Random System Shutdowns

Van · 25 Oct 2009

Problem: Computer shuts down completely at seemingly random times without error mesages. Blank screen, no cusor. By "shutdown" I mean totally off, the restart button does not work, need to use start button.
Symptoms: Shutdowns occur when/on
- startup, get a motherboard company's (XFX) splash screen then shutdown
- get past splash and into POST/BIOS log screens then shutdown
- get past bios log, opens in safe mode then shuts down before any choices are made
- gets to screen allowing selection of safe modes or normal windows boot, either choice results in shut down
- On rare occasions I can get into safe mode for a bit then shuts down
- on very rare occasions windows 7 starts then shuts down at random spots after about 1-2 minutes or less.
- I seem to progress farther into the boot process if I pull the AC plug and plug it back in.
.
When it started: I upgraded from Vista 64 to Windows 7. All went well until I was testing if some older games would run. Part way into Half-Life 2, Episode 2 then the system shut down (that may not be related to the game though as Neverwinter Nights 2 MOB worked just fine). My Vista 64 had worked perfecty for over a year.

What I have tried (other than unpluging AC and replugging)
- Tried to make some memory and CPU speed/clock changes on the few times I could access setup before shutdown.
- Uninstalled non-compatibles
- Drivers are up to date.

My Rig:
Chasis: Thermaltake, Full Tower, 1000W, Liquid Cooled
Motherboard: XFX nForce Ultra SLI 790I
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz
Memory: 4Gig Corsair DDR3 1600MHz
GPUs: Four XFX GeForce 9800GX2 DDR3 in Quad SLI for 2 gig
Other standard stuff (hard drives, cd/dvd, zboard, logitech mouse)

Zidane24 · 26 Oct 2009

First...

Are you by chance Overclocking? How is the heat dissipation in the case? Have you updated your BIOS lately?

It could also be an issue with your PSU

Van · 26 Oct 2009

Thank you Zidane. Case heat dissipation fine plus the liquid cooling of the cpu. Not over clocking.. in fact I am under clocking at 1333, versus the mfg ratings of 1600. I also suspect either the PSU or the fact that I do not have NVidia's latest 191.07 driver installed and, because of the shut downs I am unable to install it. When I did get into safe mode and checked the current driver, the "update driver" selection states my driver is up to date (?). I have not updated BIOS since I installed the MB one year ago.

wallyinnc · 26 Oct 2009

Van, welcome to the forums

1) What part of HL2/2 were you at? Can it be zombie infestation?
Just kidding... :) I love the game

2) You say it works better after unplugging. I would suggest updating the BIOS and maybe even resetting the CMOS.

3) Related to that: have you tested your memory? Fail to boot is in many cases related to the memory being unstable. Have you also tried to clock it at specified speed? I remember seeing a post where the user was having problems because of underclocking (I can't remember details)

I hope any of this helps. Let us know your progress.

chev65 · 26 Oct 2009

The Default bus speed for the E8500 is in fact 1333MHz not 1600. So for now it might help to run the "Linked and Synked" memory setting with both the FSB and the memory speed at 1333. Filter Summary

You also will want to set your memory up to manufacture specs on timings and voltage using the 2T setting at the end of your timings which should be more stable for you. It might also help to set the SPP voltage to 1.45.

Van · 29 Oct 2009

The culprit was the cooling system. The coolant was way low and the CPU was over heating. That, plus tightening the screws on the coolant block on the CPU fixed the problem. Thanks to all of you for your replies!!

Zidane24 · 29 Oct 2009

I am glad to see you managed to get it fixed!

wallyinnc · 30 Oct 2009

Thanks Van. First time I see we solving a mechanical problem here! :)