Odd PC behavior

Nickface · Post by **Nickface** » March 9th, 2008, 18:28

So, I've been having a little issue with my PC for a while. I will also preface this with the fact that I'm planning on building a new one in a month or so anyway, so I'm not intersted in replacing hardware, I'm just concerned with what may be causing the problem.

Here's the issue. If I shut it off, I have to "coax" it back on. Meaning, it takes multiple attempts to start it up. Normally, on the first try, I'll hit the power button, it starts to boot up then immediately shuts off, as though someone yanked the power cable out. If I keep trying it, it will actually take off after a couple of dozen attempts. I have gotten around this initial problem by never powering down the PC, which seems to run fine.

The problem has now expanded, when doing something requiring a heavy load (most notably CoD4), the PC will just shut off. I was thinking perhaps this was a heat issue, but monitoring the temperature showed nothing out of the ordinary. I also checked out the temp of my video card, and I noticed a huge increase in temp when doing something with a load. The temp would go from around 53C to around 100C at its peak before I'd get freaked out and close the game. With the game closed, it would return to 53 in about 10 - 20 seconds. I have played the games with the nVidia Monitor running, and I am too much of a chicken shit to actually try to play it until it shuts off again (it hasn't done it in a while).

So I guess my questions are, would the video card getting to hot cause it to shut off in the middle of running, and could that also somehow be related to my boot problem? If they are not possibly related, what could cause the boot issue? I can provide any other relevant information that is requested.

Shada · Post by **Shada** » March 9th, 2008, 18:31

If a video card is getting dangerously hot you'll see graphical glitches - grey triangles, green lines and the like - before finally getting a lockup. It wouldn't cut out like that, I don't think.

It just sounds like your power supply is fucked, really.

buzzmong · Post by **buzzmong** » March 9th, 2008, 18:34

Sounds like PSU, especially as it's fine(ish) when on.

Something is on the way out that doesn't like the inital load spike caused by turning the pc on, probably one of the caps.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » March 9th, 2008, 18:35

booting issues and bombing out while gaming sounds like PSU to me, check voltages hw monitor is good and easy.

Modern graphics cards should be pretty safe at high temps, but I would be concerned once it's over 105c (iirc 115c is considered iffy for GPUs) but if you're not seeing any artifacts or graphical corruption, I wouldn't worry (I would suggest checking the fan isn't full of cat though)

Nickface · Post by **Nickface** » March 9th, 2008, 18:42

hmmmmm

power supply isn't too terribly expensive to replace, I might just send off for a new one and give it a shot.

amblin · Post by **amblin** » March 9th, 2008, 18:44

Post by **deject** » March 9th, 2008, 19:05

yeah I'm saying it's the PSU as well. Your problems are fairly similar to what I'm experiencing with my cheap POS 450W jobbie.

Also, 100°C on your GPU is rather worrisome. What kind of cooling do you have going on in your case?

Nickface · Post by **Nickface** » March 9th, 2008, 19:13

deject wrote:Also, 100°C on your GPU is rather worrisome. What kind of cooling do you have going on in your case?

I have two 60mm fans in the front as an air intake, another one on the back as an exhaust, and a side vent also working as an exhaust. Both the CPU and the GPU have their stock cooling on them. The CPU has never gotten hotter than 55c.

Also, I have no qualms about replacing the PSU with a cheapie, because I'm going to use it as a "internet surfing " PC only once I get the new comp. If it dies again, then it dies again.

EDIT: It has also powered off on me twice within the last hour when viewing a flash-based site, such as youtube.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » March 9th, 2008, 21:55

if you can afford it, i'd go for a lower wattage, higher end psu.

something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817153023 might be a decent bet.

Post by **HereComesPete** » March 9th, 2008, 23:07

Even though that psu isn't expensive, especially after the mail in rebate, it's a good make and won't eat monies from your new build budget.

Aren't the 60mm fans a bit noisy? I got annoyed by 80mm fan whine and moved to 120mm on my new case.

For the gpu to reach temps like that so fast I would look at the on card cooling solution as opposed to the case as a whole, I'm not saying the case fans won't be a cause but for temp fluctuations like that the knackered psu probably isn't getting the fan on the card enough juice.

Of course you could just let it die if your getting a new one, but an old box for your downloading lends life to your main rig.

Nickface · Post by **Nickface** » March 10th, 2008, 4:45

HereComesPete wrote:Aren't the 60mm fans a bit noisy? I got annoyed by 80mm fan whine and moved to 120mm on my new case.

For the gpu to reach temps like that so fast I would look at the on card cooling solution as opposed to the case as a whole, I'm not saying the case fans won't be a cause but for temp fluctuations like that the knackered psu probably isn't getting the fan on the card enough juice.

Of course you could just let it die if your getting a new one, but an old box for your downloading lends life to your main rig.

Yeah the fans are noisier than fuck, I'm going to go with a case that utilized 120mms for my next build. My plans with this current box is to put ubuntu on it, back up my music collection and just do the next, e-mail, maybe skype and TS on it.

Post by **deject** » March 10th, 2008, 14:24

I'd say that side fan is better off as an intake fan because if it's exausting air, it's going to be stealing the relatively cool air before it gets near the expansion slot area. By flipping it, you'd be forcing in much cooler air for the GPU and such.

Nickface · Post by **Nickface** » March 13th, 2008, 2:54

We're about 3 hours into having the new power supply in and it seems to be stable. The computer booted right up, and I played some TEEF for about an hour. I was monitoring the temperature on the graphics card while that was going on, and it never got above 83c. I think we're in the clear!

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » March 13th, 2008, 3:36

yay for easy fixes.