Random and Complete Shutdown.

[mysticarcane]

Set-up

Evga NForce4 SLI mb (NF41)
AMD 64 3500+ Venice
Vanessa L-type cooler
Evga 7800gt 256mb
KuFormula Plus cooler
2GB DDR400
AeroCool 600w PS
Seagate 200GB SATA HD
Win XP Pro SP2

hhm.. let me know if I forgot something important...

So, here is the issue. It randomly shuts down. I tested the voltages from the PS(raw test, no loads on it.. but all voltages showed correct). I upgraded my BIOS to the latest, no problems with that, but it still continued to fail. Ran a Seagate 40gb IDE drive on it.. same issue. Temps all monitor within the normal range for my set-up(a little high, it tends to be warm in the room, but still far in the safe range). Did a full reformat of my System Partition and reinstalled the system, ran newest available drivers. Still crashed randomly. Sent my MB in on an RMA, they approved replacement. Now it runs mostly okay, but still shuts down completely from time to time...
It has shutdown running Oblivion, but never Half-life 2(and I run some pretty heavy mods on it), and never CIV 4 .. which I can tell you by far eats the most resources(commonly utilizes 100% CPU and up to 1.4gb of my RAM, again, I run some pretty advanced mods on it)...
I have to let the MB completely power down and restart. No unusual events in any of the Logs, and it has only once ran a chkdsk at restart.

At this point I am leaning towards it beinga PS issue, despite my tests because of the power reset needed before it will react, since I jsut replaced my MB, I am hesitant to believe I got a DOA with the same problem as my original MB.

Any Ideas? other tests i can run?

Thanks!

 

[debonairOne]

Stupid question, but I had this issue some years ago... Is your PS set for 115V or 210V? If it is set on the 210V option, this will happen... Sorry for the obvious, but other than that, I don't see why you would be having this problem... About how long after the system is running does it shut down...?



debonairOne

I look in the mirror and what do I see...

 

[wahnula]

Are there any errors in the Eventlog at shutdown? on Reboot?

Spontaneous reboots are 99% either heat or power related.

Try running with the case open and a fan blowing on the components. Have the fans been checked and cleaned? Blowing proper direction?

Did you use a quality thermal paste on the proccesor and distribute it evenly? Make a good conection between the cooler and CPU? Try running the stock cooler. Try another PSU.

Your machine seems to be 'going thermal', which is when parts expand and PSU power drops or becomes inconsistent.

Do you have a UPS and surge protector? You might have dirty power.

What almost always triggers the event? Is there a blue screen with error message? Right-click My Computer-> Properties -> Anvanced -> press 'Startup and Recovery" and under "Settings " check "Write event to System Log" and UN-CHECK "Automatically Restart" if the screen is too fast to read.

Then if you get a BSOD , WRITE DONW to entire message, then post & reasearch the error message. If you do not get a BSOD then it's thermal or power, which are independent of the OS.

Best of luck,

Tony

 

[mysticarcane]

Okay.. lets see..

debonairOne : definitly set at the correct voltage.

Tony: there are no errors in the Event Log, at either end of a power cycle. And after running through essentailly 3 different OS installs on 2 different HDs, I feel pretty safe its not OS related.

Fans are cleaned and blowing properly(I know I rambled, but I just replaced the mobo, so cleanend the whole machine). as far as moving air, I have a 1x120mm + 1x80mm intake fans and a 1x120mm exhaust fan + 80mm PS exhaust fan, and exhaust vent for my GPU.

Even when the temp in my room goes up to 30c I have maxed my temps(under heavy load for at least an hour) at ; cpu:50c , mobo:47c , HD: 38c , GPU: 55c.

I am running a APC 800 series UPS... I considered the possibility of that having issues as well, but I was hoping to be able to narrow it down... unfortunately I don't have the spare money to run out pickup a PS AND UPS that will handle my system... unless it is both going out.. but since I have plugged the computer itself at one point to an outlet indepedant of the UPS(cheap apartment, probably same circuit , but there is only so much I can do)... and had the same problem early on.

Thanks for throwing out the extra questions, any help to narrow it down is good.

Cheers!