PC shuts off, and have to remove power to start it up again

[ned4spd8874]

So I built a new box a couple years ago but recently it decided to start not working correctly. If I boot it up in Windows it will shut itself off in about 15-30 minutes. And then I can't turn it back on unless I unplug it from power and then plug it back in. I started it up in the BIOS and that stayed on for a couple hours with no problem. But again, when I tried to turn it back on, it wouldn't unless I unplugged the power.

I tested the power supply with the paper clip test and it worked that way. I'm not quite sure what else to check. I also replaced the battery on the mobo, but still no luck. I still have a hard time thinking it's not a power supply issue, but it did test fine. So I'm a bit confused and lost at what to try next.

Intel Core i7
Asus P6T Deluxe
12GB Patriot RAM
WD VelociRaptor HD (boot)
4x 1TB WD HD's (RAIDed)
2x EVGA GeForce GTX260 graphics

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Bubbaleone]

Sounds like overheating is causing the CPU to shutdown. If you're sure the PSU has sufficient overhead for your hardware, see this short tut to determine if CPU overheating is the culprit:

Test your CPU Stability with IntelBurnTest


.

 

[paul878]

Sounds like power supply is going, do you have another one to try?

 

[ned4spd8874]

I'll try that.

I did keep an eye on the temperature and it seemed fine to me. I have screenshots, but don't have the ability to attach them here. Basically when the system was first started up, the CPU temp was 58c and when it shut down, it was 56c. At least that's what the monitoring software was showing.

 

[ned4spd8874]

Sounds like power supply is going, do you have another one to try?

Even though it tested fine?

 

[cl-scott]

Even though it tested fine?

The fact that you have to remove the power to get the unit to power back up does sound like a cutout circuit in the PSU has been tripped. Two video cards and 4 HDDs can be a pretty good load on a PSU, and you may well be trying to draw too much power.

 

[ned4spd8874]

The fact that you have to remove the power to get the unit to power back up does sound like a cutout circuit in the PSU has been tripped. Two video cards and 4 HDDs can be a pretty good load on a PSU, and you may well be trying to draw too much power.

I knew I forgot to list something! It has a 1000w Corisar power supply in it. It ran for about a year before it stopped working.

 

[cl-scott]

I knew I forgot to list something! It has a 1000w Corisar power supply in it. It ran for about a year before it stopped working.

Wattage alone is not enough. Each power rail is capable of delivering some amperage level, and if you exceed that, it doesn't matter if all told you might only need 500W of power and have a 1MW PSU, the PSU is insufficient.

 

[ned4spd8874]

Wattage alone is not enough. Each power rail is capable of delivering some amperage level, and if you exceed that, it doesn't matter if all told you might only need 500W of power and have a 1MW PSU, the PSU is insufficient.

So how could I figure out if this is the case? And why did it take a year of nearly constant use to start showing this problem?

 

[SonicIce]

psu might be dying. open it up and check for leaking caps. mine leaked and started having some quirky issues but still worked.

 

[cl-scott]

So how could I figure out if this is the case? And why did it take a year of nearly constant use to start showing this problem?

Keep in mind I am just explaining the reasoning behind the original comment about the PSU dying.

However, the fact that it suddenly started happening would be a pretty classic indicator of a bad capacitor or several in the PSU. Short of opening up the PSU housing, and there are not always visible signs of trauma to a bad cap, you would need to get a multimeter and compare the readings you get against what is on the label on the PSU.