[Help] Fucking computer turns itself off.

Yes, I am a lowly meber, but I implore you to help me as I know there are alot of tech minded people here on teedub.

My computer is really starting to fuck me off. It will randomly turn itself off/restart. Sometimes it will simply reboot, others it will turn off and won't turn back on unless I unplug it, wait a while and try again. It is a retail purchased machine, but I have made some mods, like adding a gig of RAM, new video card, new PSU and a couple of case fans.

My first guess was that this is a overheating problem, so I added a couple of rear exhaust fans. This seemed to solve the problem for a while. Then I added a new graphics card (7900 GTX), and the problem has reappeared. It most frequently (although not always) happens when playing games.

So, what I'm asking for is a list of possible causes to this fucking annoying problem and possible solutions.

*Insert obligatory sandpaper joke here

So let's see. You went from crashing -> more cooling -> no crashing -> more heat -> crashing again.


I wonder what you need to do.

leave your case open

So let's see. You went from crashing -> more cooling -> no crashing -> more heat -> crashing again.


I wonder what you need to do.


nailed it

Yep, heat problem...

If that isn't the prob, then maybe your PSU is being overloaded

If you want a quick fix to this problem, I suggest investing in a cheap-o $20 box fan and sit it right next to your open case. If you don't mind the noise, it works pretty well. :sunny:

leave your case open
:rolleyes: All that is going to do is raise the temperature of the offending equipment. Especially if you have a side fan or blowhole.


How about some temperatures RedMeat? Downlad motherboard monitor or a similar program and let us know. I'm not ready to go all gung ho and say it's temperature just yet, could still be a PSU problem.

:rolleyes: All that is going to do is raise the temperature of the offending equipment. Especially if you have a side fan or blowhole.What is your problem? Do you just go around TW looking for my posts so that you can contradict them, even when you have no basis for doing so? Do you remember what happened the last time we got into a 'discussion' about Partition Magic and you proved yourself (LITERALLY, it was YOU who proved yourself) to be completely wrong.

Leaving the case open does not increase the temperature of the offending equipment UNLESS he already has an efficient cooling setup, which he obviously DOES NOT or he wouldn't be having these problems in the first place. Furthermore, he indicated that it's a retail purchased computer, and last I checked, the overwhelming majority of "retail purchased" (HP, Dell, E-machines, etc.) computers DO NOT have side panel fans.

Admittedly, I should have gone a step further and told him to open his case AND direct a house fan into it, but I neglected to say so. Even with it just open though with no house fan, it should help in lowering temperatures.

Its your power supply. Ignore the flaming nerdfest above. I have had identical symptoms and have found them to be power related 90% of the time.

Leaving the case open does not increase the temperature of the offending equipment UNLESS he already has an efficient cooling setup, which he obviously DOES NOT or he wouldn't be having these problems in the first place. Furthermore, he indicated that it's a retail purchased computer, and last I checked, the overwhelming majority of "retail purchased" (HP, Dell, E-machines, etc.) computers DO NOT have side panel fans.


Most retail PC's have a very efficient cooling setup. Its when users get fan happy and start messing with airflow that you get heating issues. (case in point he added 2 exhaust fans without adding intake fan(s)).However, since the problem pre-existed before the makeshift cooling attempt, I would wager that we have a problem with one of the rails (im guessing 5 volt, as he is having troubles with VSB ((further evidenced by the machines refusal to reboot until the power is cut and re-established))

Most retail PC's have a very efficient cooling setup.Most retail PCs run warm and get the job done, but they certainly could not be considered 'very efficient' by any means.

Its when users get fan happy and start messing with airflow that you get heating issues. (case in point he added 2 exhaust fans without adding intake fan(s)).2 exhaust fans will have the effect of increasing negative pressure (vacuum) in his case. It's not the most ideal of setups, but it shouldn't cause overheating problems.

However, since the problem pre-existed before the makeshift cooling attempt, I would wager that we have a problem with one of the rails (im guessing 5 volt, as he is having troubles with VSB ((further evidenced by the machines refusal to reboot until the power is cut and re-established))I'm going to agree with you about it probably being power supply related, but the easiest and first thing he should do is eliminate cooling as a possibility, and the easiest and most direct way to do that is to open his case and direct a fan inside, and check the temperatures of the components using some software (if possible.)

Most retail PCs run warm and get the job done, but they certainly could not be considered 'very efficient' by any means.

2 exhaust fans will have the effect of increasing negative pressure (vacuum) in his case. It's not the most ideal of setups, but it shouldn't cause overheating problems.

I'm going to agree with you about it probably being power supply related, but the easiest and first thing he should do is eliminate cooling as a possibility, and the easiest and most direct way to do that is to open his case and direct a fan inside, and check the temperatures of the components using some software (if possible.)
Have you ever admitted in your life that you may not have the RIGHT answer every time?

Most retail PCs run warm and get the job done, but they certainly could not be considered 'very efficient' by any means.
No, youre right. Dell only makes a couple of million Pc's, im sure any thought put into cooling is cursory at best.

2 exhaust fans will have the effect of increasing negative pressure (vacuum) in his case. It's not the most ideal of setups, but it shouldn't cause overheating problems.
Ever done a smoke test on a negatively pressure confined area? With drive bays and other obstacles, it is very possible to raise system tempatures due to swirling.

I'm going to agree with you about it probably being power supply related, but the easiest and first thing he should do is eliminate cooling as a possibility, and the easiest and most direct way to do that is to open his case and direct a fan inside, and check the temperatures of the components using some software (if possible.)
Im done with the topic :D, which means youre eventual reply will reinforce the belief (in your mind) that you are once again, right, and retain your title as king nerd.

I admit I'm wrong on many occasions but people never seem to notice. Maybe it's just people having selective memories or (dare I say it) that I'm not wrong very frequently. Yes, it's even hard for ME to say that with a straight face because it makes me look like I have a gigantic ego (which is also mostly true.)

But saying that Dell has an efficient cooling setup just because they sell a lot of PCs isn't convincing at all. They have a sufficient cooling setup, but hardly any room for expansion.

Ever done a smoke test on a negatively pressure confined area? With drive bays and other obstacles, it is very possible to raise system tempatures due to swirling.No, I haven't done one. Have you? I was under the impression that positive pressure creates swirling, and negative pressure doesn't.

What is your problem? Do you just go around TW looking for my posts so that you can contradict them, even when you have no basis for doing so? Do you remember what happened the last time we got into a 'discussion' about Partition Magic and you proved yourself (LITERALLY, it was YOU who proved yourself) to be completely wrong.
Yeah, an argument over a program 8+ years old (and IIRC I started out by saying "I think"). But, as you always have to be instead of plainly stating your case, your ego has to go into overdrive over something pedantic. I can and will own you in any kind of general computer knowledge anyday. I've been doing it longer and I've worked with the absolute shit of shit computers so I know every conceivable bullshit thing that could go wrong, especially when it comes to hardware. So you can bring up how you "owned" me over Partition Magic to the end of your days, but I still know computers better than you.

Leaving the case open does not increase the temperature of the offending equipment UNLESS he already has an efficient cooling setup, which he obviously DOES NOT or he wouldn't be having these problems in the first place. Furthermore, he indicated that it's a retail purchased computer, and last I checked, the overwhelming majority of "retail purchased" (HP, Dell, E-machines, etc.) computers DO NOT have side panel fans.
Regardless of what you may think, PC manufacturers test many combinations of effective cooling to get the best results at the lowest price. Yes, they aren't going to go balls out, but their computers are designed to run quite optimally within the specifications and they spend a lot of time making sure that that is so. And you STILL make the assumption that it is a heat issue and not a PSU or possibly even a video card issue which is plain ignorant and the reason why you need to be called out because your advice is often subpar.

Admittedly, I should have gone a step further and told him to open his case AND direct a house fan into it, but I neglected to say so. Even with it just open though with no house fan, it should help in lowering temperatures.
No, it shouldn't. Cases are cases for a reason. They are designed to provide for airflow. If you remove the side of the case, there is ZERO AIRFLOW. ZERO. You completely negate any exhaust fans and any intake fans because it is just awash as there is no pressure of any kind and no air is going to go over the CPU or video card or anything. Although if it is a Dell, it probably has a hood over the CPU to an exhaust port, in which case it will make no difference for the CPU, but other components will suffer. Putting up a house fan next to the computer is not a realistic option and isn't even a last resort. Trying to make up now by saying that when/if you meant to say it in your first post does not make up for anything since it is still SHIT ADVICE.

Well, thanks for the advice guys (I think). The PC is an Acer T160, and believe me when I say that when I bought it, it had absolutely NO fans, excepting the heatsink fan. I got it for a good price, but I will be building my own PC's from now on and never buying another Acer.

I really doubt it is a power supply problem, I just put a new one in about a month ago. This one:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?hyp-4m530%20&P=1

I will check the BIOS voltage readings later and post them up.

I'm left with the option that it is a overheating problem, so I will install a front intake fan first. if this doesn't work, I'll try a side fan and then a new (better) heatsink (although I'm not at all confident about installing that).

As for temperatures, idle the CPU is reading approx. 38-40c. Still need to get some temps under load. I just downloaded and installed Speedfan and this has the nice option of turning up the speed on the CPU fan, so that could help.

The computer was on for over 5 hours today and it didn't do it once (my girlfriend uses it during the day while I'm at work), although having said that, it wasn't doing anything overly CPU intensive. Strangely, the problem seemed to resurface when i started playing COH, which I believe is quit a CPU intensive game?

Any more suggestions/advice greatly appreciated.

wtf's Hiper? Ok, add power problems to the list.


Still, check for overheating first. Best way is to take off the side of the case and put a table fan next to it.



Piece of advice: BIOS temp/voltage readings are approximate at best, if not completely off. If at all possible, measure stuff with a multimeter and/or thermometer yourself.

http://www.hipergroup.com/English/index.html

One thing I've learned is not to gimp it out on the PSU. It is an important piece of equipment to the reliability of your computer. GBP 40 sounds damn overpriced for some no-name brand too. As far as installing an intake fan, you said you installed two exhaust fans, so you may as well just take one of those and put it up in the front, assuming they are the same size.

Checking the BIOS voltage readings is unlikely to provide any useful information, because once again it matters what's going on under load. All of which motherboard monitor can monitor so I'd suggest you download it again. Each rail (ignore the negative rails as they are no longer used) should be within 5% tolerance. AKA the +12V should be giving no less than 11.4V or so.

As far as a new HSF, if it is the stock AMD (edit- I assumed AMD, a system spec list would be real nice) one, they are actually very good and is probably not your problem. If it does seem to point there, they've made it ridiculously easy to install a new one nowadays. 38-40C idle is definitely high, but certainly within reasonable boundaries. I believe AMDs should be stable up to around 65C or so.

As for COH, any video game is going to get the CPU up to 100% usage. The new video card is going to be drawing much more power and adding more heat going from idle to full than the CPU is. And, obviously, this is the only variable you mentioned from your original post when this instability started happening again. So we still have two main possibilities-heat or wattage/PSU instability. A regular fan with the side off would help in eliminating the heat possibility, but it's not 100% certain since the PSU may be cheapo and simply be getting too hot when under full load, which internal fans won't really do that much to help.

More input, please.

Ixiterra, thanks for your reply.

Now as far as I can tell, the PSU is decent, maybe not top of the line, but reasonable. I read reviews and researched before the purchase. The brand may not be as big in the States as in Europe, I dont know.

Fans: I have one 80mm fan mounted on the rear exhausting air, and an exhaust beneath the GPU carrying away hot air from that, should have made that clearer (it's a kind of ducted system exhaust). Only problem with install the intake fan at the front is that the case has a plastic fascia which makes the front difficult to get to and mount the fan on, but I'll figure that out.

I will use MBM again to monitor the voltages, although I'm not sure my Mobo is supported as it gives some crazy temp readouts (-117c cpu temp...). That said, it does seem to monitor voltages ok.

Still the stock AMD heatsink and fan.

I will try running the machine under load with the case side off and a fan blowing onto the CPU and GPU, see if this makes any difference. If not, a new PSU it is I suppose.

System specs:
Acer Aspire T160 (the motherboard is manufactured by Acer, I don't have the model number with me right now)
AMD Athlon 64 3400+
2048 GB DDR400 RAM
200 GB Seagate SATA HDD
Leadtek Winfast 7900 GTX

Thanks.