Shut Down

[dldbrandon]

I have a custom built PC that I have had for almost two years. It worked for about 6 months. Then I started having issues. Currently the computer stays up for less than two minutes before turning off. It's consistently around the same time. It doesn't matter what I'm doing. I have a completely fresh install of Windows 7. I have reformatted a number of times. I doubt that I have enough time to open up the event viewer.

System Specs.

MOBO: Gigabyte EP45-UD3P

Video: XFX 4870x2, Calibre 9800GT (Not at the same time)

Memory: Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 2GB (I sent one stick back on RMA but the same problem continues)

PSU: Corsair 750 TX

HD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB

DVD: Lite-on 24X iHAS124

CPU: Intel Core 2 DUO E8400 (Replaced the thermal compound with Arctic Silver)

Thank you, and much appreciated

 

[Harvey]

Suggestions:

1. Your PSU could be overheating. Blow it out with an air can. Blow out the fan(s), and stick the plastic extender through the fan blades to blow out the inside. If any significant dust come out, open it up and do a better job of blowing it out.

2. Check your case and vid card fans for dust and blow them out as well. If any of them is sticking or making noise, you can also hit up the bearings with WD-40.

3. Check the power capacitors. Those are the tall cylindrical components on your motherboard and vid card. If the tops of any of them are dome shaped, instead of flat, or there is any apparent leakage around the bottom, that could be causing the problem.

If you find any that look bad, and your mobo or vid card is still under warranty, RMA the part. If it isn't under warranty, and you're experienced with a soldering iron, you can try replacing any caps that appear faulty, but it's dicey because you can break internal connections on a multi-layer circuit board when removing old through hole components.

Since you already sent one stick of RAM back, the other stick may be bad, as well. Have you tested the board with completely different RAM?

Have you tried another vid card?

When you applied Arctic Silver, I hope you used the very thinnest possible coating. Heatsink compound is intended to fill microscopic gaps between the CPU's cooling surface and the mating surface of the HS. Any more than the thinnest coat actually impedes thermal transfer from the chip to the HS.

Hope that helps.

 

[dldbrandon]

I have used another card, the 9800 gt. I carefully followed the directions on the Arctic Silver Website. I've worked with electronics before, and the Capacitors appear to be in good condition. I will get on the rest later