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...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7rPqCvCt0g

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


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...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7rPqCvCt0g

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 ...]
:hmm2:

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]
:hmm2:

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 :sunny:

[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/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7335485&Sku=C13-2527 And watch the video too, that's further down the page.

Good luck mate. :salute:

[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]

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-CPU-Monitor/3000-2072_4-10380594.html

[SquareSteelBar]

Maybe a 'cold solder joint' on circuit board of PSU? Check that.

[Aces]

Thanks Jim,

That looks very handy,

Cheers

Leigh

[HundertzehnGustav]

...interesting, both "who crashed" and "Powwwwwwwer".
It always pays to visit the subsim - you don't leave any dumber!
:D

Starting to bug me, this machine...

[Aces]

" Maybe a 'cold solder joint' on circuit board of PSU? Check that."

Thanks for that mate a good suggestion, I'll have a look.

"Whocrashed" is brilliant (and free) for BSODs/lockups caused by driver-related issues in particular uses Windows crash dump loging if it has been enabled. I've used it to diagnose some tricky things in the past such as problems with Realtek on-board audio drivers etc..

I think that I'll probably try and pickup a new PSU, as my rig could seriously do with it as it's been thrashed over the last four years :). Can't do any harm and if that doesn't solve the problem I'll start looking into the CPU isssue a bit more but the CPU never reaches 70 deg. C so I'm moving away from a heat issue. The video card never reaches extreme temps either and is still fairly new so maybe power is the first thing to check out. I upgraded my GPU from a GTX260 to a GTX550TI a while back, also added sa sound blaster card and a second hard disc so maybe it has put too much strain on an already "tired" psu. I'm thinking new circa 650W PSU might fit the bill with a bit to spare. Found some PSU wattage calculators around and, with all my gear, CPU, memory,GPU etc. they reckon about 450W would do but I think I'll go bigger.

Cheers

Leigh

[Gerald]

" Maybe a 'cold solder joint' on circuit board of PSU? Check that."

Thanks for that mate a good suggestion, I'll have a look.

"Whocrashed" is brilliant (and free) for BSODs/lockups caused by driver-related issues in particular uses Windows crash dump loging if it has been enabled. I've used it to diagnose some tricky things in the past such as problems with Realtek on-board audio drivers etc..

I think that I'll probably try and pickup a new PSU, as my rig could seriously do with it as it's been thrashed over the last four years :). Can't do any harm and if that doesn't solve the problem I'll start looking into the CPU isssue a bit more but the CPU never reaches 70 deg. C so I'm moving away from a heat issue. The video card never reaches extreme temps either and is still fairly new so maybe power is the first thing to check out. I upgraded my GPU from a GTX260 to a GTX550TI a while back, also added sa sound blaster card and a second hard disc so maybe it has put too much strain on an already "tired" psu. I'm thinking new circa 650W PSU might fit the bill with a bit to spare. Found some PSU wattage calculators around and, with all my gear, CPU, memory,GPU etc. they reckon about 450W would do but I think I'll go bigger.

Cheers

LeighLeigh! I'm sure this will dissolve as soon as it can, and you can continue your wonders,

Cheers Gerald

[Jimbuna]

I'm thinking new circa 650W PSU might fit the bill with a bit to spare. Found some PSU wattage calculators around and, with all my gear, CPU, memory,GPU etc. they reckon about 450W would do but I think I'll go bigger.

Cheers

Leigh

I'd suggest 650W as an absolute minimum for low to moderate systems these days....go 850 or higher (depending on available funds of course) if you can.

[Aces]

Hi chaps,

I bit the bullet and popped out lunchtime and got a new 650w PSU which I'll fit this evening. I just haven't got the funds to go for a bigger one right now. My rig is far from state-of-the-art so I think that a 650w will hopefully suffice although your point is a good one Jim. Either way it is a start to putting things right, I worked out very roughly that my PC does at the very least 40-50 hours a week and over four years that 8,000-10,000 plus hours so the poor old chap/chapesse (very PC "politically correct" there) :D could do with a well earned retirement so that it can see out its twilight years in the "Sunnyside Rest and Retirement Home for Senior PSUs" AKA my collection of knackered and/or obsolescent PC components, past and present :D

Cheers

Leigh

[Jimbuna]

May this be the beginning of the end to your computer woes http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/9425/praydl5rp5.gif

[Aces]

Hope so Jim, but, as Churchill famously said:

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

:D

Cheers

Leigh

[Gerald]

Hope so Jim, but, as Churchill famously said:

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

:D

Cheers

Leigh Good one,:salute:

[Jimbuna]

Hope so Jim, but, as Churchill famously said:

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

:D

Cheers

Leigh

Rgr that mate :sunny:

[HundertzehnGustav]

Spoken like someone from "the unsinkeable aircraft carrier"!!
rock on!:D

[HW3]

It sure sounds like the thermal protector in the PSU is culprit, since you have to shut off the main power switch and wait a few seconds before turning it back on.

[Aces]

Hi chaps,

I fitted the new PSU, a real PITA as I had to take about half the pc apart to get the main ATX power connectors on as the sockets were right under the drive bays but so far so good, the PC seems to be running about 10 degrees cooler and I ran the X-com demo without crashing. Too early to say but it certainly hasn't done any harm.

Cheers

Leigh

[Gerald]

Good news,:up:

[Aces]

Yup, thanks, so far so good just flew some intense online missions in War Thunder, very smooth no PC shut down and then the same thing with x-com. CPU temp maxed at 60 degrees where before it was getting uop toward 70 degrees and the PC was shutting down. Too early to say if it is the effect of a new cooling fan in the PSU or whether the PSU itself is running cooler but quite please with an evening's work so far.

Cheers

Leigh

[Jimbuna]

Hi chaps,

I fitted the new PSU, a real PITA as I had to take about half the pc apart to get the main ATX power connectors on as the sockets were right under the drive bays but so far so good, the PC seems to be running about 10 degrees cooler and I ran the X-com demo without crashing. Too early to say but it certainly hasn't done any harm.

Cheers

Leigh

Good news :sunny:

[GT182]

PowwwerSoft CPU Monitor works fine to check CPU temps. Good to hear the 650w PSU is helping too Leigh. I've been using a modular 600w PSU from Ultra X3 with no problems.

But when you can afford it, do get the H-60 liquid cooling unit. Much quieter than fan cooling alone, and more efficient. If you can find an H-50 that will be a bit less expensive. That's what I have right now and it works fine with my 2.81 i5 quadcore.

[Aces]

Thanks mate,

I do like the look of that unit, maybe in the new year I'll have a bit of free cash to spend on my PC. I've not done too bad this year revamping it , new GPU, second hard disk, windows 7, soundblaster card, new keyboard and HOTAS setup.

Cheer and thanks for the help and tips.

Leigh

[HW3]

The H50 is for Intel CPU's only. The H60 has a new version out for 2013, the fan has been redesigned to be more efficient and quieter too, and it works with both Intel and ADM CPU's.

:salute:

[Aces]

I noticed when using cpu-z that the value of tRAS in the SPD was 18 and the BIOS had auto set it to 31. Although this isn't a CPU issue, setting it manually to 18 in the BIOS has speeded up my PC significantly.

Cheers

Aces

[GT182]

I didn't know that about the H-50 Dave. Thanks for the info on it. And tell the guys I said hi.

I haven't used my Cougar or flown anything since last spring. As of now it's not even installed since my last reinstall of XP 3 weeks agao. Maybe one of these days......