Computer turning of suddenly

adeckofhands · 17 Dec 2012 at 19:25

Hello Everyone,

I was hoping for a little bit of help diagnosing my malfunctioning computer.

The desktop PC is a self build that I have been using a gradually upgrading for years now. It's not the most powerful thing around but it still handles everything I can throw at it to my needs.

The problem I am having is that the computer seems to suddenly power down. So suddenly that the two options I can think of this being is a power issue or an overheating issue.

I ruled out OS trouble because the power downs even occurred in BIOS stages.

I can get the computer to turn on for short periods of time (anything from 5 minutes to hours) and the power off seems random. During one of these power ons I ran a heat monitor to try and detect what was overheating except nothing was very high (considering I was attempting to overheat it by playing games on higher than usual settings). In fact it lasted for surprisingly long playing the game. This ruled out overheating for me. (also did a touch test within the case, no surprises)

The next option is power problems but I have no idea where to start diagnosing that. I thought it could be the house power (recently moved and never happened before that) or a problem with my computer.

This is where I am asking for help, what suggestions do you have for diagnosing the problem. I am happy to replace the parts I need to, however randomly buying parts in the hope it will fix the PC would not be the best idea.

My spec is this:

Corsair Graphite 600T case
Intel Core 2 Duo 6750
Corsair HX520W PSU
2 * HDD
1 * SSD
Combination of different RAM
Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R Motherboard

As you can see this is a bit of a mismatched system, I can give more detailed specs if required.

Thank you for any help you can give, I appreciate it!

zakblood · 17 Dec 2012 at 20:03

does it work fine outside of the games, as if you push it to its limits ie max on the cpu and card, it can freeze or lock up

mickyflinn · 17 Dec 2012 at 20:12

Does the computer blue screen before power down?

adeckofhands · 17 Dec 2012 at 20:13

Thanks for the reply,
It works the same outside games, the failures just seem to be completely random, can turn off in the middle of a game or just sitting idling on the desktop.
I just tested it with games as I thought this would be the quickest and easiest way to diagnose overheating.

adeckofhands · 17 Dec 2012 at 20:17

mickyflinn said:
Does the computer blue screen before power down?

No, It is a power down like a power cut.
But then it sometimes attempts to turn itself back on a couple of seconds later.

MatsyLR · 17 Dec 2012 at 20:20

I had something similar happen to me a few month back.
My computer would randomly, without a obveous answer, turn off then a couple of seconds later turn back on. It happened anytime, sometimes after hours, sometimes after like 10min's.

Turns out my PSU connections where not in correctly, they where in but they weren't in the socket 100%, like when you tidy the cables and you do it too tight that the connections slightly come out at a angle so one side is ever so slightly more in that the other side.

Try reconnecting your PSU cables, you never know.

adeckofhands · 17 Dec 2012 at 20:30

MatsyLR said:
I had something similar happen to me a few month back.
My computer would randomly, without a obveous answer, turn off then a couple of seconds later turn back on. It happened anytime, sometimes after hours, sometimes after like 10min's.

Turns out my PSU connections where not in correctly, they where in but they weren't in the socket 100%, like when you tidy the cables and you do it too tight that the connections slightly come out at a angle so one side is ever so slightly more in that the other side.

Try reconnecting your PSU cables, you never know.

Thanks, I gave the cables a quick once over but that didn't help, I will disconnect and reconnect everything again to be sure.

bertles86 · 17 Dec 2012 at 20:57

Test with a mates power supply.

covenantuk · 18 Dec 2012 at 07:49

I had exactly the same issue which slowly got worse. Turned out to be a faulty PSU dropping power to the two 4-pin plugs supplying the CPU. Eventually it failed completely.

I'd order a new PSU and try it. Connect it up without installing in the case - you can always DSR it if it doesn't work.

x22dan · 18 Dec 2012 at 08:20

i've had a similar problem to this in the past.

Make sure your cpu is seated correctly and also check all the power cables are plugged in fully.

Lemin · 18 Dec 2012 at 09:40

Run memtest86, and test with another psu.

edit, i had same problem, psu was full of dust !!

rankftw · 18 Dec 2012 at 13:21

You mention that you recently moved so maybe something got knocked loose while in transit, might be worth stripping the PC down and building it back up again. I also had a very similar problem last year and that too turned out to be a faulty PSU, got a new one and the problem was solved.

JollyJ · 18 Dec 2012 at 14:21

Go into event viewer and check the logs for any critical errors prior to the crash.

4T5 · 18 Dec 2012 at 14:24

Take the side of your case off & grab the wires at the back of your power button & give them a good shake & see if it switches off your system.
I had this on an old case found it by accident & an easy thing for you to check as you did say you've had the case a while.