Got some PC problems just to let you all know

[Aces]

Hi chaps,

My PC has been on the way out for quite a while now (poor old thing has probably done more hours than in was ever designed to do) and recently it has gotten a lot worse. Keeps switching itself off during anything CPU-intensive which for me, sadly, is always modding, mod testing, movie-making and, once in a while, actually playing a game. I suspect a CPU overheating problem but, what with rising bills, mortgage and the onset of the Christmas season etc. there's simply no funds available (or on the forseeable horizon) to patch it up or, better still, replace it with something faster more shiny and new.

So, just to let you know, I'll be more than a bit hampered until I can get it sorted.

Cheers

Aces

[HundertzehnGustav]

okay.
Let me think...

Questions:

What computer is it? (Brand, Type + Model Number or Model code)

When did you get it?

When was the poor thing last disassembled for maintenance?

When last de-dusted?

Diagnostics - see if the CPU is on fire:
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

May be 5 minutes of work only...


Here is hope for a cheap and fast resolution of the situation by letting a Tech have a look at it.

[Aces]

Hiya,

Not really a model or brand, one built by a local shop that I usually get my PCs from.

It is nearly four years old.

It is quite frequently "disassembled" in-part, new graphics card, sound card, extra hard disk drive added within the last year.

Last dusted yesterday evening. brushed and hoovered out, all fans working, cleaned and hoovered.

My CPU temp, using SpeedFan gets up to about 66/68 degrees under duress, 3d games, 3d modelling, video compression and about 50 degress on idle. With an ambient room temp of about 23 degrees.

It's a quad core Intel 8300 2.5 GHz and an Asus P5ND motherboard with 4 GB RAM, GTX 550TI GPU, Soundblaster audio card, Windows 7 32-bit.

I used to build my own PCs right up to about 6 years ago but got tired of endless tweeking and assembling etc..

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try out thoase software links that you kindly posted.

Cheers

Aces

Originally Posted by HundertzehnGustav

okay.
Let me think...

Questions:

What computer is it? (Brand, Type + Model Number or Model code)

When did you get it?

When was the poor thing last disassembled for maintenance?

When last de-dusted?

Diagnostics - see if the CPU is on fire:
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

May be 5 minutes of work only...


Here is hope for a cheap and fast resolution of the situation by letting a Tech have a look at it.

[HundertzehnGustav]

If its not the temperature that shuts it down - the temps you post seem uncritical - , then the PSU might be the bottleneck and lose its capacity [over time... 4 years ...]


Cheapest thing i would go for is the renewal of the cooling paste on both CPU and GPU. Maybe its the 550 that is causing the shutdown signal. [i doubt it... usually they give off signs of overstress like pixels and funky artifacts... but i have not had a lot of dying graphics cards on my table dso far]


Take a look at it - or find yourself with a dead machine sometime soon in the future. Not something you need right now...?!

[brett25]

possibly voltage related? power supply may be failing and need replacing? Cheap Power supply always a very weak link in any computer

[Gerald]

Use this and test,http://www.lavalys.com/products/everest-pc-diagnostics/

[Aces]

Hi chaps,

Thanks for all the good advice. It could be a PSU problem I've replaced PSUs in the past okay, I'll have to hold off until well after Christmas to replace it if that is the problem. I'll also have a look at the CPU cooling fan replacement side of things although it could be a real PITA to fit. I tried the War Thunder open beta yesterday evening, was actually enjoying playing a game after so long, oh the irony! and it crashed out twice when the PC shut down, have the same problem with the X_COM demo. I rolled back my Nvidia drivers just in case the latest ones were causing problems but it didn't resolve the issue.

Cheers and thanks

Aces

[Jimbuna]

Quick fix wishes mate

[HundertzehnGustav]

starting a job on monday that will take me exactly there... burning computers and no fekking idea why.
love it - wish i could be there to take a look.

[GT182]

Aces, also go to liquid cooling. Corsair has the H-60 setup that will take care of CPU overheating issues. It's a sealed unit so you don't have to worry about leaks. I have one now and would never go back to just a fan to cool the CPU.

Shown here ins the H-60: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...5&Sku=C13-2527 And watch the video too, that's further down the page.

Good luck mate.

[brett25]

aces, one question are you getting a BSOD. Some people have their bios set so the computer shuts dowen on BSOD, rather than displaying the blue screen itslf with accompanying information. IF a BSOD condition, then you have a hardware conflict, driver issue, component malfunction, rather than CPU issue per se.

[Aces]

Hi chaps,

Thanks for the tip on liquid cooling that looks very interesting. I'm not getting any BSODs it just shuts down as if I'd held in the power button for 4 secs. It won't immeditely boot again until I've switched off the mains power at the socket, left it for about a couple of minutes or so and then it boots just fine. I did an un-install of all Nvidia "bloatware" such as 3D drivers, HD audio etc. and a fresh install of only the nvidia drivers and physx or whatever it is called. As the only two games that I can guarantee to cause it to crash, namely, the X-COM demo and War Thunder Open Beta both use Physx I wonder if this could be it, they both put a lot of stress on the CPU. Maybe, just maybe, it's is maxing out the cores. War thunder setup you can turn off Physx, not so sure about X-Com, I'll try that this evening. Only a guess though.

Thanks chaps, I want to investigate the software options first before having to resort to hardware options.


Cheers


Leigh (Aces)


Edit: I'm not sure if War Thunder does use PsyX, I need to have another look this evening but I know that X-com does.

[Jimbuna]

Sounds to me like the machine is overheating...I'd be checking the power supply unit.

[Aces]

Thanks Jim,

I checked the voltages last night and they all seem within tolerances, also checked and the PSU fan is clean and turning. Quite hard to record if there's a power failure or overheating problem with the CPU as there's no monitoring software for that. As it's a shutdown issue there's no crash dumps to examine with "who crashed" and the event viewer is also fine.

Cheers

Leigh

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Aces

Thanks Jim,

I checked the voltages last night and they all seem within tolerances, also checked and the PSU fan is clean and turning. Quite hard to record if there's a power failure or overheating problem with the CPU as there's no monitoring software for that. As it's a shutdown issue there's no crash dumps to examine with "who crashed" and the event viewer is also fine.

Cheers

Leigh

Have a look at this free piece of software Leigh:

http://download.cnet.com/PowwwerSoft...-10380594.html