• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Reasons for a computer to randomly shut down?

V

VeZ

Member
This morning I was playing WoW along with some music from iTunes. My computer shut down and i waited a minute or two and tried to start it back up again but it wouldn't turn on. I took the computer apart and cleaned out the dust and such but I dont think that was the problem, because usually the dust just makes my computer run hot and just restarts it. I was just wondering what factors could be the cause of my computer shutting off an not wanting to come back on. I had been running it for about a week straight and one of my buddies said it couldve been from running out of virtual memory

Athlon 64 3000+
1 gig ram
nvid 6800 ultra

Thanks, hope i stated the problem clearly
 
Well the virtual memory thing is retarded. My computer has been running for the past 4 months. I say one of your parts fried.
 
Virtual memory shouldn't do that. Run prime 95 and see if you can't make it crash again. A prime suspect has to be the PSU for random reboots, they degrade over time and cheap ones faster than others. But the main reason they are a prime suspect is that they are so easy to blame and so hard to test without just swapping them out 😉
 
Well the strange thing is that im using the computer right now and everything seems normal, if a part was fried i doubt it wouldve started up again. It couldve ben overheating but would that of cause me to not see any power start up at all when i press the power button?
 
i think its an antec..somewhere in the 400 range, i bought it reading some good reviews on it and i havent had many probs in the past with it
 
Both 😉

Antec do good budget PSUs, but they also have had issues with the capacitors overheating and dying over time. Could be that the PSU, while it should have enough juice is failing on you. In which case the problem will get worse over time as the caps degrade further. It'll probably happen more when it's hot, especially if the computer's been on a while. If you've got access to a digital (or analoge) multimeter then you could test the voltages.

However it could be something completely different. As it didn't want to turn back on again it sounds like it's a hardware issue rather than software, but it could be the hard drive overheating, the RAM starting to suffer or something else. *shrug*
 
I've had this issue in the past. Most of the time, it's usually power related. Either the PSU was bad or the motherboard was undervolting the CPU or some other component for some reason. If it's the later, it's just a simple matter of upping the voltage in the BIOS to compensate.

The last time I experienced this issue, it was completely unrelated to either. My current Soltek SL-K8TPro-939 has been running great for a while, but it didn't always use to do this. The system would periodically reboot or lockup, and generally exhibit the same behavior you've described. After months of troubleshooting and an RMA, I finally isolated the issue to the AGP. This motherboard simply could not run reliably at 8x AGP with any video card at all, whether it be nVidia or ATI. Forcing 4x AGP in the BIOS and the drivers corrected the problem and it has been rock solid ever since.
 
PSU limitations or overheating are the common causes of unexpected shutdowns. Make sure your hardware monitor software has its limit settings, alarms and actions set properly.

.bh.
 
because usually the dust just makes my computer run hot and just restarts it.
Click to expand...

If your computer is frequently overheating to the point of crashing/rebooting, it could easily overheat to the point of shutting down the PSU (which then would probably refuse to restart for a few minutes). Fix your heat problems and/or check for faulty hardware (memtest86+, Prime95, yadda yadda yadda).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top