PC randomly powers off PART 2

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deadman_uk

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jun 30, 2003
Messages
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Concluding from this thread http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1295871

I wanted to make a new thread about this because a lot has happened since then.

Basically approx 2 or 3 weeks ago, for 1 and a half days, my PC would randomly power itself off. I don't mean I see the "Windows is now shutting down" screen, it would just turn itself off instantly as if I flipped the PSU power switch at the back of my PC. After numerous tests with Prime95 and memtest, and constant temperature monitoring, I didn't know what was wrong. It did this a total of 4 times in a 6 hour period. The next day, the problem went away and I was happily using my PC for 2 or 3 weeks after this... no problems.

Last night the problem returned, but this time it is happening much more frequently and much sooner than before. My pc would randomly power itself off and it doesn't matter what I am doing. I could be booting windows, I could be in a game, I could be on the desktop... it can happen at anytime. I noticed last night, when the PC turned itself off and I pressed the power button, the power would come on but as soon as I released the button, the power would go off again. It did this 3 times in a row before the power would stay on for longer than 1 second. I have uploaded a video of this:

http://rapidshare.com/files/110988554/Video_1.avi.html

I have also uploaded a 2 and a half minute video of me using my PC, then suddenly it turns itself off.

http://rapidshare.com/files/110988897/Video_2.avi.html

Sorry for the very dark videos! I took this in the dark, with my camera phone!

All this suggests power supply to me... does it to you? Could a faulty hard drive also cause this? The reason I am asking is because when I run chkdsk /f /r (if it doesn't power off) it tells me I have 8KB of bad sectors. Also when I run the Western Digital Hard Drive diagnostic tools, it fails with the following message:

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/5058/errorlu4.jpg

I have tried different power cables, plugging my PC into another outlet, plugging my hard drive into another SATA port but nothing. It is not an overheating issue, I have been running my PC with the side panel off, and been checking GPU, CPU and motherboard temperatures all the time... all good... Please help!
 
Two things, first have you looked up the failure code on the hard disk utility to see if it needs to be replaced/RMA'd? Also, I had a similar shut down problem with my spare computer and it was resolved by replacing the PSU. I'd check the HDD first, since it's showing an error, then if that doesn't fix the issue, try another PSU to see if that takes care of it. Good luck.
 
wtburnette said:
Two things, first have you looked up the failure code on the hard disk utility to see if it needs to be replaced/RMA'd? Also, I had a similar shut down problem with my spare computer and it was resolved by replacing the PSU. I'd check the HDD first, since it's showing an error, then if that doesn't fix the issue, try another PSU to see if that takes care of it. Good luck.
Click to expand...

How would I see what the failure code means? It is number 65

Yes, chkdsk says there is 8kb in bad sector... how would I fix this? I ran chkdsk with the /f and /r and that didn't fix it...

adamvk said:
Does it do this with a specific program?
Click to expand...

No, happens randomly. Even when I first turn on my PC.
 
2 questions...

1) Can a faulty or dying hard drive (or one with bad sectors on it) cause a computer to completely power off at random intervals?

2) Can a build up of dust inside the CPU heatsink cause the PC to power off randomly (even when the CPU temperature is in the low to mid 50c?)
 
wondering why no one's asked about his voltage rails yet?

1)no
2) is that 50c load you're talking about, or idle? why haven't you cleaned it anyway?

I have a hard time believing that you're orthos stable. sorry I can't view the vids as I'm at work.
 
I'm guessing he has the Antec Neopower HE 550-watt PSU here: http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=28550

According to that output table, he's got three 12v rails for a total for 54amps. Looks like enough to me. I'd try disconnecting CD\DVD and\or the extra HDD to see if it behaves any differently. Definitely try another PSU if you have one. Anything to narrow it down to a few suspect components (ideally one, of course).
 
The 50C temperature of the CPU is not idle. Idle temp is around 45C. I just cleaned the heatsink, a lot of dust came out, I also cleaned everywhere else inside, it bought the PC idle temperature of the CPU down to 40C now which is good but problem still exists. When gaming or doing other stressful tasks, the temperature doesn't pass 56C.

I ran memtest for 2 hours just now with the Hard drive disconnected... didn't go off once. I have now plugged the hard drive back in but disconnected both disc drives (CD and DVD). I will see what happens now.
 
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