PC randomly switches off

Here's the problem:

My system keeps switching off intermittently. When I boot into Windows XP and leave the system running idle, it will stay powered up. As soon as I try to do anything it just dies...

Example of crashes are; running games (it will power off while trying to load it), running a system scan, running Glary Utilities etc.

If the system dies, when I try to boot it back up again sometimes it will die just after post before the OS loads up. So I have to leave it 5 mins or so before trying again.

Here's my hardware:

Asus Striker Extreme mobo
Intel core 2 duo 2.33ghz
4gb ddr2 ram
Radeon HD5450 2gb
Generic 480w PSU

I have XP SP3 installed on an IDE Maxtor which is crunching and grinding like hell and very sluggish. I have another drive which is SATA

Here's what I've tried:

I've replaced the PSU. I have also replaced the GPU and upgraded it as the previous one's fan went pop and it was heating up to 115 degrees c.

I've removed the CPU heatsink and slathered on some more thermal compound. (about an hour ago)

I'm really at a loss (but that wouldn't be hard for me rolleyes )

I was wondering if the issue was the gimpy HDD? I'd quite like to launch it out my bedroom window right now

 

Oh yeah, another thing I noticed was; after I installed the new GPU it took about 30 seconds to actually post :confused

30 mins after putting the thermal compound on it went back to posting immediately. I don't know if it's related or not. Hating this system right now.

I also don't have any parts laying around that I can swap out to test it (apart from my scudded GPU)

 

you say you put some more termal paste on... did you clean the old stuff up first AND use the correct amount???

Have you verified any temperatures at all??

 

Yep, I cleaned up the old stuff with a cotton bud and some ipa. I'll be honest though, I'm not really sure if I've used the correct amount. I only had a little left in the tube. About a pea sized amount and I used it all. Not sure if that's too little or too much.

I've tried to get CPU temp readings but the system keeps shutting down when I try to d/l and run the program.

I've been reading in another thread with similar issues and noticed a link to CoreTemp, so that's the one I've been trying to run.

Will keep trying though. Letting it sit for maybe 10 mins before powering back up again. Hopefully will get a reading before it pops on me again

 

if your struggling that much try getting a desk fan to blow inside the PC to help keep it cool... if this makes a difference you'll soon know if its a heat issue

And from the amount you stated it may not be enough but CPUs can vary in size... you should have a good coating so its sandwiched but not that its oozing off the sides when clamped down..

 

do be carefull you don't cook the CPU though obviously...

 

This is so frustrating. I still can't get my PC to run long enough to get a reading.

I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet and go get myself a new mobo + cpu. I suppose I've had good use out of the system. It must be 5 or 6 years since I built it, lol.

It's going to niggle away at me though. I'm just glad it hasn't happened at a certain time of the month or it would have been lying in microscopic bits by now.

I really appreciate all your help. I think though, that without parts to swap over, I'm pretty much buggered.

 

Does your BIOS have any temperature read outs?

Are the fans going like mad?

For the cost of some thermal paste and the fact it no longer runs long enough to do anything since you changed the paste i would suggest another go?

Just get it fixed before "that time of the month" lol

 

You could try it in safemode with networking too as that loads very little at start up so may not stress the CPU too much...

 

Well... it looks like it's the CPU. Finally managed to get it up long enough to go into the BIOS and monitor the temps... 120 degrees c is what it managed to get to before it clapped out. Oops rolleyes

I'm wondering if it has anything to do with my heatsink, and 2 fans looking like they have the contents of a tramps sock in them? I hope so, lol. Would certainly save me a penny or two. And if it is then this should teach me a lesson in keeping my PC clean, heh

 

Re: PC randomly switches off(Fixed)

Right, problem solved.

Stripped everything down and gave a good clean, cleaned up the thermal compound I applied last night and re-applied some arctic silver.. ta daaa! CPU is now idling at 50c and when in use is going to around 69c.

Is this still too hot? Should I be aiming at some additional cooling? Haven't tried gaming yet but it's just WoW and EvE I play anyway

 

Ahh brilliant news!

The temps are on the higer end, much more then i would look at a different cooler but if your not having any problems your fine. If the fans keep going like crazy and you have another shut down then you'll probably have to look at a better cooler especially if your overclocked?!

And yes naughty you for not keep your cooling components clean! Chances are the cpu cooked the thermal paste which started your problems

I would say in future, every 6 months give your cooling a spring clean and don't forget your case fans!

 

How do you know if it's oozing out of the side ? my CPU package is about 1 cm x 1 cm and my heatsink is about 7 cm x 7 cm, so to have it oozing visibly out of the edge I'd have to had a heck of lot...I've frequently wondered about this problem, and other than one video I saw which suggested a trial run with your best guess as to the amount of heatsink coumpound and removing the heatsink again to have a look at the spreading, I don't know. I also saw one video where conveniently there did not appear to any heatsink compound involved.

People seem to favour Arctic silver 5 heatsink compound for CPUs. There are many heatsink compounds around, is this really superior ? There are no numbers for thermal conductivity that I have seen. Any comments ?

-> SarahMichelle: It's also a good idea to clean out any dust that may have accumulated in the heatsink between the fins while you have it dissembled from the processor.

Dumb_Question
01.October.2011

Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (2.7GHz celeron) - MSI MS-6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3

 

AS 5 is generally recognized as the best but I've had no issues with say something like CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ compound either. Cleaning the surfaces to shiny with ipa(%70 at least and lint free cloth) along with a long grain rice dab of compound is enough. More is not better here. It can take a day before the stuff spreads properly with the heat.

Erm read above. You should be at 35C at max for idle. It's not a peanut butter sandwich.

 

Thank you for this comment. I had heard that it easy to get too much h/s compound. There is a ref to youtube video in one he threads I started (you might have posted that link Augie...), which makes reference to a pea sized glob, and to pre spread it on the
CPU package, thinly and uniformly. I have never used h/s compound for anything, so I don't have any practical experience of it. It might be better to have it thicker in the middle because I guess that would help avoid voids.

Thanks for the info that CPU idle temp should be about 35; I also wonder what your fan fan is doing under these conditions ?

Dumb_Question
01.October.2011

Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (2.7GHz celeron) - MSI MS-6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3