment.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £46.98
Total : £109.27 (includes shipping : £10.25).



I don't know what budget you would have for parts so this is just to give you an idea.


I understand what you mean, I should really have got some cable ties and sorted out the cables, but the case is actually fairly new, its the coolermaster elite 300? ( i think)
and i have only had it since last year some time, i understand what you mean about hot air rising, but when i touch the psu, its feeling cool, even while running the pc under load, doesn't feel like the air is rising to it,


I do understand where you're coming from though and if the PSU is the faulty part
I will be looking at modular ( this one has FOUR GPU pin cables, which are the thick red wires, about 10 black wrapped wires aswell, so you can imagine the MESS of wiring ive hidden in the floppy drive bay area)

I just completed a full burn in test for 15 minutes aswell the results made me laugh.

LOL.png


the warnings seem to be about my ssd, which only has a few things on, so I wasn't bothered about the whole BIT and errors

temps.png


events.png


Interestingly, the CPU and GPU performed a lot cooler than in an actual game, even though they allegedly used 100% of their processing.

BIT.png


anyway, it looks like I'm still without solid proof as to whether its the CPU needing new thermal paste, or the PSU being faulty, so am I to believe i should be getting one of these multimeters to actually test the psu, and also getting some more thermal paste to bring temps down?
 
I use CPUID Hardware monitor a lot of the time. Download that and try it. See what voltages and temps it reports.

If it is still showing a low voltage (10 rather than 12), then the PSU is looking very guilty. Yes you could buy a multimeter, if it shows the same as the software then you still need to cough up for a PSU.....you will wish you used that £10 or whatever to go towards the PSU then.

YOUR BASKET
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 530W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £66.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £65.99
1 x OCZ ZT 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £63.98
Total : £196.96 (includes shipping : FREE).



That's some suggestions for a modular PSU for a single GPU setup. The OCZ has a five year warranty too. If it doesn't cure the problem you end up with a new warranty and a spare PSU for testing in the future....not a complete fail is it really?

Your temps look better now. Intelburntest isnt great really, running for 15mins doesnt really tell you much at all. I do use it to quickly test overclocks, then move onto prime95 for finetuning.

Your temps whilst gaming were in the high 70s what are they now the overclock is gone?
 
I use CPUID Hardware monitor a lot of the time. Download that and try it. See what voltages and temps it reports.

If it is still showing a low voltage (10 rather than 12), then the PSU is looking very guilty. Yes you could buy a multimeter, if it shows the same as the software then you still need to cough up for a PSU.....you will wish you used that £10 or whatever to go towards the PSU then.

YOUR BASKET
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 530W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £66.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £65.99
1 x OCZ ZT 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £63.98
Total : £196.96 (includes shipping : FREE).



That's some suggestions for a modular PSU for a single GPU setup. The OCZ has a five year warranty too. If it doesn't cure the problem you end up with a new warranty and a spare PSU for testing in the future....not a complete fail is it really?

Your temps look better now. Intelburntest isn't great really, running for 15mins doesn't really tell you much at all. I do use it to quickly test overclocks, then move onto prime95 for fine-tuning.

Your temps whilst gaming were in the high 70s what are they now the overclock is gone?

hmm i hope i got the right program, its
CPUID.png

Yea maybe ill admit defeat and get a new psu and get some heat paste aswell, probably that 24 carat diamond stuff.

That temp is at 51 now which is weird, but earlier it was 80 while on guild wars, very weird as its dropped dramatically.

Overall the cmos reset SEEMS to have worked, It hasn't crashed since, im just gonna play black ops now (done my daily war in kryta quests) so hopefully that will force any shutdowns out as its a higher demanding game.
 
Temps seem fine in that CPUID shot as their on par with mine @29-33C, however my 6950's currently at 40C stock clocks & original bios idling and touched 85C when i caned it whilst it was unlocked and overclocked however i use MSI Afterburner and put fans on 60% (Not stupidly loud) and it doesnt go over 70C.

My 6950 has a thing for letting it heat itself to 80-90C and keep fans on 10% because it doesnt want me to hear it scream.... Cute... ;)

Anyways, ive got an Enermax Galaxy 1000W which is around 3-4 (maybe even 5) years old now (dont know age as i got it off ebay :P ) and it's never missed a beat... Everything looses power over time however usually 3 years wouldnt affect it much at all unless the capacitors had their fluid evaporate or any other components inside were damaged?

Not sure, im thinking PSU & Temps :P
But all the best & Good luck!
 
12V rail running at 8V?

doesn't look good to me, I would just replace the PSU first and don't waste any money elsewhere (on paste) until the voltages are right.
 
hmm i hope i got the right program.

Yea maybe ill admit defeat and get a new psu and get some heat paste aswell, probably that 24 carat diamond stuff.

That temp is at 51 now which is weird, but earlier it was 80 while on guild wars, very weird as its dropped dramatically.

Overall the cmos reset SEEMS to have worked, It hasn't crashed since, im just gonna play black ops now (done my daily war in kryta quests) so hopefully that will force any shutdowns out as its a higher demanding game.

Yes mate that's the right program. The reported 12V is still way low, does the BIOS give you readings for the voltages in realtime?

I'm sorry but it seems my gut feeling from the get go was right :( By all means test the PSU with a multimeter if you wish. I would love to be proven wrong.

I know it seems like it was the temps but I think it's a combination of both. Removing the overclock means the CPU isn't drawing as much power, so the "dying" PSU seems to be able to run the rig stable under load......i see it only getting worse over time till it gives up the ghost for good. I'm not saying it will take out components when it goes but I wouldn't want to risk it. I suggest you switch it off till you can replace the PSU.

A better case really wouldnt hurt and with a known good PSU we can help you get your overclock back.....hopefully higher than before as you have upgraded :)

YOUR BASKET
1 x OCZ ZT 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £63.98
1 x BitFenix Outlaw Gaming Case - Black £39.95
Total : £103.93 (includes shipping : FREE).



Cheaper than the Z9 and you can raid your old fans and fit them in this outlaw to beef up the cooling more. The layout is inverted so both the PSU and the heatsink are at the bottom of the case where it's coolest
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom