Computer turns off!

[dingledow]

Hi

I have had my computer now for a few months, and sometimes it just switches off - i.e. it doesn't shut down it just goes right off. I thought it was a thermal problem with my computer so I bought a fan for the centre of the case at the front. This brought the temperature down quite a lot, but now it is the summer I am finding that it is turning off more than usual.

So, I went into the BIOS and found the temperature reading, and it was on 27oC. I covered up the fans far a few minutes and it went to about 40oC. The computer was still running in the BIOS, so I quit the BIOS screen and XP started to load up. Within a couple of seconds the computer turned off.

This makes me think that it can't be the hardware because it would have turned off in the BIOS screen. I think it must be XP because when I load it at this temperture it just turned off. I have also noticed that when it gets to about 32oC it will turn off when I have XP running.

I think I'll have to wipe the computer, and I am considering getting Vista.

Does anyone know how to fix it without wiping the computer?

 

[slayerduck]

If it just turns off without any notice it might also be the power supply. Because normally temperatures should be able to reach 50-60 degrees without any crashing.

 

[advancedgeek]

There can be 2 reasons
1) power supply isn't giving out enough power.
2) faulty motherboard temperature sensor.

I might guess it is 2 so if you find a auto shutdown temp in the bios then disable it and make sure you check it with speedfan or some utility to check your temperature. Make sure your CPU or the northbridge chipset isn't overheating. If it is 1 then I'd better get an 400W PSU if you are a normal PC user or 500 or above if you are a gamer. Depends what kind of build you have but just go for 400 if you aren't that of a gamer.

 

[dingledow]

I have already disabled the auto shut down in the BIOS, and I have a 680 Watt power supply, and it is brand new. I am thinking of upgrading eventually so what power supply do you think I should get?

Here is my pcs spec:

CPU - Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition @ 3.73GHz
PSU - Thermaltake 680 Watt
Mobo - ASUS P5N32 Sli SE Deluxe
GPU - BFG 7900GTX
HDD - Seagate 7900 rpm 500GB
Memory - 2 x 1GB Crucial Ballistix

 

[EricB]

hit f8 upon boot like you are going to safe mode. hit disable automatic restart upon system failure.

tell us the error core

 

[networkgeek]

sometimes it just switches off - i.e. it doesn't shut down it just goes right off.


copied from the OP. unfortunately that is most likely not a software problem . rebooting yes. completely loosing power is bad

last time I had that happen it was motherboard. only way to tell is to swap powersuppy and see if it still happens. if it does then you probably got a bad mobo. all the power gets routed thru the mobo from the powersupply to the power switch on case. if mobo has some kinda short then it can sometimes just cut power suddenly

 

[DerekGoodson]

Might not be the MOBO, it might be a hardware that isn't compatable with the MOBO. Might want to look in that direction. Don't rule out the Memory either.... Just a thought about when it happened to me... Let us know if you find anything...

Derek