Computer turns off unexpectedly (or is haunted)

[maxwell006]

Hello all,

Its my first post there so I hope that I’m in the good category

Anyway as the post title suggest, I have an issue with my pc, it turns off by itself without warning, start again and turns of immediately (the devil's loop). I will try and explain the issue in much details possible…

It started a few months back. It turned off and back on immediately for the first time... I ignored it but the problem continued more frequently. After opening the case I checked all my components, took all out (except the CPU/PSU), dusted them off and put them back with no avail. Then I noticed that the case fan was nearly wet (there’s a lot of humidity where I live. I blew the pc with a hair dryer (not to close so to avoid any damage). It worked fine but after a few weeks the problem came back. I re-did the hair dryer solution.. without success. Maybe then it was a heat problem. Took out the CPU and checked the thermal paste, it was completely dry. So I bought some, cleaned the CPU and HEAT sink and applied the thermal paste. It worked but again, a few weeks later the problem came back. I checked the pc temp and the paste, all good, tried the hair dryer but still nothing. I then did a trial and error process by testing components one by one (both ram sticks, graphic card, HDDs, etc), still no success. I then tried to change the ram stick from the A slot to the B slot and… it worked for a few days until now.

So I don’t know what to check anymore. What’s weird is that after some of the above tests and manipulations it worked but started to crash again. I think it might be the PSU? The only issue is that I don't have a spare PSU to test out as I would need it for at least a few weeks to rule out the issue. I would need to buy a good one so to avoid any damage due to power failures and such.
And paying around 100 $ and finding out that the PSU is not the problem...can be very frustrating!

If you guys have any ideas to help please do! 

Cheers

 

[dottorrent]

What's the make and model of your power supply and motherboard?

 

[Jake Lloyd]

First off, it's always good to have a spare PSU on hand. A few months ago i picked up a new PSU simply because my spare would have issues running my new setup (picked it up for cheap on dealnews). So if money isn't that big of a issue for you then picking up a spare PSU to test isn't then have on hand as a extra isn't that bad of a idea.

Second, from my experience (and this is limited to the setups that I have built/used), a PSU, RAM, and GPU overheat or over voltage can cause a restart, a CPU overheat will cause a shutdown without a restart. I know this is different depending on your PSU though. Your thoughts of a PSU issue due to your trial and error with other components is very much a possibility. Keep in mind that depending on your PSU, it doesn't have to be a actual PSU issues though. If there's a voltage issue with another component then the PSU could shut down your comptuer. Then, depending on your PSU and settings, a auto restart could happen after.

Have you installed any new hardware recently? That's would be the first place I'd look.

 

[maxwell006]

Thanks for your replies and guidance.

Im at work currently and do not have in mind the specifics for my motherboard and PSU model (mainboard is ASUS, PSU is coolermaster 600w). I've been running this config for two years before the problem started and no new hardware installed recently.

I've also tried to restore the BIOS to factory setting by taking out the battery for a few mins, it didnt work out