Need help with a $1300 rendering PC

[Oriental Frankenstein]

This is my first post on a tech dsicussion board so I hope this is the right forum. My apologies if it is not.

The computer stays on for no more than 10 minutes before it shuts off, Especially if stays in BIOS mode. In addition, the SATA hard drive seems to be unresponsive as the the DVD drive tries to install the OS onto the SATA Hard drive. It also did the same thing to another SATA hard drive i have. In contrast, I ran an older PATA hard drive and I had no problems.

I also am using the stock cpu heatsink and fan.

I've already determined it is not the Memory, processor, DVD drive, or the Power Supply.

Any insight into what could be the problem would be appreciated. Thanks to all in advance.




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Here are my specs:

Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 1000W Continuous Power ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371012

CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145262

GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128400

Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115214

Pioneer Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 40X CD-R 32X CD-RW 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Writer LabelFlash Support
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129049

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

(2) 120mm fans

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[hobbes_tx]

What are your CPU temps? It is possible that the heatsink/fan was mounted incorrectly and the CPU is overheating.

 

[Oriental Frankenstein]

Sorry for the delay, just got back from vacation. The CPU was running at 42C and the system at 28C. I eventually replaced the stock heatsink and cpu fan. The CPU and system are now running at 28C and 23C respectively. It is now working properly and better than before. Thanks for the insight. It really helped.

 

[dangerousthing]

I had a similar problem with a more powerful PC. During CPU-intensive tasks the system would freeze or even shut down.

I used some canned air and cleaned the fins of the CPU radiator, and everything was fine.