PC Crashing Every Few Hours

Mark467 · Aug 28, 2016

Hi.

I built this http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Mark467/saved a few years ago and it worked great. My CPU temps stayed below 130F and my GPU temps maxed out at 150F during gaming.

Recently my GPU has been hitting 200F and regularly staying at 160-180. It just jumped to these numbers. My PC has been crashing as well, that is, abruptly shutting off mid game, sometimes as soon as I boot up the game (Planetside 2, Paragon) and others after I've been playing for an hour or so (Dirty Bomb). In the latter situations my computer has already been on strait for several hours. This NEVER happened the first 2 years I had this PC.

I took my GPU apart and cleaned off the dust that was on the board but didn't see significant temp changes. The only thing event viewer says is kernal power failure.

I don't really know what to do at this point and don't understand how an ACX cooled card can just jump 20F overnight. I haven't altered my system since and keep it pretty clean.

Of my PSU connections the Xs are where I have cables connected:
OO 000
OX xxx

Any help is appreciated.

Edit: I just saw my GPU hit 213F while playing Overwatch.

thx1138v2 · Aug 28, 2016

First, just some general ideas.

It's August. Ambient temperatures are usually higher so cooling effectiveness is not as good because warmer air absorbs less heat to be carried away. You said you cleaned the dust off of the graphics card. How about the case, CPU, and PSU fans? Dust accumulated on the fan blades will cause them to consume more power and move less air at the same time. Likewise, dust accumulated on the heat sink fins will restrict the flow of heat so it isn't dissipated properly.

The system is 2 years old. Computers do age. There are a number of factors involved in aging but most are related to components expanding with heating up and contracting when cooling down.

The 20F overnight jump indicates something has failed. Check all the case fans and make sure any filters you may have are clean.

Just as a test pull the side cover off of the case, start it up and see if it runs any cooler. If so, you've got an air flow problem. It could be any number of things from dirty fans to a failed fan to something has moved inside the case and is blocking air flow. Make sure all of the case fans are working and check their speeds if possible.

You might want to pull the cover off the PSU and check for dust, blockages, etc. and specifically any discolored components or areas on the circuit board than would indicate high heat.

After two years it might just be time for regular preventive maintenance. Break it all down, clean everything including the inside of the case, unseat and re-seat all expansion and RAM cards and every power and data cable connector, and even remove the motherboard and clean the back side and make sure the standoff connections are tight when you reinstall it. Put everything back together and see if you have better results.

That seems to cure all kinds of ills. I did it recently to my daily work machine that wasn't powering up correctly and WA LA, fixed!

Mark467 · Aug 28, 2016

First, just some general ideas.

It's August. Ambient temperatures are usually higher so cooling effectiveness is not as good because warmer air absorbs less heat to be carried away. You said you cleaned the dust off of the graphics card. How about the case, CPU, and PSU fans? Dust accumulated on the fan blades will cause them to consume more power and move less air at the same time. Likewise, dust accumulated on the heat sink fins will restrict the flow of heat so it isn't dissipated properly.

Ya those are all pretty clean. There is 1 case fan that could do with another cleaning though.

The system is 2 years old. Computers do age. There are a number of factors involved in aging but most are related to components expanding with heating up and contracting when cooling down.

The 20F overnight jump indicates something has failed. Check all the case fans and make sure any filters you may have are clean.

Just as a test pull the side cover off of the case, start it up and see if it runs any cooler. If so, you've got an air flow problem. It could be any number of things from dirty fans to a failed fan to something has moved inside the case and is blocking air flow. Make sure all of the case fans are working and check their speeds if possible.

I've done this. Nothing changed.

You might want to pull the cover off the PSU and check for dust, blockages, etc. and specifically any discolored components or areas on the circuit board than would indicate high heat.

There's no dust there but I could check the components for signs of heat damage.

After two years it might just be time for regular preventive maintenance. Break it all down, clean everything including the inside of the case, unseat and re-seat all expansion and RAM cards and every power and data cable connector, and even remove the motherboard and clean the back side and make sure the standoff connections are tight when you reinstall it. Put everything back together and see if you have better results.

That seems to cure all kinds of ills. I did it recently to my daily work machine that wasn't powering up correctly and WA LA, fixed!

This may be my only eventual thing to do. I've done most others.

Mark467 · Oct 5, 2016

SOLVED

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3186535/computer-shuts-minutes-gaming-offering-solution.html

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