Strange Power Off issue

[AllGamer]

Specs (CAD engineering / 3D / graphic works):
Core2Duo 6400
ASUS P5PE-VM
2GB RAM
Generic PSU (350w ~ 400w?)
160GB SATA HDD
DVDRW
ATI X1600
Dual LCD 19"

The computer works fine, but every now and then it powers off by itself.

it's not a heat issue, it's actually too cold in the warehouse, the mobo always complains the CPU fan is low in RPM in the mornings, because it's so cold that it doesn't need to spin fast for the CPU to be cold (Core2Duo stock Fan a heat sensitive)

But after like 5 min then RPM of the stock CPU fan is at about 8000+/- RPM

So it's not a heat, nor a CPU Fan problem so far.

from the user comments, it seems like sometimes they have a hard time turning it ON, yet every time i go over i click on the power switch and it works right away.

ever ytime i've been on that computer i never experienced any power off

so i'm starting to wonder if it's a USER error, or if it might be due the PSU

Any other explanation why it might be powering off by itself?


on a side note: today i just turned off hibernation, and disabled suspend mode (i've a feeling the lady keeps hitting the wrong button in the keyboard )

yeah on of those damn keyboards that has the sleep and power buttons, horrible!!! for computer illiterate users

 

[imported_ColinT]

If that warehouse has a concrete floor your comp is probably choked with dust and the cpu heat exchanger is probably plugged.

Time for a clean-out maybe?

 

[AllGamer]

Originally posted by: ColinT
If that warehouse has a concrete floor your comp is probably choked with dust and the cpu heat exchanger is probably plugged.

Time for a clean-out maybe?

nope still clean inside i checked, is brand new about 2 weeks old

 

[imported_ColinT]

Well then, I would suggest you have your techie check that the heat sink is correctly attached - the cpu fan shouldn't 'race' in that cold environment unless the cpu is getting hot.

 

[AMCRambler]

Originally posted by: ColinT
Well then, I would suggest you have your techie check that the heat sink is correctly attached - the cpu fan shouldn't 'race' in that cold environment unless the cpu is getting hot.

He's right. It does sound like a heatsink issue. 8000rpm???? Do they even make 80mm fans that spin at 8000rpms? The fastest I knew of was the Vantec Tornado at like 6000rpm max out.
This is easy enough to check. Just boot into the bios and go to the temperature monitor and watch it. There's an overheat shut off feature in the bios and if your temp is hitting that threshold the pc will just turn off.
I had a buddy who had one of the plastic clips on a P4 hsf mount snap. So looking at it, it seemed to be mounted and was fine. But after so many minutes of running, it would start running slow and eventually lock up. I checked the temps and could see they looked kind of high, but I couldn't figure out why. Then I pushed down on the heatsink firmly seating against the chip and the temps in the monitor dropped like a rock. Could be a similar issue.

 

[AllGamer]

re: RPM... yeah, it goes up and down

average is 1600 ~ 3000 when iddle, but when under heavy load it shoots up to 8000 and then back down to 5000 or 6000 depending, and again down to iddle levels depending on the work load.

re: USER error...

yeap indeed i found out why, some how some one managed to get into the BIOS and messed up the settings, some one was trying to OC the machine :roll:

after setting all the BIOS setting back to where they should have been, it all works fine now.

the BIOS was password protected, no clue how they got in.

 

[AllGamer]

update, found the source of the problem

a BAD stick of DDR2 RAM....

who would have though i've never seen this behaviour before, yet it could have been damaged due Noobie OC-ing