Truely Random Power Offs. Not Overheating.

[ascher22]

Hello,
Lately my Computer has been turning itself off at random intervals. No BSOD its like the power has been cut. I *think* i hear a 'click' sound whenever it happens. I can reboot immediately after and it might run on for hours.
This happens under load, when idle, at the login screen and it even happened once during start up.

I did:
Check the motherboard for scorch marks, blown transistors ect. Nothing.
Changed the Ram. No improvement.
Checked the heat sensor readings. Nothing running too hot.
Checked if all cables are correctly plugged in.
Did a SMART check on my HDD with Seedfan. Seems fine.
Logged the sensor readings with hwinfo.

It appears to happen more frequently when I'm putting some strain on the machine e.g. when I play Binding of Isaac. But since it also happens when I'm afk or browsing the web this might just be random.

From what I've read it's most likely the PSU (750w Delta Electronics)?

My system: M2N-E SLI/ x2 6k+/ Seagate HDD/ 4gig Corsair Ram / HD 4870 / 2x Optical Drives / 1 Floppy

Thank you for reading.

 

[Xenturion]

I think you're probably on to something with the PSU. If you're hearing an audible click like that preceding each shut down, there is a pretty good chance your power supply is dead. Or at least no longer up to snuff. Replace it with a quality brand, Seasonic, Corsair, etc.. and you should be fine.

 

[Rugger]

Delta is an outstanding OEM PSU mfr; they do some of the best/cleanest soldering in the business and they mfr some great PSUs. What is the specific model number of your PSU?

The reason that you're not getting the BSODs is probably because you haven't changed the auto reboot in Win 7 defaults. Follow these procedures to make the change: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/automatic-restart-windows-7.htm If you want to get the BSOD error codes for reboots that have already happened then you can simply check the error codes in the Event Viewer: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Open-Event-Viewer Look for fatal errors, especially around the times that you're system is shutting down/rebooting.

Edit: Corrected some spelling.

 

[Rugger]

A system with a single HD 4870 requires a 500W PSU with at least 34A on the 12V rails. Any decent 750W should be more than electrically sufficient for your system; actually overkill for your system. There are many more likely causes for these faults than the PSU at this point...let's see what BSOD error codes you're getting.

 

[ascher22]

Alright, I disabled the auto restart and will now wait for a crash.

 

[ascher22]

Alright, 5 min Binding of Isaac did the trick. The Comp powered off.
No BSOD (auto restart disabled).
I did check the event history the only errors i get are that the windows was not able to shut down properly.

I've been running my pc with part of the case removed I'm now certain that there is a 'click" when it powers off.

 

[ascher22]

Sorry for the multiple posts but it won't lest me edit my posts?

Model number for the PSU: GPS-750AB A

 

[ascher22]

Seems like I overlooked something. A quick event ID google also suggests PSU failure : /
The event was created after the shutdown occurred. There are no error reports within minutes before the crash.

Event ID: 6008

Spoiler

+ System

- Provider

[ Name] EventLog

- EventID 6008

[ Qualifiers] 32768

Level 2

Task 0

Keywords 0x80000000000000

- TimeCreated

[ SystemTime] 2012-07-18T14:31:32.000000000Z

EventRecordID 437783

Channel System

Computer Lord_Vaders-PC

Security


- EventData

16:30:15
‎18.‎07.‎2012


7507


DC0707000300120010001E000F001300DC070700030012000E001E000F001300401901003C000000010000004019010000000000A08C00000100000000000000


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Binary data:


In Words

0000: 000707DC 00120003 001E0010 0013000F
0008: 000707DC 00120003 001E000E 0013000F
0010: 00011940 0000003C 00000001 00011940
0018: 00000000 00008CA0 00000001 00000000


In Bytes

0000: DC 07 07 00 03 00 12 00 Ü.......
0008: 10 00 1E 00 0F 00 13 00 ........
0010: DC 07 07 00 03 00 12 00 Ü.......
0018: 0E 00 1E 00 0F 00 13 00 ........
0020: 40 19 01 00 3C 00 00 00 @...<...
0028: 01 00 00 00 40 19 01 00 ....@...
0030: 00 00 00 00 A0 8C 00 00 .... Œ..
0038: 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........

 

[Rugger]

6008 is necessarily a PSU issue; it simply means that the PC couldn't anticipate the shutdown: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/support/ee/transform.aspx?ProdName=Windows%20Operating%20System&ProdVer=5.0&EvtID=6008&EvtSrc=User32&LCID=1033/
That leads me to believe that this is more hardware driven then sotware driven. With all of the above things you checked i'm leaning towards mobo or PSU. Asus actually has a PSU based on the GPS-750AB A; the model is Asus U-75HA and it reviewed well at Xbitlabs: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/asus-psu-roundup_6.html If you have a spare PSu, then I would try swapping PSUs and see if you get the same shutdown. I know you siad you checked for scorch marks on the mobo, but did you check for bad/bulging capacitors? http://www.badcaps.net/pages.php?vid=5
Pictures: https://www.google.com/search?q=bulging+caps+on+motherboard&hl=en&biw=1513&bih=988&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=r_IGUJb-ArK00QG7z8n2CA&sqi=2&ved=0CGYQsAQ
They can be difficult to see especially around CPU coolers and that is where there are usually a good bit of caps. They don't have to be leaking to be bad, but bulging is a definite bad sign.

 

[ascher22]

Hi,
Thanks for all the constructive feedback so far. I just got a new PSU which as it's first deed completely fried the motherboard. The PC doesn't boot beyond the BIOS neither from HDD nor from CD.
I tried this with everything disconnected but the drive / hdd so it has to be the motherboard.
Since I installed the new PSU some leaking transistors have appeared as well which makes it even clearer.

But now I wonder if the new PSU might be defect (brand new corsair) or if the old one was simply not powerful enough to deliver the killing blow to my mobo . Or if this is just random... the PSU Voltage readings in BIOS at least are fine.

 

[Rugger]

It sounds like the mobo was on its last leg and just jumped off the cliff...I don't think you have anything to worry about with the PSU. I would test the other components for stability if you use them in another system.

 

[ascher22]

Yeah will do thanks a bunch everyone.

Please mark this as resolved.

 

[Rugger]

Glad we could help - sorry it turned out to be a bad mobo.
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