Computer keeps shutting down when under heavy load?

HenryGW · Aug 11, 2014

I recently built my first PC. Here is my build.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/HenryW/saved/cd7p99

This build has been a complete success.. Until I downloaded Battlefield 4, after about 20 minutes of playing, my computer shut off with the error message WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR. So I did some research, obviously there is something wrong with my hardware.

I downloaded prime95 and that shut my computer down... But that still doesn't pinpoint what is wrong.

I downloaded memtest86, and everything was fine there.

I downloaded Furmark, and everything was fine there.

I am thinking it's an overheating issue because I downloaded Speccy so I could see the temperature of all of my parts. When I run prime95, my CPU temp rises to 95C and then shuts down. Maybe it could be the power suppy? Not sure.

I shut my computer off, and I took the CPU heat-sink off and looked at the thermal paste, all good there. I re-attached the heat-sink and made sure that it was in correctly, all good there. However I am still getting that blue screen with said error message. I asked my friends and they said that the one PC fan I have and the CPU fan should be sufficient so I am not sure what is going on.

If anyone could help I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you all!

arossetti · Aug 11, 2014

Are you overclocking the CPU? If so check your voltages. Also check the memory as well. Sounds like you may not be stable and a power spike is scrubbing the system. You may need to take it down a bit.

Try resetting the BIOS and redoing.

LostAlone · Aug 11, 2014

Yes, that sounds like an overheating problem.

Are you saying that you have a different fan hooked up to the heatsink than it came with? Because that isn't a great idea, for a variety of reasons. If that's what you did, change back for the fan that came with the heat sink.

If you didn't do that and are just using the stock cooler I don'y really know what to suggest - Double check the thermal paste, double check that you installed the heat sink the right way round. It can be very easy to do things ever so slightly wrong.

If all else fails it looks like you need to get a new cooler of some description.

HenryGW · Aug 11, 2014

arossetti :

Unfortunately, no, I am not over clocking, but I still went and reset the bios.

HenryGW · Aug 11, 2014

LostAlone :

I accidentally marked your response as the best answer haha, but it is the default fan that came with the CPU. I checked the thermal paste and it looks like there is plenty, and all four sides of the fan clicked in and the writing is the correct way round.

LostAlone · Aug 11, 2014

HenryGW :

No worries, I deselected it for you.

If I'm reading you right you are overheating under load (ie when you are playing Battlefield or running Prime95, but you can sit happily on the desktop as long as you don't do anything?) which means that the cooler is working, just not quite as well as it should. You can try forcing the CPU fan to run at 100% (perhaps the automatic PWM settings aren't pushing it far enough) to see if that makes a different - You can do that either through BIOS or through windows applications like SpeedFan, although it's not easy to set up.

If you can run fine at 100% fan speed then that points me towards the heatsink fan not working properlly, and it needing to be replaced. Sadly, it happens some time. You'll want to get in touch with your vendor to arrange a replacement. However, there's a slight complication in that it came with the chip, so depending on the vendor they might want you to return all of it, and in that case you'll get your machine up and running faster by buying a third party cooler - I know that it sucks, but RMAs can be painfully long and if it was me I'd be more interested in getting my machine running today than getting a free replacement two weeks from now.

On the other hand, if you can force 100% speed and you still overheat then that would point towards the thermal paste (or at least it's worth trying to avoid spending money or waiting on an RMA). The cooler could be working properly but can't slurp enough heat out of your cpu. The best thing to do is clean off all thermal paste and try again. Thermal paste is one of those things that it's really hard to tell if someone did right or not just by description. If you have friends close by with more experience in installing heat sinks, get one of them to show you how they do it; then you'll have a second opinion.

If you replace the paste and you get the same problem then that would point me back towards the cooler being the problem.

HenryGW · Aug 11, 2014

LostAlone :

HenryGW :

No worries, I deselected it for you.

If I'm reading you right you are overheating under load (ie when you are playing Battlefield or running Prime95, but you can sit happily on the desktop as long as you don't do anything?) which means that the cooler is working, just not quite as well as it should. You can try forcing the CPU fan to run at 100% (perhaps the automatic PWM settings aren't pushing it far enough) to see if that makes a different - You can do that either through BIOS or through windows applications like SpeedFan, although it's not easy to set up.

If you can run fine at 100% fan speed then that points me towards the heatsink fan not working properlly, and it needing to be replaced. Sadly, it happens some time. You'll want to get in touch with your vendor to arrange a replacement. However, there's a slight complication in that it came with the chip, so depending on the vendor they might want you to return all of it, and in that case you'll get your machine up and running faster by buying a third party cooler - I know that it sucks, but RMAs can be painfully long and if it was me I'd be more interested in getting my machine running today than getting a free replacement two weeks from now.

On the other hand, if you can force 100% speed and you still overheat then that would point towards the thermal paste (or at least it's worth trying to avoid spending money or waiting on an RMA). The cooler could be working properly but can't slurp enough heat out of your cpu. The best thing to do is clean off all thermal paste and try again. Thermal paste is one of those things that it's really hard to tell if someone did right or not just by description. If you have friends close by with more experience in installing heat sinks, get one of them to show you how they do it; then you'll have a second opinion.

If you replace the paste and you get the same problem then that would point me back towards the cooler being the problem.

Yes you are understanding me correctly.

Okay so I went into bios and my standard fan speeds were 1685RPM for my CPU fan and 700C for my other fan. Then I boosted them both to 100% so my fan speeds became 2475RPM for my CPU fan and 1021 for my other fan.

I kept the fan boosted and I ran prime95 again and my computer once again rebooted, so i kept the CPU fan boosted as well.. but with the same outcome.

So you suggest I go and buy some thermal paste? And re-apply and then see if that helps?

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Computer keeps shutting down when under heavy load?

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