Recently transported PC tower, set up my system, PC won't stay on for more than five minutes.

[sengarden]

Hi there!

I recently moved into a new house, and had all of my PC components packed in a large heavy duty box with bubble wrap and lightly wadded paper cushioning stuffed between gaps. My PC tower was too large to fit in the box, so I transported it in the backseat of my car. Sat it on a blanket, and strapped it in with the belt. It never moved from that location until I brought it into the house two days later.

Set up my system again, I turn everything on, and as the OS boots up for me to sign in, I find my resolution extends about an inch past every side of the screen. I try to change the resolution, but it's set correctly to 1920x1080, so I was thinking maybe a driver issue? Didn't seem like a huge deal, so I opened up chrome to try and troubleshoot. Just as I go to search, the computer shuts off with no warning. Boot it back up again, sign into my account, computer stays on for about 60 seconds then shuts off again. Try one more time, computer starts booting up, but can't even load the OS before shutting off a third time.

What gives? Thanks.

 

[alexoiu]

Try checking in BIOS the CPU temperature.

 

[USAFRet]

I'd hazard a guess that your CPU cooler is a bit loose.

What is your full parts list?

 

[sengarden]

On startup, CPU was 104F, but it's climbing pretty quickly just idling in BIOS. Already up to 140F in a few minutes. (Running out the door right now) Went to put my shoes on, came back, shut off just as it reached 158F. All of that happened in under five minutes. So I'm guessing it's a temp control issue? I currently have a liquid cooler installed, I wonder if anything happened while it was getting transported... I'll take a look under the hood as soon as possible and see if there's any obvious damage.

 

[USAFRet]

On startup, CPU was 104F, but it's climbing pretty quickly just idling in BIOS. Already up to 140F in a few minutes. (Running out the door right now) Went to put my shoes on, came back, shut off just as it reached 158F. All of that happened in under five minutes. So I'm guessing it's a temp control issue? I currently have a liquid cooler installed, I wonder if anything happened while it was getting transported... I'll take a look under the hood as soon as possible and see if there's any obvious damage.

Generally, we report PC temperatures in Celsius.
158F = 70C. Too high at just idle.

The block on the CPU is dislodged, or the pump is disconnected.

 

[alexoiu]

The pump might not work.

 

[sengarden]

On startup, CPU was 104F, but it's climbing pretty quickly just idling in BIOS. Already up to 140F in a few minutes. (Running out the door right now) Went to put my shoes on, came back, shut off just as it reached 158F. All of that happened in under five minutes. So I'm guessing it's a temp control issue? I currently have a liquid cooler installed, I wonder if anything happened while it was getting transported... I'll take a look under the hood as soon as possible and see if there's any obvious damage.

Generally, we report PC temperatures in Celsius.
158F = 70C. Too high at just idle.

The block on the CPU is dislodged, or the pump is disconnected.

Gotcha, haha, I was curious about that. But yes, that sounds like the problem for sure. Really poor lighting in this room right now but I'll take a look in the morning and report back.

 

[sengarden]

Okay, so I opened it up, turned the computer on. The liquid cooler started right up, lights came on inside the unit resting above the CPU. I gently felt the in and out tubes to try and register if the heat was traveling properly, and it sure felt like it was. The upper tube (which I imagine would be the one to capture the most heat, and would therefore be the out-port) was warming up, and the lower tube, which I now assume is the in-port, was still running cool the whole time. Both fans above the radiator at the top of the tower were running. After a few minutes, the fans kicked into high gear. Another fifteen seconds in, the CPU LED lit up on the motherboard and the computer shut off. With that much information, do you think it's still possible the pump isn't working optimally? Or could it be some other issue? Thanks again.

 

[USAFRet]

You need to discover what the actual temps are when this happens.

 

[sengarden]

Boot up the PC, enter BIOS, temp is at 25C.
1 min: 32C
2 min: 39C
3 min: 43C
4 min: 48C
5 min: 52C
6 min: 55C
7 min: 59C
8 min: 64C
9 min: 69C
9.5 min: Shutdown at 71C

All of this was recorded with the side of the tower off so I could keep an eye on the internals. It has a massive fan on it, so I have good airflow, but this span of time / rise in temperature would've likely been more condensed had the case been shut. That help?

 

[USAFRet]

At straight idle in the BIOS, it should not rise like that.

I still think the waterblock on the CPU is dislodged or not fully seated.

 

[sengarden]

Would you suggest removal, cleaning contacts, reapplication of paste, then resetting the block?

 

[USAFRet]

Would you suggest removal, cleaning contacts, reapplication of paste, then resetting the block?

Yes. That temp increase profile looks like a mediocre connection between CPU and water block.
It may not be, but that's what it looks like to me.

 

[sengarden]

Would you suggest removal, cleaning contacts, reapplication of paste, then resetting the block?

Yes. That temp increase profile looks like a mediocre connection between CPU and water block.
It may not be, but that's what it looks like to me.

Sounds good, I'll give it a go as soon as I get the chance and report back. You'd think the transfer of heat through the tubes would insinuate the issue doesn't lie with the pump, correct? In other words -- a technical issue, not a mechanical one.

 

[sengarden]

Okay, so I cleaned the contacts, reapplied some new Arctic MX-4, reset the water block, turned it on and... shut off sooner than my last session. I'm stumped. Again, the output hose is getting warm and the input is still icy cool. All fans are running. Perhaps the water cooler is running, but something inside got jostled and now it's not working at full efficiency? I have a warranty on it, I'll see about getting it replaced. Before that though, does anyone have any other ideas?

EDIT: After looking up my cooling system (LEPA LPWAC240-HF AquaChanger 240 Liquid CPU Cooler 240mm) and reading some reviews, it seems issues down the line are fairly common. I've had this guy for a little over two years now. I'm going to try putting in that replacement warranty and see if a new cooler will sort things out.

 

[sengarden]

Okay, it's been a while! I gave up on the warranty issue. Since the problems with the pumps never seemed to get any better, I didn't want to reinstall a new problem a year from now. I originally bought it so I could do some heavy PC gaming, but I realized I haven't done that in over a year, and won't be doing much of it anytime soon. So, I dug out the AMD box my CPU came in, pulled the stock heatsink out (never used), bought a backplate and seating brackets for 10 bucks, installed that bad boy, and now everything's running good as new. I even clipped apart the zip-ties securing the liquid cooler's dual fans onto the radiator, bought a little packet of nuts, and refit the fans to the upper grill of my case. Working like a charm, and no more incessant clicking from the damn radiator. (There was something loose/conflicting in the connection for years that I could NEVER fix)

Anyway, thanks for the help in narrowing down the problem!