Old system shutting down.

BUDFORCE · 17 Mar 2023 at 07:55

Hello,

After opinions.

I've not tried anything yet, just trying to think what it could be and if it's even worth bothering.

I have an old PC I use under the TV to watch YouTube/netflix etc.

It's based off old/donated parts and is a sandybridge i5 2500k cpu, Asus P87Z motherboard, ram no idea, I think...... A lower end 600w Corsair PSU probably 10 years old, and a Nvidia 960.

Recently it has been just shutting off, so literally just turns off out of the blue then restarts straight away.

Seems to be intermittent but getting more frequent, did it after 5 minutes just now.

Am wondering if it's the PSU but I don't have a spare to swap.

Also wondering if it's worth bothering Vs just replacing the PSU motherboard CPU and ram completely, I'd be looking at new parts but low end, something with an inbuilt CPU/GPU would be perfect as I literally just use it to stream 1080p.

BUDFORCE · 17 Mar 2023 at 10:21

There she is, it's actually an OCZ 600w PSU and that guy is old, 10+ years, heading towards 15 I guess.

Checking temps, I think the motherboard thermometers are broken as some state min/max 127c, others 4c which just isn't possible.

GPU temps are very mild, only just touching 50c and CPU temp after 20 minutes of YouTube high 60's.

Mcnumpty2323 · 17 Mar 2023 at 16:56

Certainly been a very long time
Since ocz made psus
When was last time the thermal paste was changed?
60s isn't too bad anyway though bit high for just youtube possibly
And yeah might be psu
Or might be motherboard
Or might be cpu or ram etc
I would probably run memtest And repaste cpu
If doesn't help would try a new psu since even if in the end
You do replace it
You will be buying a new psu anyway rather than reuse that ocz
On brand new components

Cyber-Mav · 21 Mar 2023 at 22:52

i had a system once that kept shutting down, turned out it was shutting down due to temps. but from the pics you got it doesnt look like you had the same issue as me:

BUDFORCE · 1 Apr 2023 at 13:23

Ok update and solution if anyone is interested.

I was monitoring temps and seems ok as reported above, but I left HW monitor running over several sessions, and one of the times noticed the CPU was hitting 95c!

I also then realised that someone had shoved a mobile phone screen protector box down by the side of the case which was blocking the case intake fan.....

Pretty certain now it was thermal cut out.

Anyway, when I put the pc together I was a bit over cautious with the size of the CPU cooler, so set my 16 year old son to research a different one as there was actually a bit more space.

He chose a noctua low profile but as you can see from the pictures a fair chunk larger, and actually quite a good fit given those cables coming out the back of the drives.

Anyway got him to change it over, and seems to be working fine now.

Cyber-Mav · 2 Apr 2023 at 07:27

That should sort out any heat issues

Quartz · 2 Apr 2023 at 07:37

I think you should move those cables away from the CPU fan. You don't want them drooping and getting cut.

BUDFORCE · 12 Apr 2023 at 10:27

Well.

I thought that had fixed it, but no.......

Was working fine for weeks, fired it up last night (after it had been working earlier fine) and nothing, tried to boot for a few seconds, then shuts down, then blips on for a fraction of a second, off for about 30 seconds, then the cycle repeats.

Pulled the case out, took the graphics card out to get to the bios battery, took that out and let it drain for 15 minutes, replaced all, fired back back up working.

Put it back under the TV where it lives, and boom same issue......

Took it out, repeated bios battery out, fires up. Tried retarting it a few times etc, all fine.

Put it back, same problem.

I then though it may be a shorting issue puting the case lid back on etc, but no, put it all back together, including the case, everything, and working fine. I also replaced the bios battery with a new one, just in case. Turned off, restarted etc, completely fine.

So, tried to test something, pulled the PSU cable out for a few minutes, replaced cable, and then boom, problem back.

Repeated the bios battery out, put it all back together, made sure to keep the PSU cable in, put it back under the TV and boom, issue is back.

What the hell?

BUDFORCE · 12 Apr 2023 at 12:35

Ok further update, got it working, I suspect that the time when I tried to put it back under the TV the PSU cable may have come loose. I am relatively confident however, that if the power supply is disconnected, it'll revert back into the bootloop/boot issue, with the only way to fix it being to completly drain the bios.

For now that is ok, as it'll stay plugged in and connected but I guess is there is a power cut it could break again, have to wait and see.

Really odd one though.

Have to keep an eye on it, although I fear I am heading towards needing to replace the PSU (first), and probably the CPU/RAM/motherboard as well, if that doesn't resolve it.

OnionTerror · 12 Apr 2023 at 16:18

Try swapping the bios battery for a new one. It's at the age where it's probably near enough dead if it hasn't been changed already and it can cause all manner of weird issues.

BUDFORCE · 12 Apr 2023 at 18:32

OnionTerror said:
Try swapping the bios battery for a new one. It's at the age where it's probably near enough dead if it hasn't been changed already and it can cause all manner of weird issues.

Yea thanks, did replace the battery already.

100% now, if the power supply is disconnected it'll break it.

As posted above, I was a bit like oh well, as long as I keep it plugged in and on, ******* typical first day we get a power cut and sure enough broken it again.