Dell Inspiron 560 shuts down randomly without warning and no BSOD. At my wits end!!!!!

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Redlands23

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Jan 18, 2014
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I'm not sure where to put this because based on everything I have read the issue could be anything from bad drivers to a corrupted O/S to an inadequate power supply, to failing hard drive or graphics card, or bad RAM, or a failing motherboard.

Forgive me in advance for rambling....:??:

Here is what I do know, for the better part of a month my machine has simply turned off for no reason and rebooted as if there was a power outtage. Upon reboot I get the message about improper shutdown blagh blagh. I check the event viewer and I have the VAGUE "Windows Kernel event ID 41 error "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first" . I check the details of the error and get this helpful tidbit.

EventData
BugcheckCode 0
BugcheckParameter1 0x0
BugcheckParameter2 0x0
BugcheckParameter3 0x0
BugcheckParameter4 0x0
SleepInProgress false
PowerButtonTimestamp 0

So I do research, run mem tests, HD diagnostics, scan for malware and all comes back clean. I installed "WhoCrashed" thinking I would get a dump report, Nothing! (Yes I have it configured correctly to write them).
I update any drivers that need to be updated, dbl check the bios version is updated, Check firmware for my SSD and hybrid drive. They are up to date.
I run Driver Verifier, Dell's Diagnostic tools.. Nothing!

Chkdsk comes back clean..

Amid the chaos, I noticed that there was a brief "fuzziness" of text on my monitor. Im thinking maybe its the GPU (Radeon 4570) and not enough power and its possibly overheating. I open the box. Its very warm. With that I take it out and replace it with an Nvidia GTS 610. I change the stock P.S to A 700 watt Thermaltake. Clean the vents and ll the fans. Im thinking that running the GPU, a Seagate Momentus 750gb Hybrid Drive and a Samsung 840 SSD, and two optical drives I should have more than enough power. While I have the box open I reseat all of the ram, I check my SATA Connections. Everything is tight. I change the outlet for the machine and the surge protector in between the box and the outlet. All is running smoothly for a few days and then boom I'm right back to square one.

I am at my absolute wits end. I have looked at everything related or remotely related, and I cannot figure out the issue. PLEASE IF SOMEONE KNOWS OF SOMETHING I HAVE MISSED, GIVE ME A CLUE.

Specs:
Inspiron 560
Thermaltake 700w P/S
Nvidia GTS 620
Samsung SSD 840 250gb
Seagate Momentus Hybrid Hard Drive - 750GB
LG HL-DT-ST-BD-RE 12ls35a Blu Ray Drive
TSST DVD RW
Seagate 1TB Free Agent HD connected via USB
8 gb ram DDR3 PC3-10600
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E7500 2.93HZ
 
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jbseven

jbseven

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Dec 2, 2011
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Its likely that the motherboard capacitors are dying out. if this is the case, the pc will eventually cease to boot. You'll want to take a good look at the capacitors around the cpu for signs of damage and send it back for a replacement.

Less likely is overheating. check your m/b's hardware monitor software to look at temperatures while say playing a video. anything above 70C should ring alarm bells.
 
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Redlands23

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Jan 18, 2014
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Thank you jbseven for your response. I have opened up the box and had a ggod look at ALL of the capacitors on the motherboard. There are no visible signs of leakage from either the top or bottom. All apear to be straight and not bulged.

The temps of the motherboard are all within reason. Im not a gamer so I dont know how else to test that.

If it is not a failing capacitor, and the temperaturses ar reasonable any other hints as to what it might be?
 
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jbseven

jbseven

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i wouldn't rule out capacitors as damage is not necessarily always visible.

But if it definitely wasn't the motherboard, the only other possibility imo would be cpu/mb/gpu overheating or the power supply.

But as you have already tested these, i would return the motherboard.

It is very unlikely, but it would help completely ruling out software issues with a clean windows install.
 
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jph37

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Mar 14, 2014
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Any updates? My Inspiron 560 has started doing this as well since around Christmas. As long as it is only running in the background it chugs right along, this is my dedicated Windows media center so it is constantly recording and playing media in the background. If I network to the 560 and watch a video file from another machine the 560 stays running but if I try and watch a file through media center on the 560 it shuts down within 5 minutes.

 
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jbseven

jbseven

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Does it power off instantly after 5 minutes? is there any blue screen? does the screen simply go blank while all the fans continue to spin?

if everything suddenly powers down, and you have not reseated the cpu/hsf in the last few months, its most likely a mb or psu related. running a hw monitor would help you determine if your cpu is overheating and if it is the overheat safety that is shutting everything down.

Do try to rule out software issues (with a clean windows/drivers/directx install) as this is much less of a hassle to do than troubleshooting hardware problems that are less obvious than those mentioned above. Keep in mind that the pc may power down during windows setup, so installing to a separate hard drive would be a good idea.
 
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jph37

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Mar 14, 2014
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No blue screen. The computer just shuts off like you pulled the plug, I have to hit the power button and it boots right back up as if it had been shutdown properly. I will install a HW monitor and check vitals, any suggestions?
 
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jph37

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Mar 14, 2014
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My GCU is running hot I am clocking 100C at full load when I see the failure when everything else is running 65-70C max. Looks like I have a fan thats failed on the card. Time for a new card.
 
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