new computer turning off...

[pogoman]

ok i finally got my new computer and managed to get it going and formatted it but upon reboot it started turning off randomly, sometimes even while in the bios. theres no beeping so i know its not a ram problem and i disconnected everything that wasnt essential so that its basically just the motherboard and cpu plugged in. the longer i leave the computer off the longer it runs for before turning itself off so ive tentatively decided that the cpu is at fault. when i put the cpu in the heatsink had some little strips of heat sink paste on it which i thought would be sufficient, but it wasnt covering the entire surface that touches the processing unit.
i was wondering if anyone with experience in putting together computers could tell me whether this problem sounds like the cpu is overheating, whether i need more heatsink paste and also whether i may have damaged my cpu by not having enough on?

[daveee]

Make sure all the retention clips are pushing completely in for the heatsink, it might be loose.

If you leave it off for longer and it stays on for longer it sounds very much like a heat issue.

Maybe buy some AS5 and use that instead of the standard thermal strips.

[Wokeye]

Yeah mine did this when I rebuilt not so long back (gigabyte P35 mobo). Mine seemed to be a number of factors. Eventually fixed it by:
- re-seating all ram sticks + PCI-E cards.
- If you can, get TAT and check CPU temps upon startup. check they are OK. If not, re-seat CPU heatsink + new thermal paste
- do test on both RAM sticks separately
- update bios revision

If it still crashes randomly upon windows startup (as mine did)
- reinstall windows;
- fiddle with drivers, esp graphics driver versions.

[pogoman]

thanks for quick response. apparently that AS5 is the best stuff out there for it so i might give that a try, i just hope its not too late. would the computer turning off mean its reaching a failsafe temperature or does it mean its imediately overheating and causing damage? cause ive been turning on and off my computer tonnes :S

EDIT: just saw Wokeyes post. yeah my motherboards from the p35 series too. pretty sure the rams fine and everything else as ive ran the computer with nothing else in it and the computer still turns off (although i needed one stick of ram in there it was fresh outta the box new and securely in). im going with the cpu for starters and ill see if that fixes it although it my be permanently damaged.

[Wokeye]

Once I got solid ram, my P35-DQ6 loved the Bios revision. I reckon that solved 50% of my random crashing issues. Bit risky to pull off, though, if your machine is unstable due to other hardware. I found running one RAM stick, no peripherals and minimal windows let me set up the gigabyte revision disk OK and it ran the revision pretty quick. Mostly it was a USB issue that the bios revision fixed.

The rest was my fault (tried to just swap in my windows HDD rather than running a reinstall - naive, lazy and FAIL) and nVidia's - stupid latest driver didn't like being installed first...or was it last? :(

[daveee]

Another thought, it could be the bios version. What CPU are you running? E8*** or E6***/Q6*** ?

[pogoman]

E6750

[daveee]

Then I can only assume its a heat issue.

It shouldn't damage the CPU, they shut down at a certain temperature to stop damage. Try re-seat the HSF, and if you get AS5 you only need to apply about the size of a grain of rice to the center of the CPU.

[Wokeye]

Should be some sort of alarm in the Bios you can set to beep/alert you if the CPU gets too hot I think...

[pogoman]

yeah im gonna head off in an hour to get some AS5. im not gonna bother with reseating cause at the moment the heatsink has pretty much no paste on it as i tried to spread it but it just peeled off, so its even worse than before. i'll post later if it works anyway, thanks for the help guys :)

[Uncle_Darth]

Pretty sure it will be a heat issue but you could check the power supply - its it large enough for all the additions?
Are you connecting all the power into the motherboard that are needed.
Ie 24pin connector, 6 pin for graphics (if there) etc etc

Bios can sometimes do it but if you have manamged to install windows then it was stable for a little while at least.
Check the bios setting for temp on the CPU - be aware that there is an issue with gigabyte bios's at the moment that dont read temp correctly. But if it shows the CPU is around 60 then its definitely heat

[pogoman]

yeah the 24 pin is in and the graphics has the external power plugged in.
the case i bought is the antec sonata 3 which comes with a 500W power supply, and antec is a good brand so its a good PSU. i also thought it was wierd about windows, but it never got to fully installing all the drivers and everything. i managed to format my hard drive and then it copied over some windows set up files which overall took about 2 hrs. then upon the restart the computer started turning off, maybe the cpu wasnt being used as much before or something and so wasnt overheating.

[CDN-SMOKEJUMPER]

The idea of trying to fiddle with my bios makes me cringe with fear and almost wet myself.......

I have so much to learn.

[pogoman]

ok i took a leap and reseated the heatsink as davee said even with the dodgily small amounts of thermal paste remaining on it and things seem to be working again. unfortunately the surface of the heatsink is now only about 60% covered when i think it should be fully covered, so im still gonna get the paste just in case. windows xp is now also fooked so i have to reformat (yay!)

[1rankman]

my new motherbored has a back up bios which is cool
check all the chip are in as some times they can come out over time with improper cooling

[Wokeye]

...copied over some windows set up files which overall took about 2 hrs.

Nooooooooo! I'd a total and utter windows reinstall then if those few hardware things don't work.

Also, Antec PSUs have developed a reputation for being flakey lately. Don't discount a possible dodgy PSU based on Antec branding. My Smartpower 500W had two DOAs and appears to have gone again after not being used for a few months. Dodgy workmanship.

[Psyrus]

Yep, sounds like one of your SKT 775 mounting pins wasn't pushed in properly. Happens a lot during first builds, or when you don't know to look out for it. Sometimes they're a real pain and you feel like you're going to break the motherboard before the pin goes in... but it'll always [I think] give in before the motherboard does. To test, you shouldn't be able to wiggle any of the pins, they should be all perfectly tight. Usually one is wobbly, and that'll give you an indication of improper mounting.

If you've changed motherboards, a compelte windows reinstall (format -> Install) is recommended due to the huge number of chipset & software drivers that will need to be changed... the conflicts sometimes cause BSODs like when I changed my server hardware and was too lazy... wouldn't even boot up :).

Arctic silver 5 is great, and the compliment cleaning tools Articlean are gimmicky but I find them very useful, and they smell like lemons :D. So when you get the AS5 do a full clean of both surfaces until they look like new, then put a thin line of AS5 down the middle of the CPU, and try to get the HSF mounting correct the first time, as to avoid air bubbles.

[Shotgun]

ahh dam, my computer used to crash every time i plugged the wirless moduel into it

[pogoman]

yeah it was definitely the mounting pins. now that everythings *seemingly* working ive done a bad thing and not bothered with getting the AS5, so i hope im not causing any damage although im banking on the cpu to turn itself off if things get too hot again heh. unfortunately i cant find 1 of my bf2 cds so i can't install bf2 and play PR. :( i tried copying over the battlefield 2 directory from my other computer but whenever i try to join a server the game crashes, although local games work fine.

EDIT:thats cause i forgot the registry entries. it now works :)

[Psyrus]

yeah it was definitely the mounting pins. now that everythings *seemingly* working ive done a bad thing and not bothered with getting the AS5, so i hope im not causing any damage although im banking on the cpu to turn itself off if things get too hot again heh.

I'd give it a little stress test before you go crazy on gaming:

Prime95 stress test: http://www.freewarefiles.co m/prime-v_program_19638.html

Coretemp temperature monitor: http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/CoreTemp.zip

Make sure your core temperatures aren't exceeding about 65 degrees while running Prime95 Torture test (Blend).

[Shotgun]

I'd give it a little stress test before you go crazy on gaming:

Prime95 stress test: http://www.freewarefiles.co m/prime-v_program_19638.html

Coretemp temperature monitor: http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/CoreTemp.zip

Make sure your core temperatures aren't exceeding about 65 degrees while running Prime95 Torture test (Blend).


ahh good ol Psyrus allways makin every1 download stuff to torture their PC :D

[Psyrus]

Heh, well here's what you're looking for:

http://i235.photobucket.com /albums/ee94/psyrus_uraya/cpu-temp-example.gif

[pogoman]

ok cool thanks for the tests. i let it go for about 5 minutes and it didnt go above 57 degrees :)

[KllrKirk]

Make sure all the retention clips are pushing completely in for the heatsink, it might be loose.

If you leave it off for longer and it stays on for longer it sounds very much like a heat issue.

Maybe buy some AS5 and use that instead of the standard thermal strips.


I remember having a similair issue when i built my computer....i hadn't made sure the clips were in for the fan over the cpu. all cause i didnt want to be too rough with it.