PC Shuts Down Randomly and other minor problems.

[zootboy]

My computer has a bit off a problem, it will shut of randomly while i am playing games or watching movies. It does not shut down completely as the fans are still running and the leds on the motherboard are still on but the screen has gone black and there is no response. I have to switch it of from the power supply. An other problem occurs when i start it up, loads up Win 8 fine until i get to the desktop, where none of the icons are there, not even the task bar down below. It takes a good 10 mins for the screen to flash and the task bar and icons will appear on the desktop. I built this PC about a year ago and it has been running fine until recently.

Specs
Cpu: Intel i5 4670
Motherboard: G1.Sniper B5
Graphics: AMD Radeon Sapphire r9 290
Memory: 8GB DDR3
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Plus 600w
HDD: Generic 2tb
SSD: Samsung Evo 840 250gb
Operating System: Windows 8.1

Hope you can help.

 

[CaedenV]

2 things typically cause this: Stability issues, or overheating.

For overheating: make sure the system is in a place that can breathe. Get it off of any carpet (a simple box or board will do), and make sure that hot exhaust air is not getting recirculated back into the system. Also make sure that all of your fans are in good working order.

For stability: If you are overclocking then step things down a little bit and see if that helps. If you are at stock settings then try raising voltages slightly (and I do mean slightly) and see if that helps clear things up.

Outside of that you can test your RAM and other hardware for issues... but typically if it is a normal hardware or software issue then your system would either shut off entirely or reboot at random. That the fans are staying on means that your system is trying to protect itself, which generally means a bad OC or thermal issues.

 

[zootboy]

2 things typically cause this: Stability issues, or overheating.

For overheating: make sure the system is in a place that can breathe. Get it off of any carpet (a simple box or board will do), and make sure that hot exhaust air is not getting recirculated back into the system. Also make sure that all of your fans are in good working order.

For stability: If you are overclocking then step things down a little bit and see if that helps. If you are at stock settings then try raising voltages slightly (and I do mean slightly) and see if that helps clear things up.

Outside of that you can test your RAM and other hardware for issues... but typically if it is a normal hardware or software issue then your system would either shut off entirely or reboot at random. That the fans are staying on means that your system is trying to protect itself, which generally means a bad OC or thermal issues.

Not overclocking and never planning to. Can you raise the voltage on a locked CPU? Is there a free program where i can monitor my computer temperatures? My PC is on my desk, its quite cool in the room and my fans seem to be running fine. Can dust cause a cooling problem?

Thanks for the help

 

[CaedenV]

nope, not on a locked CPU, sorry.

Dust can certainly cause issues. You should blow our your system at least once a year. Be careful if using a can of air as it can spit fluid on the motherboard which can short things out. I use my neighbor's air compressor. DO NOT use a vacuum cleaner to clean a computer case!

Another thing that can cause issues is old thermal paste. If your system is 5+ years old then reapplying fresh paste is not a bad idea. You do need to be careful when doing this, so be sure to watch a few youtube videos before attempting this as you could break something. Thermal paste is pretty cheap though and worth a try. $5-15