Computer Powers off after a minute or so

Nymbrixion

Honorable
Jan 8, 2013
2
0
10,510
Hello,
I just finished putting together my new computer build and I am having some trouble getting it to stay powered on. I am thinking it might be a PSU issue, however, after disconnecting a couple things and trying it I get extended time that it is powered on, but nevertheless the same thing happens.

Power on, POST works, (Does give me a Fan Error), enters BIOS. Then after a couple seconds (sometimes minutes) it shuts off. The PSU is still receiving power and lights are still on. Even on the motherboard.

Here are my Specs.

ASUS Rampage IV EXTREME Motherboard
2 Nvidia PNY Quadro 4000 Video Cards (SLI)
Corsair H100 Liquid Cooling System
3 SATA Drives 2TB each
2 Crucal Solid State 256GB each
Blu-ray disk burner
i7-3930k LGA2011 Processor
1200W Toughpower Grand

I have disconnected the SLI and 1 Card, along with my 3 SATA drives. (being that I am only reaching BIOS, the cards do not seem to be a factor to me at this point.) Doing so however, extended the amount of time that the power remained on. But still powered off eventually.

I plan on disconnecting the Corsair Cooling system tomorrow, and only running 1 PNY card to see if that fixes the problem.

As far as the Fan error, I have disconnected every fan 1 by 1 to see if that changes anything. I received the fan error every time I went through POST.

Any ideas? is this a PSU issue? do I need more watts? Or possibly is it a motherboard problem?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
 

clutchc

Titan
Ambassador
I'm thinking mother board. Try a bread boarding. Take the MB out of the case and lay it on an insulated surface like the box it came in. With just CPU/Cooler, memory, and gfx card installed, connect your monitor to your gfx card and your PSU's 24 pin & 8 pin to the board. Start the system by shorting the 2 pins the start button would connect to. Boot to Bios and see if the problem continues to occur. You can shut down by shorting those same pins for a few seconds.

The board is the most likely suspect if it still happens. But I can't rule out the PSU unless you use a known-good PSU for testing.
 

Nymbrixion

Honorable
Jan 8, 2013
2
0
10,510
@clutchc Thanks for the idea, I did take these steps already, and figured out it was actually the cooling system. When install the cooling system, I followed the instructions as this is the first Liquid cooling system I have installed. So I used the screws that were in the image, and since there was no text on the instructions I figured those were correct. Actually there is a set of special screws that I needed to use. The liquid cooler was not touching the processor, so the processor would heat up quick, and then the motherboard would shut off as a safety precaution. I must say I am very happy it does this. So I learned my lesson about cooling systems now.

I am also experiencing other issues with BSOD constantly effecting my installing of the OS and drivers. I thought it might be the memory as my RAM has higher latency then the motherboard (it was my understanding that if the RAM was higher it wouldn't matter as it would slow down to the motherboard) however, I decided it was the only issue, so I replaced it with suggested RAM from the motherboard manual. this did not fix the problem, still getting BSOD. x101, x50, x3B, x0A all random, all at different times.

I got fed up of working with it, so I took it to an IT guy I know to have a look. Any ideas on the issues though?
 

clutchc

Titan
Ambassador
Since you can't even get past O/S installation without a BSOD, I would be inclined to look into a hardware issue being the problem. But without a hands-on to the system in question, it is hard to say. Since you no longer have the system at your disposal, it is a moot point at this time. Check back if the tech finds anything.