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Random shutdown while upright, fine on its side; not overheating

C

chzxmnky

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 5, 2005
Messages
138
Hello friends,

I've had my computer (the one in my signature) for over four years. As of two weeks ago, it's been randomly shutting down. Sometimes it shuts down after a few hours of gaming, sometimes it shuts down a few seconds after booting and requires several attempts to start, and everything in between.

I laid it on its side to open and inspect it a couple times and noticed that each time its on its side, it seems to work fine for several hours without shutting down. I've heard that these symptoms typically indicate a loose CPU heatsink that, when the tower is vertical, is loose enough for the CPU to overheat and the comp to shut down.

However, my initial concern was heat so I've been monitoring temps for two weeks and there hasn't been anything out of the ordinary.

Does anyone have an explanation as to why my computer is working fine on its side and not while its upright that doesn't have to do with overheating?

Thanks for your time!
 
I had a similar instance myself and, unfortunately, the loose CPU cooler was the exact same reason I found.

Have you tried removing and reattaching the CPU cooler to confirm whether or not that's the problem? (If you go that route, you should replace the old thermal compound with some new material.)
 
You could also reseat the RAM - take each stick out of the slot and put it back in, making sure they're locked in and the clasps on the ends are closed.
 
Thanks for your suggestions, guys. I guess I haven't been able to COMPLETELY rule out how securely the cpu/heatsink is attached.

I'll get some thermal compound soon and try re-seating it, as well as checking my RAM. It's been a little while for me but is Arctic Silver 5 still the way to go? Haha

Thanks for your help.
 
I had a zalman cooler once that was so damn big and heavy that it did the exact same thing. It like twisted ever so slightly from the weight (1 or 2 degrees tops). My temps were fine - but I'd get random shutdowns. I knew that was it because I could grab the heatsink and wiggle it ever so slightly, and boom I'd get the crash. Once I replaced the heatsink, I stopped having the problem. Maybe you still have the original crappy intel heatsink laying around? Install that and see if the issue goes away? That would confirm the issue but not cost any $

The other thing I've seen is with the PCIe slots. I helped a guy out with crashes and failed boots that were a result of the case overflexing the video card in the expansion slot. You know how sometimes the cases don't quite line up with the expansion slots? ya that. It was popping the tail end of the card out of the slot ever so slightly, and a good firm push back in place was all it took to fix the issue.

I guess "pull everything out and reseat it well" is an annoying, but probably good first step. I'd say this includes power connectors as well... Because I mean think about it logically - it has to be something physical - otherwise it would happen all the time. The only other thing that makes sense could be local thermal hotspots, say when the case is vertical - but if that's your issue - you need new fans and a case anyway. Something's got to be loose...
 
GENIUS! I'll try to locate the original stock cooler. It's probably in a box somewhere...

I'm also aware that "pull everything out and reseat it well" is a good place to start, but I've definitely been procrastinating it.

Thanks for your suggestion. I'm starting to feel optimistic after these last two very frustrating weeks.
 
Update:

So I cleaned and re-seated the CPU heatsink/fan and, initially, it seemed to fix everything. Everything worked fine for a few days, but the same symptoms showed up again. I'm also noticing that on some occasions, when I press the power button, it starts for a second, then shuts off, and then starts again, over and over after only one button press.

I got frustrated this morning so I tried setting my tower on its side again and that fixed it immediately!

Does anyone have any suggestions at this point? Other than leaving my computer on its side...

Thanks!
 
when you leave it on it's side, is the side panel off allowing more air to circulate?
 
I've tried with both the side panel on and off and that makes no difference. I don't think it's an overheating issue, as I've been monitoring temperatures and they are not unusual.

Another thing I've noticed this week is that sometimes when I bump my desk, the computer shuts down. Something's gotta be loose in there. I'll try a full breakdown and re-install soon and will report back here.

As for the suggestion about getting a new CPU cooler, I'll consider it after I try all of the inexpensive solutions haha.
 
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