Computer Powers Down by itself

[Houston11]

I finished building my computer about two months ago, and it has been running great since I built it. However, two weeks ago, I the mistake of trying to install too much hardware at once. I installed an extra 1 Gig of RAM, a wireless network card, a flash memory card reader and a Floppy Drive. Foolishly, I stuck all of these components in the box at the same time, and tried to boot up. When I tried, the fans and the LEDs on the computer would power on for less than a second, but they would go out, and the computer would not start up.

I took everything out that I had installed earlier, and tried rebooting again. However, the problem remained. I took the computer to a local electronics superstore (Fry?s), and their repair technicians diagnosed a bad power supply. They showed me where the molex connector to the floppy drive had been burned, and was melted. I put a new 500 watt power supply in the computer, and it boots up just fine. However, now the power to the computer shuts off after about 15 minutes of use.

I think it has something to do with the temperature of the computer. My CPU temperature gauge is not working, but when my Hard Drive gauge reaches about 35 degrees Celsius, the whole computer powers down. Plus, the computer will run longer if I start it up cold. If I try restarting after it shuts down, it won?t even make it through the boot up process.

I am afraid I might have somehow damaged the motherboard or the processor. Before I go out and get a new motherboard or processor, I wanted to see if anyone had any ideas on what might be wrong. Any assistance is appreciated.

ASPIRE X-Navigator ATXA8NW-AL/500 Silver/Black Computer Case (500 Watt Power supply)

SOLTEK SL-K8TPro-939 Socket 939 VIA K8T800 Pro ATX AMD Motherboard

CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (4 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory Model VS1GBKIT400

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 6Y200P0 200GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA133 Hard Drive (Master)

Samsung 160GB IDE Hard Drive (Slave)

CPU AMD 64 |3500+ ATHLON 64 939P %

ZALMAN CNPS7000B-AlCu LED 2 Ball Blue LED Light Cooling Fan

MSI Geforce 6600GT 128MB DDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card

Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2

DVD Burner

 

[dphantom]

your MOBO is fried...very probably. I think your outta luck.

 

[stevty2889]

What brand is this 500w PSU..500w is meaningless if it's generic with a weak 12v rail, which I suspect. Is the heatsink on your CPU hot to the touch? Have you tried using motherboard monitor or speedfan to monitor your temps? It's highly unlikely that the proccessor was damaged. It's most likely a heat or power supply issue.

 

[Houston11]

Thanks for your comments. I replaced the old power supply with the exact same model that the case came with -- ASPIRE ATX-AS500W BK12V 500W Power Supply. I don't have the box or the manual that came with it, but the product name seems to indicate that it does have the weak 12v rail that you mentioned. Is there another power supply that you would reccomend?

I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to building computers, so I had not done any of your suggestions before I saw your email. Tonight when I get home, I will test the cooling fan to see if it is hot to touch. I am not familiar with motherboard monitor or speedfan, but I will install them on my computer tonight. What should I be looking for when I install this software? If it is a heat issue, what would be a typical solution?

 

[Houston11]

Last night I installed Speedfan, and ran my computer until it powered off. All of the temperatures readings on Speedfan seemed normal except for one reading. It was titled "Remote", and it climbed all the way to 115 Celsius before the computer powered down. When it powered down, I felt the heat sink, and it did not feel very hot at all. I don't know what temperature gauge "Remote" is, but it looks like that might be the problem. Any ideas on where Speedfan is pulling this heat reading from?

 

In most systems I've seen, that value is the GPU Core temperature, that is, the temperature of the central processor of your graphics card. Might want to check and be sure the GPU fan is still operating after your little "incident", and that the heatsink is properly seated.

 

[stevty2889]

If your heatsink didn't feel hot, it could very well be the CPU overheating..if it's making good contact it should be warm, although like SergeC said, there is a good chance that is your GPU temp being reported as well, so make sure the fan is working properly on your graphics card.

 

[Houston11]

Stevty2889,

Based on your comment, I think I have finally found the problem. In order to check whether the GPU fan was running, I turned the computer over on its side. When I did this, I found that the computer can run indefinately. The "remote" temperature in Speedfan is still high (80 Celsius), but the computer will run. I guess the CPU fan is not contacting the CPU. It actually feels a little loose on its mounting. I guess I need to reinstall the CPU fan. Any suggestions on how to do this? Do I need to clean off the thermal paste?

Thanks for all your help with this.

 

[stevty2889]

When you re-mount the heatsink, you will need to clean off the old thermal paste, and apply a new coat. Be sure to keep it a very thin layer, too much paste is just as bad as not enough.