computer powers off suddenly

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steph42

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Okay, I am trying to rehab a computer for the kids. It is a 7 year old AsusTek I got from Staples. It keeps shutting suddenly off. When it happens, it just powers down completely. The only way to restart it is to unplug the power cord , turn the power source off then on, then press the start button on the front.
I have replaced the power source with a more powerful, brand new one. It is not a failing power supply.
I have switched out the harddrive with a different harddrive. It is not a virus.
All fans are working quietly and efficiently. There are two fans in the case, and a third in the power supply.
Unfortunately, I can't keep the machine on long enough to download any diagonostic tools...so I must rely on process of elimination. What could be causing this.... I am a new power supply and two new sticks of ram into this machine, so I am dedicated to getting an answer. Any thoughts?
 
remount your cpu heatsink with new thermal paste. Ensure the fan is running and clean of dust.

Do you have enough time to check temps in bios?

If you boot to a live cd does it power off as well?
 
okay, have booted to disk and got a freeze, it would not accept any key entries. I am willing to reformat this drive if need be, no problem there, but remember, I switched the drive out once and got the shut down, so it seems like it cannot be a problem with the OS. I have just booted straight into bios, and system temp is 25c and cpu temp is 81c. I have not get applied thermal paste because I have not yet gotten to Frys (it's early AM here). I am in Bios now, and have been running for about 10 minutes, I will stay there for as long as I am home and see if I get no shutdown. I will get back to you, unless this info gives you further insight. Thanks
 
yeah cpu temp of 81C in bios is way too high. Remount and check fan. Without knowing all of the details, assuming stock clocks with a stock heatsink and average ambient temps I would expect a bios temp of 30 to 45C. Most cpus will shut down around 100C
 
Ditto. Almost certainly a CPU heat problem. Must be completely clean surfaces and then have fresh thermal compound applied in a thin, even coat. I prefer Arctic Silver, since it spreads easily. Thick pastes are a hassle to get spread thin and even, but if that's what you have, try using a plastic sheet to help apply and spread.

Seven years ago, not all CPUs had fans. Does your heat-sink have a fan? if not, then maybe you should upgrade to a heat-sink/fan, or maybe add a fan on top? For upgrades, it's sometimes not worth sinking extra money into it. I sometimes just cannibalize a fan from other junk parts on the shelf and screw and/or Epoxy the fan onto the CPU heat-sink. Whatever works.
 
Yep most likely sounds like overheating, Don't run your CPU while it's running that hot lol it's dangerous, just apply some thermal paste, get a new heatsink or clean your old one out and see how it goes from there :) anything up to 55c is acceptable IMO.
 
Okay, just got home from work, machine has been running all day with no shut down, running only in BIOS, so no actual processing work going on (?) I guess? Does everyone still think cpu is overheating? I will remount if that is the general concensus. I am wondering why it didn't turn off in Bios if it is purely an overheating issue and since I am a student, please educate me. Thanks everyone. Steph42
 
Well either way 80C is way too hot and requires a remount. If that does not fix the problem we will look into other alternatives.

remount and get a program like realtemp or hw monitor to check temps in windows.
 
Okay, just got home from work, machine has been running all day with no shut down, running only in BIOS, so no actual processing work going on (?) I guess? Does everyone still think cpu is overheating? I will remount if that is the general concensus. I am wondering why it didn't turn off in Bios if it is purely an overheating issue and since I am a student, please educate me. Thanks everyone. Steph42

Basically buy some MX2 Thermal paste.. It's the best stuff apparently Here:

Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease

Clean the old thermal off your CPU. get some isopropryl alcohol and clean it off or scrape it off with a flathead screwdriver, but that will scratch your CPU. Remount and clean the heatsink, you should be getting temps of around between 20-60 hopefully. let us know steph :).
 
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