Computer shutting off mid operation

[maxwilkinson]

Giga-byte GA-7IXEH
Athlon 1.0GHz
nVidia MX440

My power supply died a few weeks ago (at least I assume its dead, the
fan on the back no longer turns) my computer just went dead mid
operation. - what I call 'shutting off' , not 'shutting down'.
I borrowed a fresh PSU (a 350W model, whereas my old one was only 300W)
from a computer shop and this did seem to solve the problem for a few
mins, in so much as I managed to format my corrupt hard disk and
reinstall windows. However the system is far from stable, it shuts off
now and again. The most occuring time it does this is when I try to
eject the cd tray. Despite this it does run windows in some capacity
and does not display any problems prior to shutting off which suggests
to me that nothing is infact faulty, the system is just out of
balance...
I downloaded and ran a piece of software thats runs all components at
full capacity (is it called pcburn, or something like that?) this
strained the system enough to cause it to shut off everytime I tried it
but unfortunatly it did not record a log of which component was bailing
out.
I eventually gave up and returned the PSU to the shop.
Since then I cant seem to settle until I have it running again! So I've
searched the net & come across a few things that have been known to
help.
1) I've stripped the computer down to just motherboard, Hard disk and
graphics card. That way theres a minimum number of components to
identify as faulty.
2) I've given the whole lot a through dusting, its now spotless -
I'm not sure exactly,but before dusting I seem to remember seeing the
CPU temp as 61C in BIOS , is this overly hot?

The situation I'm in is that I dont want to spend tons of money
gradually replacing every component until I find whats wrong.
Do you think I've done everything I need and a fresh power supply will
sort things out?

Many Thanks,
Max.

 

[Jan Alter]

Sounds exciting. Have you tried different memory, or if you have two or more
RAM modules tried just one and then the other?
You also might try running memtest to see if it spots anything.
Yeh, and finally, have you checked for leaking capacitors on the mb?

 

[M-Wilkin]

I've checked the capacitors and all seems well. Also checked all chips
on the board and none appear fried.
Unfortunatly I only have the single memory module so I cant swap it.
Any further suggestions?

 

[Effty]

Giga-byte GA-7IXEH
Athlon 1.0GHz
nVidia MX440

2) I've given the whole lot a through dusting, its now spotless -
I'm not sure exactly,but before dusting I seem to remember seeing the
CPU temp as 61C in BIOS , is this overly hot?

BIOS temps aren't necessarily accurate, but overheating can cause
automatic shut downs which circumvent attempts at event logging. Can
you change the max allowed CPU temp in your bios? Does your BIOS have
any fan speed information? Is the processor fan being noisy?

http://www.heatsink-guide.com/content.php?content=maxtemp.shtml

Seems to say your CPU temp should max out in the 95C range. If your MB
/ BIOS is set lower this there's one idea for an obvious conflict.

~e.

 

[Rod Speed]

Giga-byte GA-7IXEH
Athlon 1.0GHz
nVidia MX440

My power supply died a few weeks ago (at least I assume its dead,
the fan on the back no longer turns) my computer just went dead
mid operation. - what I call 'shutting off' , not 'shutting down'.

I borrowed a fresh PSU (a 350W model, whereas my old one was only
300W) from a computer shop and this did seem to solve the problem for
a few mins, in so much as I managed to format my corrupt hard disk and
reinstall windows. However the system is far from stable, it shuts off
now and again. The most occuring time it does this is when I try to
eject the cd tray. Despite this it does run windows in some capacity
and does not display any problems prior to shutting off which suggests
to me that nothing is infact faulty, the system is just out of balance...

There is no 'balance' with PCs.

I downloaded and ran a piece of software thats runs all components
at full capacity (is it called pcburn, or something like that?) this
strained the system enough to cause it to shut off everytime I tried it

Thats the most useful evidence.

but unfortunatly it did not record a log of which component was bailing out.

Yeah, most of the hardware doesnt produce an error message at
that level when it just stops like that. It isnt feasible to log basically.

I eventually gave up and returned the PSU to the shop.
Since then I cant seem to settle until I have it running again!
So I've searched the net & come across a few things that
have been known to help.

1) I've stripped the computer down to just motherboard,
Hard disk and graphics card. That way theres a minimum
number of components to identify as faulty.

So what happens when you run pcburn etc in that config ?

2) I've given the whole lot a through dusting, its now spotless -

Including the cpu fan ?

I'm not sure exactly,but before dusting I seem to remember
seeing the CPU temp as 61C in BIOS , is this overly hot?

Its on the high side, but those earlier Athlons do run pretty hot.

Did it run fine last summer ?

The situation I'm in is that I dont want to spend tons of money
gradually replacing every component until I find whats wrong.

There's really only one thing that its likely to be now, the motherboard,
if it still shuts down with the minimum of hardware running pcburn etc.

You could run that off CD for another check too.

Do you think I've done everything I need and
a fresh power supply will sort things out?

Its unlikely that you had two duds in a row.

I've checked the capacitors and all seems well.

They arent always visibly bad.

Also checked all chips on the board and none appear fried.

That wont usually produce that symptom, it usually
sees the system not work again after it stops.

Unfortunatly I only have the single memory module so I cant swap it.

You dont see too many ram problems produced that symptom either.

Any further suggestions?

Make sure the cpu fan isnt clogged up
with fur if you havent done that already.

Likely the motherboard has gone bad.

 

[paulmd]

Giga-byte GA-7IXEH
Athlon 1.0GHz
nVidia MX440

My power supply died a few weeks ago (at least I assume its dead, the
fan on the back no longer turns) my computer just went dead mid
operation. - what I call 'shutting off' , not 'shutting down'.
I borrowed a fresh PSU (a 350W model, whereas my old one was only 300W)
from a computer shop and this did seem to solve the problem for a few
mins, in so much as I managed to format my corrupt hard disk and
reinstall windows. However the system is far from stable, it shuts off
now and again. The most occuring time it does this is when I try to
eject the cd tray. Despite this it does run windows in some capacity
and does not display any problems prior to shutting off which suggests
to me that nothing is infact faulty, the system is just out of
balance...
I downloaded and ran a piece of software thats runs all components at
full capacity (is it called pcburn, or something like that?) this
strained the system enough to cause it to shut off everytime I tried it
but unfortunatly it did not record a log of which component was bailing
out.
I eventually gave up and returned the PSU to the shop.
Since then I cant seem to settle until I have it running again! So I've
searched the net & come across a few things that have been known to
help.
1) I've stripped the computer down to just motherboard, Hard disk and
graphics card. That way theres a minimum number of components to
identify as faulty.
2) I've given the whole lot a through dusting, its now spotless -
I'm not sure exactly,but before dusting I seem to remember seeing the
CPU temp as 61C in BIOS , is this overly hot?

YES. Athlons don't die till they hit 85 or 90, but they're unstable
above 70. an ovehreating processor could cause all kinds of badness. If
it's been running THAT hot long term (your chip is around 5-6 years
old) ' it may be weakened. You might be able to put oversized coolers
to make it stable. First pull of the heat sink, remove ALL the old
thermal paste with alchohol, get a bit of Artic Silver, and spread it
on the metal part of the chip. A tiny bit goes a long way. Reassemble
the unit, see if the temperature drops to no more that about 45 under
load. If you're still running hot, get a bigger heatsink and fan.

One thing to watch out for is the heansink assembles correcly only one
way. THere's a lip on the underside that's slightly raised, to go above
the plastic rectangle on your socket. If it's backward, it'll be at an
angle and your 'sink won't make good contact.

 

[Jan Alter]

YES. Athlons don't die till they hit 85 or 90, but they're unstable
above 70. an ovehreating processor could cause all kinds of badness. If
it's been running THAT hot long term (your chip is around 5-6 years
old) ' it may be weakened. You might be able to put oversized coolers
to make it stable. First pull of the heat sink, remove ALL the old
thermal paste with alchohol, get a bit of Artic Silver, and spread it
on the metal part of the chip. A tiny bit goes a long way. Reassemble
the unit, see if the temperature drops to no more that about 45 under
load. If you're still running hot, get a bigger heatsink and fan.

One thing to watch out for is the heansink assembles correcly only one
way. THere's a lip on the underside that's slightly raised, to go above
the plastic rectangle on your socket. If it's backward, it'll be at an
angle and your 'sink won't make good contact.

One more question: What is the rpm speed on the HSF and what size is it
(60mm, 80mm)?