needsumhelplol

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Ok, so earlier my rig decided to turn itself off while in use (was running a game) ... when i tried to turn it back on nothing happened so i waited 5 mins, tryed again and it powers up... the thing posts and gets into OS and seems to be working so i'm thinking it must have just been a freak occurance, and then it powers off again...

this time i was just browsing the web... again upon trying to switch the comp back on it refuses to power up for 5 then goes back to normal....

Google didn't help...

Also i've had trouble with the HDD's i'm using before (i salvaged them from an old dell) could that be anything to do with it...

It's definitely not overheating....

only thing i can think of is maybe the PSU is on its way out

Specs


MB: asus m4a79xtd-evo am3
RAM: 2GB corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333
HDD: 2x250gb WD caviar black (WD2500JS) (Not in RAID)
GPU: 1GB 5770
CPU: phenom II x4 955
PSU: corsair tx650w
case:CM690/RC690


EDIT : I don't mean to comp takes 5 mins to load up... i mean that after it loses power, the power button doesn't do anything for up to 10 minutes.... starting to think maybe the motherboard not the psu


oh yea also since today sometimes when i try to enter setup at boot said rig will just freakin restart.. like as if i'd hit ctrl+alt+del
..... any insight on this would be great
 

COLGeek

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What, if anything, have you changed in your rig just prior to the problems starting? Have you had any power outages while the system was running (like during a thunderstorm)? In addition to a possible PSU issue, you could also have a heat issue as hunter315 suggested. Pop the case cover off and verify your system is clean and that all fans are turning (blowing or sucking as the case may be). Pay close attention to you PSU, CPU, and GPU fans. They are the likely culprits for heating issues.

You reference your HDDs as possibly problematic. Did you recycle the OS when you took from the Dell, or did you just move the HDDs and then apply a clean install of the OS?

Last, how long was the system stable before all of this started to happen?

Just trying to isolate where to start looking. HOOAH!!!
 

needsumhelplol

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@ hunter & popatim, temps say 40 in bios for CPU and 28 for the MB... in windows i run core-temp and gpu-z... the card doesn't go over 63 and
the CPU stays below about 55 under stress tests... i guess the PSU itself could be overheating as i have no way of checking the temp but it doesn't feel warm to touch after i lose power...

@COLGeek not changed anything recently... the psu never cut out before and we don't tend to get many power outages in my area (just to verify, the issue in question isn't because of my house electricity, because when my computer lost power other stuff that was plugged into the same splitter was still functioning)

Man when it first went i hoped it was a fan but turns out nothing that simple as all the fans are still spinning.

When i took the HDD's i did a full format and reinstall so that's not the problem :(

System been up and stable for weeks now, but it had been powered on since the previous night if that's what you're asking


Thanks for the suggestions guys... i'll let you know if anything else comes up = /
 

shovenose

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you have a high-quality power supply with plenty of wattage. i doubt its that.
it sounds like it may be overheating. what are the temps (try speedfan)
or it could be the hard drives. use hdtune and run an error scan on both the hard drives, but make sure not to use a quick scan option.
then run prime95 for a while, see if any errors come up.
then run memtest86 to check the ram,

but most likely i think its overheating.
 

needsumhelplol

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Is it possible that a hard drive error would cause the computer to just power off like that? because i'm pretty sure it's not overheating lol... well i mean my temps seem within acceptable levels and i have added two case fans for even more airflow... (now have 1x120 + 1x140 IN and 2x120 + 1x140 OUT)
 

COLGeek

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Moderator
Run a checkdisk on your HDDs to check for any corruption issues. While not likely the culprit, it is possible that bad sectors can crash your OS in some instances. A minor problem at some point can turn into a major HDD problem given the right circumstances.
 

needsumhelplol

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Well after running memtest86 all night and no errors i decided to take my rig apart and build it again... when i went to pull the 12pin mobo power out i noticed it wasn't seated properly.... and -touch wood- reseating it seems to have solved my problem.... :pfff: been gaming all day and no mysterious power-offs yet :)



I ran a checkdisk on them a few weeks back, i think it was shortly after formatting the disks and installing the OS... it found a whole bunch of bad sectors and such, and did whatever it does with them...

maybe worth mentioning that when i boot i have to 'press F1 to continue' past a screen that says something like 'Matrix storage controller: detecting.... no hard disks detected' and then another one that says something like 'S.M.A.R.T disk: 'SATA-1: STATUS OK SATA-2 STATUS BAD - BACKUP AND REPLACE!''

Also i downloaded a tool from WD website (the peeple who make the HDD's) which basically tells me the same thing S.M.A.R.T does at boot; that i need to replace my drive

So know that one of the HDD's is bad but seems to still function for now.
I know it's a little off-topic but i'm wondering if there's any way to move a boot sector from one drive to another?

I iinstalled XPpro on the bad drive first, then from there i installed windows 7 onto my known good HDD.. So at some point after doing all that i tried the drives seperately and the drive with windows 7 installed on (the good HDD) would give an 'NTLDR IS MISSING' or something like that error unless the drive with xp installed (the bad HDD), was assigned to first boot device

With both drives installed, my boot menu asks if i want 'Windows 7' or 'Earlier version of Windows' which is XP pro...

So A) am i right in assuming that this is due to the windows 'boot volume' being located on the XP (Bad) disk? and if so B) can i fix this mess without reinstalling, so that if my drive does decide to die, it will just be my XP disk and not my boot volume too??

thanks and
sorry for the text wall :p
 

shovenose

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replace the failing drive. no joke. unless you want to waste your time and poosibly lose a bunch of data. replace the drive. bad sectors and not passing smart means the drive is failing...
 

COLGeek

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A) Yes. When you installed Win7, it saw the XP install and automatically installed itself in the same location. B) Yes, you can move the boot loader. This link has a pretty good blow by blow of how to move the bootloader (several such sites exists).

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ss/windows-7-startup-repair.htm

I highly recommend you move anything of importance off of the flaky drive and that you look at your BIOS settings to disable the Matrix storage controller (since you obviously aren't using it. That may help with the F1 problem. While you are in your BIOS, verify the boot sequence as well.

Good luck!!!
 

needsumhelplol

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Thanks... it turns out that my Matrix strg cntrller is responsible for my E-SATA port... which isn't connected to anything... disabling it removes one of my 'press f1 to continue' screens.. yay :D

Probably should start a new thread but i'm asking here first anyway..

Ok so while i was in my bios poking around i noticed that one of my drives is set to MODE:Ultra-DMA 2
and the other is set to Ultra-DMA 6 (or more accurately, is set to Auto, but assigns itself this value)

...i don't remember changing the modes... last time i checked i think they were BOTH on auto but i can't be sure

Is it possible changing the 'UDMA mode' to something too high for the HDD will hurt the drive?? or will the system just refuse to boot??

EDIT: Also i downloaded HDDScan it disagrees with what my bios tells me... according to it, both my drives have UDMA-6 selected.. so now i don't know what to think lol

Just one more thing.... like i mentioned earlier i have problems sometimes getting into setup, as my system will often prefer to restart rather than show me the setup screen when i press 'DEL' .... this happens maybe 3 times out of 5.... RMA the MB? or could it be something else?
 

COLGeek

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Just set the HDDs to auto and the mobo will negotiate the highest supported speed that the drive will support. Nothing for you to do at that point.

regarding going into setup, I assume you have a USB motherboard. If so, what you are describing is fairly common. Enable keyboard support in your USB settings (if not already the case) may help. Not a big deal regardless, just annoying.
 

needsumhelplol

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Ah thanks, good to know this is a common issue... thought it could be something serious..

Well i guess i'm in the market for a new HDD then... Any suggestions? ^^

The rig is used for light storage and also gaming

My budget would be as cheap as possible.. preferably while still matching / beating the performance of the WD drive/s i have (WD2500JS)

If more info is needed i can do my best but i'm not overly knowledgable about HDD's..

 

COLGeek

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I do most of my component buying at newegg.com. I am a big fan of Samsung HDDs, but you will find fans of all major brands. Here is my advice. Decide how much you want to spend, what capacity, etc and then go look at the reviews on newegg. Only buy a drive that gets consistent high ratings and meets your cost criteria. Good luck!