PC randomly shuts down then wont boot

Dominik Rukavina · Jul 31, 2013

Hi guys, ive had this PC for about 2-3 years and its been running fine till lets say 6months ago. It started randomly freezing and shutting down until one day it didn't want to boot at all. Then i went to some PC service and they said its graphics card prob and its dead. So i replaced old ATI radeon HD 3600 with VTX radeon HD 5450 . It was running fine for a few days. Maxing out CoD MW2 and Dota 2 then it started freezing and then it started to randomly shut down again. Now when it shuts down i have to reseat everything and after a few hours it boots fine. Prob is i play Dota 2 for eg. and it is good for sometimes 4 hours even then sometimes when i boot it, it shuts off when OS loads. Sometimes PC runs very slow and it freezes every few sec. and sometimes its ok(i cleaned registry and tried to free up RAM) If u can help me i would greatly appreciate it tnx!

PC specs: AMD ATHLON 64 5000+ dual core 2.4 Ghz, 2GB ram, vtx radeon hd 5450, biostar mcp6p m2 mobo , 400W power supply, windows 7 ultimate

chulex67 · Jul 31, 2013

Well first of all it shouldnt be pretty fast in windows 7 compared to the hardware of these days, are you getting a blue screen or an error?
If your computer is freezing it could be because its getting hot, are all your fans working? have you cleaned the dust?

Dominik Rukavina · Jul 31, 2013

Currently im not getting any errors or blue screens, i have cleaned the dust and all fans are working well regardless of succesful boot or not.

ktolo · Jul 31, 2013

Download SpeedFan - and check what temps you're getting. Sounds like overheating to me too!

Onus · Jul 31, 2013

This sounds to me like a PSU problem. Capacitor aging may have done it in, and/or it was low-quality to begin with. Heated or stressed, it is wandering out of spec, causing your system to crash.
What brand and model (not just wattage) is it?
Caution: If this is indeed the case, the wandering out of spec and/or noise and ripple could be incrementally damaging your system.

chulex67 · Jul 31, 2013

umm, 2 years....I think.. the cpu thermal paste is wearing out.... check the temps with SpeedFan as Ktolo said and tell us the temps with MW2 opened in a multiplayer or a heavy load scenario.

Dominik Rukavina · Jul 31, 2013

I downloaded it but i can't boot this stubborn machine it goes to Welcome screen

( but i recall that when i looked at SpeedFan readings it did have two components showing that fire icon saying the temp is 127 of something( not sure if fah. Or cel.)

chulex67 · Jul 31, 2013

Actually Onus answer is more possible than thermal paste wearing out and high temps. you should try both, but first begin by trying a new psu.
Also you could tell us what psu brand and model is yours

chulex67 · Jul 31, 2013

Wait, You can boot your pc to the welcome screen but then it dosent do anything? it just stays there?

Dominik Rukavina · Jul 31, 2013

It goes to welcome screen and shuts off

my psu is some pretty low quality id say(LC Power) model LC500H-12 v2.2

ktolo · Jul 31, 2013

Does your BIOS have a HW Monitor? It should give Temp readings in there-- 127° reading you got in SpeedFan would NOT be C° - your CPU would literally blow up at that temp!!
Try and see how hot it is in the BIOS immediately after a shutdown.

Onus · Jul 31, 2013

LC-Power...cheap Chinese junk. Please replace it before it kills. Your system doesn't need high wattage (a 300W Seasonic would do just fine), but it does need higher quality. Where are you, or where can you buy components?

Dominik Rukavina · Jul 31, 2013

There is a store near me but all they got is coolermaster, chieftec and antec are those any good?

Onus · Jul 31, 2013

Antec is good! The worst of them, the low-wattage Basiq, are still "mediocre" rather than "bad." Their Earthwatts units are excellent. CM is to be avoided; their low-end in particular is overrated near-junk that may also be missing protection circuits (e.g. OCP on some) the box claims they have. I'm not really familiar with Chieftec; I've read both good and bad.

Dominik Rukavina · Jul 31, 2013

Ok thank you sir, then Antec it is!

Oh one question: should i get new 4GB RAM and if i do is buying a new processor a must then?

Onus · Jul 31, 2013

Going from 2GB to 4GB of RAM will offer visible performance improvement.
If your board is this one: http://www.biostar-usa.com/app/en-us/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=315 it is socket AM2, and you've already got one of the better processors available for that socket. If you actually have the M2+ version of the board, it is socket AM2/AM2+/AM3, and you could get a better processor, but it is not required in order to use the additional RAM.
Looking at your board though, I see it uses electrolytic capacitors. Look over all of them carefully for leaking, splitting, or bulging. Google "bad capacitors" for images of what they look like. If you see any, your motherboard is toast (don't replace any other parts yet; save your money). Let us know and we'll go from there.

Dominik Rukavina · Jul 31, 2013

Thank you for information

, capacitors look stable, not seeing any leaks or dmg.

Onus · Jul 31, 2013

Ok then, go ahead and replace the PSU and add the RAM. Depending on the games you want to play, your resolution, and your budget, you may wish to upgrade your graphics card as well. The HD5450 is really a HTPC card and is very weak for modern games. A HD7750 would be a nice step up, is well-suited to your CPU, and will run even on the 350W Antec Basiq. If they have the Earthwatts models, that's the one I'd recommend; the 380W model has been my "goto" PSU in budget builds for years. It would easily handle a HD7770 or GTX650Ti, the strongest cards worth considering for your CPU.

Dominik Rukavina · Jul 31, 2013

Ill do that now, ill consider the graphic card than you ill let you know how it goes!

PC randomly shuts down then wont boot

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