Computer Shut-downs

[Mewt]

For almost a month now, my computer has been just shutting down "randomly", as in, the whole computer just turns off instantly, no BSOD, nothing, just a black screen and all the LEDs on the case shut down, along with the CPU and, well, everything.

I say "randomly" because I found out it was only happening when I started running anything that put stress on my CPU; in my case, as an avid gamer (okay, addicted one at that), the culprit at hand was WoW, TF2, BF2142, etc. etc. etc.

At first, I thought I had some sort of malware. So I ran several tests and scans, and tried as hard as my knowledge allows to get rid of it, and I even reformatted to be safe. This didn't fix the problem however

Then I thought it might a cooling problem. With quick some deft google searches, I got this program called SpeedFan that monitors your CPU temperature (among other things), and discovered that when a game was active, my CPU temp would steadily climb to an alarming 120 degrees Celsius! This was clearly a problem, and I was pretty sure that the computer was shutting down because the temp was breaking the critical trip point

I solved the problem temporarily for a few days by popping open the side of my case and pointing a conventional house fan towards the inside of the case. This dropped the temperature of the CPU to around 80C when playing a game, and there were no crashes for awhile. However, a couple days after this "solution" apparently, my computer was no longer happy with 80C and began shutting down again at this point.

I decided my case has terrible venting (it was an NZXT Trinity Mid-Tower) and bought a new one (NZXT Zero Full-Tower case), and decided to upgrade my video cards in the process and bought two eVGA 8800 GTS' for the hell of it. With the new case, my CPU reportedly idles at about 35C and while playing a game, levels out at about 70C, then STILL SHUTS DOWN. Argh. Is 70 still too hot? I thought maybe my fan and heatsink is broken or something, but I don't know how to tell. Speedfan reports my cpu fan going at 3100 RPM (which is fast I think?)

Here's a basic list of specs

CPU: AMD Athlon64 FX-60 Dual Core Processor 2600MHz
RAM: 3x 512 MB Corsair Value Select (can't remember anything else about these)
GPU: 2x EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
Motherboard: ASUS A8N32-SLi Deluxe
PSU: 800W BFG
OS: Windows XP Professional SP2 32bit


Errr, not sure what I missed, ask me and I'll try to supply information.

Sorry I made my issue so wordy, but I don't want to leave out any detail that might be important.

 

[CoachB]

Have you tried removing the Heatsonk and re-applying thermal compound?? While you are at it clean any dust from the heatsink and fans.

 

[Trashman]

If that case is the one i'm thinkin that has like like 4 or 5 fans than that pretty much rules out airflow in case, so it must be something with h/s fan on cpu, if using a stock fan, i'd probably consider getting a better aftermarket h/s fan or re-apply compound as suggested above.

 

[Mewt]

Yeah, I thought maybe the thermal paste went bad, so I reapplied it yesterday night, with no real results, except another drop in cpu temp of about 5C. It is stock fan, yes.

 

[TemjinGold]

I'm inclined to think you now have either a bad mobo and/or bad cpu because you say you'd had this problem "for almost a month." That means you've been continously subjecting those components to up to 120C for almost a month. 70C load isn't good but it shouldn't be fatal either, so I suspect the continued shutdowns are the result of damage already being done.

 

[Mewt]

Is there a way I can tell for sure? All of my WoW account sell money is disappearing pretty fast at this rate.

 

[TemjinGold]

Your best course of action would be to get another mobo and test with that.

 

[webada]

120c indicates not just a bad compound but a poorly installed cpu heatsink, a poor contact from heatsink base to cpu.
70c is high but not outrageous and shouldn't cause to shutdown.

Did you install ASUS mobo utility (i forgot the name) it can actually show you all the thermal readings on the board much better than speedfan.

oh and 3100rpm is normal stock fan speed at load.

also, try running with ONE 8800. wow is not THAT graphic intensive and you certainly don't need the 100fps as you would in FPS games...

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Try pressing lightly on the heat sink while the system is running, sometimes this can help fix contact issues with the cpu. If the problem goes away and temps return to normal then you either have a poorly seated heat sink, too much/not enough compound or an uneven heatsink