- Nov 28, 2009
- 4
- 0
- 18,510
Hi. I built my own PC over the summer and for quite awhile now I've been having trouble with it spontaneously losing power and turning back on again. I won't be doing anything particularly load intensive, and for some reason the computer will just turn off, then a few seconds later, boot back up by itself.
Here are the parts I used to build this thing:
Case: Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-B Blue Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Monitor: Acer X213Hbid 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor
Processor: Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920
Memory: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9T-6GBNQ
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
GPU: BFG Tech BFGEGTX260MC896OCDE GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7
Wireless card: GIGABYTE GN-WP01GS PCI Wireless Adapter
DVD drive: SAMSUNG DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223L LightScribe Support
Plus keyboard, mouse, and webcam.
I think potentially what might be causing my problem was that when I first tried to put this thing together, I didn't know I was supposed to use motherboard spacers, so I had my mobo screwed directly to the case and tried turning it on numerous times before someone told me what the problem was. To my understanding that was a very bad mistake and I could have fried my motherboard completely. I think even if it seems to work fine, maybe there was some damage done to the motherboard when I was doing that which maybe is what is causing the problems I'm having now.
To describe the circumstances under which my system seems to be powering off is a little difficult. I've had a wide variety of things that seem to trigger this issue. At first it seemed like just touching the case would cause the power to short... but it didn't happen all of the time. One time I tried to replicate the issue, and I managed to do so by touching the metal frame around the fan on the glass window on the case. I did that probably 4 times in a row and the power kept cutting out. So I took the siding off and let it run for a couple days with it off, and since then, I can't replicate the problem like that anymore.
Sometimes touching the case seems to cause the power to short out, sometimes I can move the case around without it shorting. It's sporadic. One time I dropped my phone about 3 feet from my PC, and as soon as it hit the ground, the PC power cut out. I have no idea why.
It seemed to be doing okay for awhile recently, but then one morning it happened again, and that happened to be the first really cold day we had in my town for the season. I thought maybe the humidity had something to do with it? We had the window open in the living room where my computer is. It's kind of hard to test that sort of thing, though.
My computer's sitting on a carpeted floor, but it's partially on the plastic mat I have by my desk to make my chair roll more easily. I'm not sure if the carpetting would have anything to do with it, since carpet is known to make generating static easier. This would also support my humidity hypothesis.
Surprisingly, I haven't had my PC lose power when I'm playing a game or doing something important, usually just random web browsing. But I'm nervous that it will happen one day, so I think I should try to correct this issue soon. Not to mention, having my PC just shut off randomly is annoying no matter what I'm doing on it.
Any help is appreciated in solving this. Thanks for your time!
Here are the parts I used to build this thing:
Case: Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-B Blue Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Monitor: Acer X213Hbid 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor
Processor: Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920
Memory: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9T-6GBNQ
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
GPU: BFG Tech BFGEGTX260MC896OCDE GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7
Wireless card: GIGABYTE GN-WP01GS PCI Wireless Adapter
DVD drive: SAMSUNG DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223L LightScribe Support
Plus keyboard, mouse, and webcam.
I think potentially what might be causing my problem was that when I first tried to put this thing together, I didn't know I was supposed to use motherboard spacers, so I had my mobo screwed directly to the case and tried turning it on numerous times before someone told me what the problem was. To my understanding that was a very bad mistake and I could have fried my motherboard completely. I think even if it seems to work fine, maybe there was some damage done to the motherboard when I was doing that which maybe is what is causing the problems I'm having now.
To describe the circumstances under which my system seems to be powering off is a little difficult. I've had a wide variety of things that seem to trigger this issue. At first it seemed like just touching the case would cause the power to short... but it didn't happen all of the time. One time I tried to replicate the issue, and I managed to do so by touching the metal frame around the fan on the glass window on the case. I did that probably 4 times in a row and the power kept cutting out. So I took the siding off and let it run for a couple days with it off, and since then, I can't replicate the problem like that anymore.
Sometimes touching the case seems to cause the power to short out, sometimes I can move the case around without it shorting. It's sporadic. One time I dropped my phone about 3 feet from my PC, and as soon as it hit the ground, the PC power cut out. I have no idea why.
It seemed to be doing okay for awhile recently, but then one morning it happened again, and that happened to be the first really cold day we had in my town for the season. I thought maybe the humidity had something to do with it? We had the window open in the living room where my computer is. It's kind of hard to test that sort of thing, though.
My computer's sitting on a carpeted floor, but it's partially on the plastic mat I have by my desk to make my chair roll more easily. I'm not sure if the carpetting would have anything to do with it, since carpet is known to make generating static easier. This would also support my humidity hypothesis.
Surprisingly, I haven't had my PC lose power when I'm playing a game or doing something important, usually just random web browsing. But I'm nervous that it will happen one day, so I think I should try to correct this issue soon. Not to mention, having my PC just shut off randomly is annoying no matter what I'm doing on it.
Any help is appreciated in solving this. Thanks for your time!
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