Random switch-off - I'm certain it is not heat or drivers

[wileywilson]

For the last 2 weeks I have been trying to work out why my computer,
recently built from brand new parts, switches itself off at random.
Sometimes it switches off in the BIOS, sometimes in Windows, sometimes
after playing a game, sometimes it DOESN'T, even after 6 hours of
hard gaming (Oblivion, WOW etc).

My parts
· Asus A8N-SLI SE Motherboard
· Antec Truepower 2.0 550W ATX 12.0v
· Sapphire PCI-Express Radeon 1900XT 512MB
· AMD Athlon 64 4000+
· 2 * Crucial 1GB DDR PC-3200
· Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740 10000RPM
· OCUK Value Estar BENZ Case
· ASUS DVD rewriter (Can't remember the make/model)
· "Generic" Floppy Disk Drive
The DVD and Floppy drive have been "borrowed" from another home
built system and work fine.

Checks that I've made
· Memory sticks one at a time
· Kettle lead
· 4-way extension lead
· House (in case there was a house electricity fault)
· Tested CPU and mobo temperature (BIOS and PC Probe - both WELL
within tolerance, even under load. The fact that the computer can
switch off without being under load eliminates temperature)
· Disconnected the power on switch from the case, and boot up from
pressing "space bar"
· Drivers (the comp can switch off in the BIOS)
· Disabled Case fan

The computer has never crashed, and when it works, it is a dream.
It's like someone is pulling the kettle lead out from the back; It
just dies. I have watched the motherboard to see if the green light
winks out, but the machine can work for 24 hours+ before switching
itself off, and I can't physically watch it for that period of time!

Does anyone know if there is a compatibility problem with any of the
parts I have listed, or have any suggestions about the cause?

Any feedback is more than welcome as I have received no help whatsoever
from my supplier Overclockers UK.

Thanks!
Mart

 

[Mike T.]

For the last 2 weeks I have been trying to work out why my computer,
recently built from brand new parts, switches itself off at random.
Sometimes it switches off in the BIOS, sometimes in Windows, sometimes
after playing a game, sometimes it DOESN'T, even after 6 hours of
hard gaming (Oblivion, WOW etc).

My parts
· Asus A8N-SLI SE Motherboard
· Antec Truepower 2.0 550W ATX 12.0v
· Sapphire PCI-Express Radeon 1900XT 512MB
· AMD Athlon 64 4000+
· 2 * Crucial 1GB DDR PC-3200
· Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740 10000RPM
· OCUK Value Estar BENZ Case
· ASUS DVD rewriter (Can't remember the make/model)
· "Generic" Floppy Disk Drive
The DVD and Floppy drive have been "borrowed" from another home
built system and work fine.

Checks that I've made
· Memory sticks one at a time
· Kettle lead
· 4-way extension lead
· House (in case there was a house electricity fault)
· Tested CPU and mobo temperature (BIOS and PC Probe - both WELL
within tolerance, even under load. The fact that the computer can
switch off without being under load eliminates temperature)
· Disconnected the power on switch from the case, and boot up from
pressing "space bar"
· Drivers (the comp can switch off in the BIOS)
· Disabled Case fan

The computer has never crashed, and when it works, it is a dream.
It's like someone is pulling the kettle lead out from the back; It
just dies. I have watched the motherboard to see if the green light
winks out, but the machine can work for 24 hours+ before switching
itself off, and I can't physically watch it for that period of time!

Does anyone know if there is a compatibility problem with any of the
parts I have listed, or have any suggestions about the cause?

Any feedback is more than welcome as I have received no help whatsoever
from my supplier Overclockers UK.

Thanks!
Mart


(My reply)

A symtom like this is almost always caused by a bad power supply. Even
brand new power supplies can be bad. -Dave

 

[RussellS]

Hi Mart,

Spontaneous shutdowns, as you know, can be caused by all sorts of things.
You're on the right road to narrowing down the possible causes of your
problem. Since you've witnessed the power-off while outside of the OS, the
most likely candidates in your case would be hardware-related and could
include:

1. Motherboard/Case mounting short (motherboard standoffs/improper
metal-to-metal connection somewhere/case power/case reset button(s) loose or
shorted)
2. Defective power supply or loose plug contact, either to the motherboard
or to the main power cable, including damaged cables/plugs
3. Defective chipset/sensor or other motherboard component, including
damaged capacitors/damaged leads
4. Incorrect BIOS setting/corrupt BIOS/immature BIOS (especially with
incompatible voltage/memory timings/FSB speeds, etc.)
5. Defective Processor
6. Insufficient/improper mounting of CPU/chipset cooling solution

Does the system power off and stay off until powered up manually, or does it
spontaneously reboot? Has this occurred while or just after physically
moving the case in any way? Are you absolutely sure that the building power
source is stable (is your system attached to a Battery UPS-Uninterruptible
Power Supply?)
--
Russell
http://tastycomputers.com


For the last 2 weeks I have been trying to work out why my computer,
recently built from brand new parts, switches itself off at random.
Sometimes it switches off in the BIOS, sometimes in Windows, sometimes
after playing a game, sometimes it DOESN'T, even after 6 hours of
hard gaming (Oblivion, WOW etc).

My parts
· Asus A8N-SLI SE Motherboard
· Antec Truepower 2.0 550W ATX 12.0v
· Sapphire PCI-Express Radeon 1900XT 512MB
· AMD Athlon 64 4000+
· 2 * Crucial 1GB DDR PC-3200
· Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740 10000RPM
· OCUK Value Estar BENZ Case
· ASUS DVD rewriter (Can't remember the make/model)
· "Generic" Floppy Disk Drive
The DVD and Floppy drive have been "borrowed" from another home
built system and work fine.

Checks that I've made
· Memory sticks one at a time
· Kettle lead
· 4-way extension lead
· House (in case there was a house electricity fault)
· Tested CPU and mobo temperature (BIOS and PC Probe - both WELL
within tolerance, even under load. The fact that the computer can
switch off without being under load eliminates temperature)
· Disconnected the power on switch from the case, and boot up from
pressing "space bar"
· Drivers (the comp can switch off in the BIOS)
· Disabled Case fan

The computer has never crashed, and when it works, it is a dream.
It's like someone is pulling the kettle lead out from the back; It
just dies. I have watched the motherboard to see if the green light
winks out, but the machine can work for 24 hours+ before switching
itself off, and I can't physically watch it for that period of time!

Does anyone know if there is a compatibility problem with any of the
parts I have listed, or have any suggestions about the cause?

Any feedback is more than welcome as I have received no help whatsoever
from my supplier Overclockers UK.

Thanks!
Mart

 

[johns]

Well, another ASUS rebooter. What else is new?

johns

 

[SteveH]

Well, another ASUS rebooter. What else is new?

johns

Well another Johns pointless Asus rant, That fault could be caused by lots
of things, not just the mobo.
In fact, if it were mine I would look at borrowing another PSU to try.

SteveH

 

[John Doe]

For the last 2 weeks I have been trying to work out why my
computer, recently built from brand new parts, switches itself off
at random. Sometimes it switches off in the BIOS, sometimes in
Windows, sometimes after playing a game, sometimes it DOESN'T,
even after 6 hours of hard gaming (Oblivion, WOW etc).

Have you considered bad house current?

You could take it to a friend's house I guess.

Seems that dips in mains/house current caused my computer to
restart. Since buying a cheap voltage regulator (line conditioner),
that doesn't happen anymore.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[wileywilson]

Thanks for your reply RussellS. Please see my answers below...

Hi Mart,

1. Motherboard/Case mounting short (motherboard standoffs/improper
metal-to-metal connection somewhere/case power/case reset button(s) loose or
shorted)

I have disconnected the Power and Reset switch and am booting from
pressing the "Space" bar. I wanted to eliminate the case. The mobo is
firmly mounted on the standoffs which screw into the case.

2. Defective power supply or loose plug contact, either to the motherboard
or to the main power cable, including damaged cables/plugs

2 other computers I have built in my house have run very well for
years. This is the 1st 24 pin PSU I have bought (PCI express mobo), so
I can't try another PSU from another computer as they are 20 pin.
However, I have just remembered that there is a 4 pin connector which
can be "removed" from the 24 pin to make it a 20 pin. I will try the
new "20-pin" PSU in another computer, though if I don't have a problem,
it could mean the 4 pin connector is faulty and I will have no other
way of testing this.

3. Defective chipset/sensor or other motherboard component, including
damaged capacitors/damaged leads

If all the other parts work, it could well be the mobo

4. Incorrect BIOS setting/corrupt BIOS/immature BIOS (especially with
incompatible voltage/memory timings/FSB speeds, etc.)

I will make sure my BIOS is up to date, though I'm 99% certain it is

5. Defective Processor

Could be. I will see if I can put it in one of the other computers

6. Insufficient/improper mounting of CPU/chipset cooling solution

I thought this too, though it has switched off minutes after switch on
and sometimes I can play a demanding game like Oblivion for hours and
hours with no problems whatsoever. Over 24 hours is the longest I have
had it on without problems, and I though it had "fixed" itself. Then
the next day, it switched itself off 3 times in 2-3 hours.

Does the system power off and stay off until powered up manually, or does it
spontaneously reboot?

The power stays off and needs to be powered on manually

Has this occurred while or just after physically
moving the case in any way?

No, I never move the case when the computer is on. The power down is
when the case is "untouched"

Are you absolutely sure that the building power
source is stable (is your system attached to a Battery UPS-Uninterruptible
Power Supply?)

I have tried the computer in 2 houses. Also during one weekend's LAN
party, the other 2 computers were fine whilst mine kept on switching
off *cry*

BTW I have spoken to Antec and they say there isn't a compatibility
issue with the Truepower 550W PSU and the Asus A8N-SLi SE mobo

Thanks for your continued help!
Mart

 

[RussellS]

Sorry to hear about your continued problems. Your power supply is a quality
model and is compatible with your system. In order to completely rule out a
case short, is there any hidden case wiring or plugs going on behind your
motherboard? Is the I/O panel firmly in place and not touching any metal
contact points on your motherboard? I doubt a case-to-motherboard short at
this point, as typical behavior would be a reboot, and not a power down.

Having mentioned the fact that you can go a day without the problem, then
have it occur in a couple minutes on another day would tend to rule out a
temperature problem, unless one or more fans shuts down before this power
off thing happens. A modern CPU's temperature can climb extremely high in a
very short time if its fan shuts down.

If you've tested your memory thoroughly with no errors, I'd more suspect
either a faulty power supply or a bad motherboard. Physically check around
the board to see if you see anything out of the ordinary, like a blown or
leaking cap or your motherboard bent in some way. It sounds to me like
improper voltages or infrequent spikes of power being supplied to your CPU,
chipset or other onboard component might be going into your board, either
due to a damaged power supply or due to faulty power regulation on your
motherboard. Try using a software-based motherboard monitoring program to
watch for voltage irregularities.

If you can't use an alternate power supply, or the Antec PSU works reliably
in another computer, don't spend the next year troubleshooting, but try to
get an RMA replacement of the motherboard.

Good luck to you

 

[wileywilson]

Thanks for your help once again.

I am going to try
PSU in different computer
CPU in different computer
updating the BIOS
lowering the memory clock frequency (though I don't think it is this,
it is a simple check to perform)

If I still get the same results, I am going to try swapping out the PSU
first, then and if that doesn't work, will get another motherboard.

It's annoying that the retailer who supplied these parts have been so
unhelpful and provided such poor customer service. I was warned by
others that their service was terrible, and did not believe it until
these last few weeks. Anyone in the UK, avoid "Overclockers" in
Stoke-on-Trent. Unfriendly, unhelpful and refused to test the parts I
have identified as being potentially faulty. Trading Standards, here
we come!

Thanks again
Mart

 

[beepers01]

It's the PSU. I had a system built with the P5N32 SLI Deluxe and tried
that PSU and had nothing but problems. I don't care what Antec is
telling you but I switched to a better 650w PSU and no problems in 6
months. BTW Dont try the NeoPower HE 550 either that one had the same
issues.

 

[beerspill]

For the last 2 weeks I have been trying to work out why my computer,
recently built from brand new parts, switches itself off at random.
Sometimes it switches off in the BIOS, sometimes in Windows, sometimes
after playing a game, sometimes it DOESN'T, even after 6 hours of
hard gaming (Oblivion, WOW etc).

· Asus A8N-SLI SE Motherboard
· Antec Truepower 2.0 550W ATX 12.0v
· Sapphire PCI-Express Radeon 1900XT 512MB
· AMD Athlon 64 4000+
· 2 * Crucial 1GB DDR PC-3200
· Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740 10000RPM

Checks that I've made
· Memory sticks one at a time

Bad memory can cause rebooting but rarely causes shutdown.

· Kettle lead
· 4-way extension lead
· House (in case there was a house electricity fault)

Good ideas.

· Tested CPU and mobo temperature (BIOS and PC Probe - both WELL
within tolerance, even under load. The fact that the computer can
switch off without being under load eliminates temperature)

Maybe CPU temp., but power supply temperature could be another matter.
Antecs run hot because their fans run slow, at least those not made by
Seasonic.

Remove the side cover and blasting air into the computer from a big
fan. If it runs better, you have either a heat problem or iffy power
electronics - motherboard or power supply. But Antecs like your model
are known to develop bad capacitors and become weaker after time, so I
would borrow another quality power supply rated for sufficient power
and try it. Your Athlon 4000+ and Radeon 1900XT need high amounts of
power at +12V.

but the machine can work for 24 hours+ before switching
itself off, and I can't physically watch it for that period of time!

If reseating the plugs doesn't help, look for intermittent shorts
caused by the motherboard shifting slightly around its mount points
(insulate their posts & screws as needed) or flexing and touching the
case (cover contact points on case with hard material - fish paper,
wood, hard plastic).

Any feedback is more than welcome as I have received no help whatsoever
from my supplier Overclockers UK.

They're known for that, even in the US.