WD HD shuts down automatically...why?

[Big8oy]

I have a WD 100GB SE HD and when I have been playing a game for about 1-2 hrs the hard drive just shuts down and then the computer reboots as in reposts. It doesn't happen all the time but has happened about 4-5 times in the last 1-2 months. I don't know what is wrong. It seems to only happen while i am playing games cuz it hasn't happened while i am surfing or anything else. Also I am downloading stuff too while I am gaming, not sure if this can cause the problem but just thought i'd put that in there. I've had the hard drive for about 8 months now.

Here is my rig
Intel P4 2.53 o/c 2.85Ghz
ASUS P4B533-E
512mb corsair XMS3200
WD 100GB SE HD
Maxtor 80GB SE HD (8mb buffer)
Enermax 431W psu
ATI Radeon 9500 Pro

Any help is much appreciated. I hope the HD is not dying cuz it's a pain to have to send the drive into WD, I dont know how long it'll take to get a new one back. Thanks

 

[EeyoreX]

What games? And do you know your temps? It could be your system is running hot when you stress it (thats why games crash the PC and surfing doesn't). You should also try to check your cables, if it is the hard drive that is in fact causing the crashes. Make sure they are all tight.

\Dan

 

[Woody419]

Originally posted by: Big8oy
I hope the HD is not dying cuz it's a pain to have to send the drive into WD, I dont know how long it'll take to get a new one back. Thanks

At first guess I would guess your problem is heat related and not hdd related because the computer reboots and starts right up. You can run the WD diagnostic every week to make sure. With a WD RMA they will send out a new hdd when you give them a credit card #, if your old drive is truly bad they will not charge your card and you are never without a hdd, this also guarantees you will return the broken hdd. The WD diagnostic program analyzes the hdd, reads the S.M.A.R.T., and gives an error code that gets you the RMA. You can't return a hdd without a RMA.

 

[Big8oy]

I was playing Spinter Cell and Age of Mythology. Not sure if it's the temp thing, but i'm running 30deg C idle and under load in prime i maxed out at 42deg C. I'm not sure if gaming would get hotter than prime, i'll have to check that out. It's weird cuz this isn't the first time i've played game on my comp. I've played Jedi Knight 2, 007 - Nightfire, and Unreal 2 completing all the single player games and it never happened to me before. I played Splinter Cell and finished that with the HDD crash only happening once. So I dunno. I was playing Age of Mythology last night and it crashed twice last night, within 20-30 mins of each shut down. I'll try making sure the cables are on tight and check the temps. Any other ideas would be helpful. Does it sound like the HDD is dying though?

Also I ran the Western Digital diagnostic and it reported no problems too, so I'm not really sure what the problem is.

 

[Woody419]

The problem is you're overclocking. Put everything back where it should be, play the games, and report back in a couple of days soldier.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Woody419
The problem is you're overclocking. Put everything back where it should be, play the games, and report back in a couple of days soldier.

Lol... exactly what I was thinking.

 

[Big8oy]

The weird thing is that I've had my system overclocked for awhile now and played games on my system with it overclocked and never had this happened to me before. So I dunno if it is really the OC that is the prob. But i guess i can try that too.

 

[arcenite]

Originally posted by: Big8oy
I have a WD 100GB SE HD and when I have been playing a game for about 1-2 hrs the hard drive just shuts down and then the computer reboots as in reposts. It doesn't happen all the time but has happened about 4-5 times in the last 1-2 months. I don't know what is wrong. It seems to only happen while i am playing games cuz it hasn't happened while i am surfing or anything else. Also I am downloading stuff too while I am gaming, not sure if this can cause the problem but just thought i'd put that in there. I've had the hard drive for about 8 months now.

Here is my rig
Intel P4 2.53 o/c 2.85Ghz
ASUS P4B533-E
512mb corsair XMS3200
WD 100GB SE HD
Maxtor 80GB SE HD (8mb buffer)
Enermax 431W psu
ATI Radeon 9500 Pro

Any help is much appreciated. I hope the HD is not dying cuz it's a pain to have to send the drive into WD, I dont know how long it'll take to get a new one back. Thanks

I have the same problem with my WD 120gb non-se! Have for a while, just ignored it. It only seems to happen when i'm done rebuilding my computer (have done it a few times) but it ceases after a day or two.. It has not happened to me in a few months, but it used to.

Bill

 

[arcenite]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: Woody419
The problem is you're overclocking. Put everything back where it should be, play the games, and report back in a couple of days soldier.

Lol... exactly what I was thinking.

I had the problem when the drive was in my non oc'd P3 733.. I thought it was a PSU problem, because it started when I got a new video card. Then I put old vid card back in and it continued to do it... So then when I got new compy I got an Antec TrueBlue 480, and STILL had the problem.. but it's died down.

Bill

 

[Big8oy]

That's not too conforting....what did the HDD ultimately do, completely stop working?

 

[arcenite]

nono.. i mean, the symptoms have died down.. drive is working like a champ... your system isn't brand new by any chance is it?

Bill

 

[Big8oy]

My system isn't brand new. Had it since Sep 02. Haven't done any changes to config except change vid card from G4 Ti4200 to ATI Radeon 9500 pro. But i made the change to the video card back in January 03.

 

[Big8oy]

Well here is my update. It's been two days and I've played my game for a couple hrs both days. Seems to be ok so far with no crashes. I guess it must have been my o/c. I dropped my fsb by 1mhz to something that i knew was stable and so now it seems to be ok. So hopefully it'll be ok from now. Thanks everyone.

 

[Woody419]