Why does my computer lock up when I open the window at night?

Ken · 29 Nov 2006 at 13:43

Hi

I like to sleep with my window open and so every night I open the window but wake up to see that my computer has locked up. The screen freezes and the keyboard and mouse are unusable. If music was being played it would loop like a broken record. Only way to get back into windows is to switch off the PSU at the back and then back on again then hitting power. If I don't switch off the PSU and just reset, it comes up with "No disk found" during POST...something like that anyway.

This computer has run stable for weeks and months over summer so I'm beginning to suspect that the chilly weather at night causes it to crash...well any significant change in temperature. I can also make it lock up by turning up all the fans from 7V to 12V.

Any idea how to solve this?
Specs here...
http://www.theunderground.eclipse.co.uk/rigs.html (System 1)

Thanks in advance!

J.B · 29 Nov 2006 at 13:48

When you say if you turn the fans right up it suggests that the psu is not powerful enough. Which of those three specs is the right one?

Have you tried sleeping with the window shut to see what happens?

Ken · 29 Nov 2006 at 13:49

Enermax Noisetaker 600W - surely more than enough power?

Edit - both Hitachis are not plugged in.

J.B · 29 Nov 2006 at 13:51

interesting..... when u turn the fans up, how long does it take to lock up?

Ken · 29 Nov 2006 at 14:00

Could be a few minutes...could be a few hours but I know for sure that it will crash if I do turn them up.

I've looked into "random crashing" through Google and the most popular answers is to turn off nvidia firewall and that nForce 4 motherboards don't like old Soundblaster cards. I've never turned on the firewall and have also tried using onboard sound instead.

A month ago, I went away on holiday but left the computer on (Folding@Home). The window was never open and when I returned ten days after, it was still running fine.

:confused:

Thanks.

sprognak · 29 Nov 2006 at 14:06

Run Memtest86 overnight. That'll give you a clue if it's hardware or software. If that passes move onto bootable drive diagnostic utilities. Basically you want to stress test the system without running the OS.

Could be something as simple as poor contact between the HSF and CPU. The colder air from outside will shrink the metal very very slightly on the HSF and possibly contact will break resulting in instability/lockups. It's almost unheard of, but I'd go with the diagnostics before wildly speculating like I just did!

Edit - another wild speculation could be if the outside air is too cold, you could be getting condensation in the PSU or system itself.

J.B · 29 Nov 2006 at 14:10

as above, probably best to test the ram. maybe check for driver updates. guess it could be getting to cold, you must have some good cooling in it if that is the case!

maybe try removing any sound cards and disabling the onboard stuff just to see and eliminate it from the equation

Ken · 29 Nov 2006 at 14:19

This behaviour is very odd but your speculations might be true as I have tried pretty much everything except the obvious Memtest86.

I tried some Geil Value RAM too but it still occured so I will run Memtest86 overnight tonight. I'll report back tomorrow.

I also took out the soundcard and disabled onboard sound back in the summer when I was overclocking and messing around with fan speeds but it still occured. Everything is cooled by air by the way and the idle temperature of the CPU around 44C.

Cheers guys.

PARUK · 29 Nov 2006 at 16:37

One other "clutching at straws" option: are your fans running directly off the psu, or off the mobo headers? If the latter, try switching to the psu just in case the mobo's own power regulation is suspect.