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Gaunathor
Gaunathor
Join Date 04/2006
+170

I need some advice regarding a problem with my computer

October 7, 2012 12:11:10 PM from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

I was playing the new E:FE-beta yesterday and suddenly my computer was shutting itself off. This kept happening no matter what I was doing. Reading the forum, playing the game, once even during booting. This morning, the computer even refused to start. I tried it again a few hours later and it worked. However, I'm using my old (5+ years) PC until this problem is solved.

My main guess is, that there is something wrong with the PSU, but I'm not entirely sure. It's a Enermax Modu87+ 700W. I have it since a little under two years.

So, what do you guys think? Is it the PSU and, if yes, what would be a good replacement?

 

Not sure, if you need those, but my system-specs are:

CPU: Phenom II X6 1055T

Mainboard: Asus Crosshair V Formula

RAM: 16 GB (2x G-Skill Sniper)

Graphics: Sapphire HD Radeon 4350

Sound: Asus Xonar HDAV 1.3 Deluxe

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Gaunathor
DrJBHL
Join Date 04/2002
+4072
Reply #1 October 7, 2012 12:31:58 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

My main guess is, that there is something wrong with the PSU

Very well might be the problem. Could also be excessive dust/dirt causing graphic card or cpu overheating.

Open it up (unplugged and w/o battery) and take a look...

If you know someone with an electronics/pc store... swap out a PSU and test it. If not, and if it's under warranty... send it to the OEM or the OEM's designated repair facility after checking out what's covered and what isn't.

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Gaunathor
Gaunathor
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #2 October 7, 2012 1:41:02 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Quoting DrJBHL,
reply 1
Could also be excessive dust/dirt causing graphic card or cpu overheating.

The last time I cleaned the PC was just four months ago, but dust is collecting quite rapidly in my apartment (despite my efforts), so it is a good possibility.

Quoting DrJBHL,
reply 1
If you know someone with an electronics/pc store... swap out a PSU and test it. If not, and if it's under warranty... send it to the OEM or the OEM's designated repair facility after checking out what's covered and what isn't.

I'm not a people-person (to put it mildly), so this is out of the question. However, I could use the PSU of my old PC to test it. It's a 500W-model, so it should be strong enough. If this fails, too, the warranty for the PSU is still good for another two months.

Thanks! Tomorrow is going to be a long day. I let you know how it goes.

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Gaunathor
BlackSmokeDMax
Join Date 03/2006
+60
Reply #3 October 7, 2012 1:47:55 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

One other thing to check is to make sure any heat sinks/fans are firmly engaged with what they are cooling. I had an issue similar to this years ago, that turned out to be a heat sink that had just barely come loose from a chip (wasn't the CPU) on the motherboard.

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Gaunathor
Gaunathor
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #4 October 7, 2012 2:10:11 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Quoting Leo in WI,
reply 3
One other thing to check is to make sure any heat sinks/fans are firmly engaged with what they are cooling. I had an issue similar to this years ago, that turned out to be a heat sink that had just barely come loose from a chip (wasn't the CPU) on the motherboard.

Thanks, I'm going to check this, too! 

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Gaunathor
Wizard1956
Join Date 01/2008
+2202
Reply #5 October 7, 2012 2:11:43 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

The first and easiest thing to do would be to unplug the PC, remove the side and unplug every PSU connection one-at-a-time and reconnect them. Do both ends if the PSU is modular. Could just be a loose/dirty connection.

Next, download some temp monitoring apps and see what the temps are. Compare the readings to your specs.  Also, make sure all fans are running.

Are you using a surge protector/power strip? Check AC line-in connections as well.

I have an Enermax 600Watt that is at least 4 years old and still running strong. A failure in only 2 years would be uncommon.

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Gaunathor
yrag
Join Date 08/2001
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Reply #6 October 7, 2012 11:24:43 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Enermax's Warranty is 5 years and while it's 'failure' is unlikely, it's certainly not impossible. 

 

What your describing is a CPU overheat. (not sure what you mean by "...failed to start"). Boot into bios and see what the temp/fan reads after 5 minutes. If it shuts down, raises beyond 50c or your fan rate is erratic, put in a new fan and/or re-paste the processor.

 

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Gaunathor
RedneckDude
Join Date 04/2009
+2213 moderator
Reply #7 October 8, 2012 12:46:06 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Hey Yrag, good to see you. Will Duck tape work, if he has no paste?

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Gaunathor
harpo99999
Join Date 02/2008
+407
Reply #8 October 8, 2012 3:43:14 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

RND, no, duck tape will NOT work for fan/heatsinks, it is only good for motor vechiles and holding ducks onto motor vechiles.

and the correct type of paste is heatsink paste NOT food paste or any other type of paste.

harpo

 

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Gaunathor
Pupetier
Join Date 10/2009
+27
Reply #9 October 8, 2012 3:59:24 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

I had similar problem. It kept shutting down and restarting until finally it didn't start at all.

Me too I thought it was PSU. I send it to repair shop and they said one of the rails in PSU had a fault. They fixed it only for problem to opear all over again 2 days after repair was done. It turned out that "real" fault was on MOBO. Once I replaced it problem went away. I'm not sure If PSU problem damaged the MOBO or if there indeed was a problem with PSU at all.

MOBO was ASUS P6T deluxe (because of problems it had it is not in prioduction anymore)  and after sending it back I got word back with replacement that there was fault on hibernation feature of the MOBO.... They send me upgraded replacement for free but not a

So you might want to check MOBO as well.

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Gaunathor
WebGizmos
Join Date 09/2003
+735
Reply #10 October 8, 2012 6:08:35 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Gaunathor...listen to the Yrag guy up there...but whatever you do don't ask him anything personal...unless of course you actually like having guys in black suits showing up at your door in the middle of the night wanting to do strange things to you.

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Gaunathor
Jafo
Join Date 03/2001
+1820 sdemployee
Reply #11 October 8, 2012 8:00:23 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Quoting Greg30007,
reply 9
MOBO was ASUS P6T deluxe (because of problems it had it is not in prioduction anymore)

Problems it had?....like the fact it has been running on my machine non-stop for the past 4 years or so.  On average it is shutdown for about 7 days per year.

....never missed a beat.

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Gaunathor
Pupetier
Join Date 10/2009
+27
Reply #12 October 8, 2012 8:18:26 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting Jafo,
reply 12
Problems it had?

Well then you were the lucky one. 

According to them they had quite a few cases.... They send me P6X58D-E as a replacement which is upgrade to P6T and when I asked for same model that I had before they said it is discontinued.... I asked for same one because of where PCI-E slots on the board are and my case setup. 

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Gaunathor
Snowman
Join Date 03/2001
+343
Reply #13 October 8, 2012 8:18:37 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Quoting RedneckDude,
reply 7
Will Duck tape

Quoting harpo99999,
reply 8
duck tape

Duct tape....

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Gaunathor
Jafo
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #14 October 8, 2012 8:43:46 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Quoting Snowman,
reply 13
Duct tape....

No, Snow....it's duck tape....

You should know by now these Americans are just plain kinky.

They bind up their ducks before doing unspeakable things to them....with duck tape.

Then there's gaffer tape...... but that's only for when they run out of ducks.....

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Gaunathor
DrJBHL
Join Date 04/2002
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Reply #15 October 8, 2012 8:46:09 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Quoting Jafo,
reply 14
Then there's gaffer tape...... but that's only for when they run out of ducks.....

Wonder what one would use if one made a gaff with a duck? 

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Gaunathor
Jafo
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #16 October 8, 2012 8:50:32 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Quoting DrJBHL,
reply 15
Wonder what one would use if one made a gaff with a duck?

100 MPH tape.....

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Gaunathor
RedneckDude
Join Date 04/2009
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Reply #17 October 8, 2012 10:06:39 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Quoting Snowman,
reply 13
Quoting RedneckDude, reply 7Will Duck tape

Quoting harpo99999, reply 8duck tape

Duct tape....

If you're Yrag, it's Duck Tape. (See the avatar? He wrapped in the stuff!!) 

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Gaunathor
Gaunathor
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #18 October 8, 2012 10:13:31 AM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Quoting yrag,
reply 7
Enermax's Warranty is 5 years and while it's 'failure' is unlikely, it's certainly not impossible.

I totally forgot about Enermax's 5 years and was just going by the legal minimum of two year warranty. Thanks for reminding me. The PSU is currently in my old PC and seems to be working fine. We will see for how long. I'm starting to have my doubts, that it is truly the culprit.

Quoting yrag,
reply 7
What your describing is a CPU overheat. (not sure what you mean by "...failed to start"). Boot into bios and see what the temp/fan reads after 5 minutes. If it shuts down, raises beyond 50c or your fan rate is erratic, put in a new fan and/or re-paste the processor.

That is what I'm afraid of. I already lost a MoBo due to overheating a couple years back. What I meant with "failed to start" was, that the computer did not start when I pushed the power-button. The computer did start, when I tried it again a couple hours later.

I already removed the CPU-cooler this morning and noticed, that the paste was unequally distributed on the die. Also, the fans were dustier than I expected after this time. It really looks like overheating was the problem. Well, I already wanted to replace the CPU-cooler, so this is as good a time as any to do it. Maybe I should upgrade some of the other parts as well, while I'm at it.

Thanks guys, for all the suggestions and advice! I'll let you know what happens after the cooler arrives.

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Gaunathor
Gaunathor
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #19 October 8, 2012 11:03:12 AM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Well, I spoke to soon. My old PC just shut down.  The PSU really is the source of the problem. Maybe not the only one, but definitely a contributing factor.

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Gaunathor
LightStar
Join Date 12/2002
+1531 moderator
Reply #20 October 8, 2012 4:51:07 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Well, at least it's under warranty... good luck.

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