Computer powers up, then pretty much turns off straight away

johant

Member
Hey guys

When i turn my pc on it will load to the desktop then after a few seconds it will will cut out. After that i switch it back on it will not even make it through the boot sequence.
I thought that it may be overheating and checked for dust around the GPU and power supply however there wasnt really any dust there.

My PC is in a conservatory and when it started happening it was when we were having the heat wave in the summer and it was hitting 40 odd degrees, so i put it to that. However now its winter and its not hot in the office it still does it.

Has the heat done some damage to the pc and what should i be looking at to see about fixing it.

PC Specs are

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 912 PLUS MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD FX-8370 Eight Core CPU (4.00-4.30GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A97 LE R2.0 (DDR3, USB3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X FURY DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 960 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
1st Storage Drive
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H55 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

any help would be appreciated
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Check the cooler visually. Is it attached properly over the CPU? There will be screws holding it in place; are any of them loose? When the PC starts up does the CPU cooler fan (the fan on the radiator) spin? Are all the cables from the CPU cooler connected properly?
 

johant

Member
Check the cooler visually. Is it attached properly over the CPU? There will be screws holding it in place; are any of them loose? When the PC starts up does the CPU cooler fan (the fan on the radiator) spin? Are all the cables from the CPU cooler connected properly?

thanks for the responce

the fan spins and the screws are tight with the CPU
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
The easy way to check whether it's Windows or a hardware issue is to boot the Windows install DVD, if that cuts out as well then it's definitely hardware - and since it was cutting out in the summer then an overheating CPU is quite likely.

If you're talking about 40 degrees then you're not in the UK I think? We only rarely get to 40 degrees in the summer here on Crete......
 

johant

Member
You would think we wouldn't get 40degrees we were hitting about 30-32 But my office is a conservatory without a solid roof so got insanely hot on there. Enough to make you sweat

Silly question should the fan from the cpu cooler be blowing in or out?
 
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johant

Member
The easy way to check whether it's Windows or a hardware issue is to boot the Windows install DVD, if that cuts out as well then it's definitely hardware - and since it was cutting out in the summer then an overheating CPU is quite likely.

If you're talking about 40 degrees then you're not in the UK I think? We only rarely get to 40 degrees in the summer here on Crete......


so i got home and booted the machine up and sat in the bios wanted to check the temperature, and watched the CPU go up to 120 before deciding to switch it off.

So im assuming with this that the cpu cooler is fubard? i can hear the liquid in it when it boots up. and i can feel it blowing out air when its switched on.
on the other hand it couldn't be anything to do with the thermal paste or anything like that could it?
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
on the other hand it couldn't be anything to do with the thermal paste or anything like that could it?
It could indeed.

The cooler itself might be fine, it could be the contact with the CPU, and/or the thermal paste. You could try a repaste.

This video gives a fair overview of cleaning and repasting a CPU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDkz_9AQQ-g
There are a million and 1 videos on "what is the best thermal paste application method?" and it's easy to get in a tizz over, but really there's little difference and the pea-sized-blob method is probably the least difficult to screw up. Arctic Silver recommend it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYwHB2P6GmM so that's fine by me.

You can get kits of thermal paste cleaner by Arctic Silver ("Arcticlean") - I have one, very handy for novices like me - and you'll need some thermal paste and a lint-free cloth. You don't need to buy very expensive thermal paste, Arctic Silver MX4 MX5 or whatever's about a fiver from a good brand will do fine.

It's worth getting this stuff and doing a repaste as if you do have to replace your CPU cooler you'll need to repaste then (as you would any time you remove a CPU cooler from the CPU).

I thought that it may be overheating and checked for dust around the GPU and power supply however there wasnt really any dust there.
You've dusted the CPU cooler fan and radiator with compressed air, yes?
 
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johant

Member
It could indeed.

The cooler itself might be fine, it could be the contact with the CPU, and/or the thermal paste. You could try a repaste.

This video gives a fair overview of cleaning and repasting a CPU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDkz_9AQQ-g
There are a million and 1 videos on "what is the best thermal paste application method?" and it's easy to get in a tizz over, but really there's little difference and the pea-sized-blob method is probably the least difficult to screw up. Arctic Silver recommend it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYwHB2P6GmM so that's fine by me.

You can get kits of thermal paste cleaner by Arctic Silver ("Arcticlean") - I have one, very handy for novices like me - and you'll need some thermal paste and a lint-free cloth. You don't need to buy very expensive thermal paste, Arctic Silver MX4 MX5 or whatever's about a fiver from a good brand will do fine.

It's worth getting this stuff and doing a repaste as if you do have to replace your CPU cooler you'll need to repaste then (as you would any time you remove a CPU cooler from the CPU).

You've dusted the CPU cooler fan and radiator with compressed air, yes?

ill grab some paste and try re pasting it see if that will work

In regards to the fans and radiator, i went at it with some compressed gas.
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
ill grab some paste and try re pasting it see if that will work

That would be my first thing to do as well....

In regards to the fans and radiator, i went at it with some compressed gas.

Be sure to use low pressure compressed air made for cleaning computers. Some years ago I damaged a satellite phone beyond repair unwisely using some high pressure canned air - the massive temperature drop as the air left the can (the refrigeration principle of course) turned the plastic brittle and the phone literally fell apart!
 

johant

Member
That would be my first thing to do as well....



Be sure to use low pressure compressed air made for cleaning computers. Some years ago I damaged a satellite phone beyond repair unwisely using some high pressure canned air - the massive temperature drop as the air left the can (the refrigeration principle of course) turned the plastic brittle and the phone literally fell apart!

So I got paste today and cleaned and repasted. Really didn't do anything. Watched from bios and chip hit 65-70c and then cut out.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
So I got paste today and cleaned and repasted. Really didn't do anything. Watched from bios and chip hit 65-70c and then cut out.

It's possible the pump has failed on the cooler. Try plugging it into a different USB port to make sure the port hasn't failed. (That's if it has a usb header, I'm not sure how the pump works on that model)
 
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johant

Member
It's possible the pump has failed on the cooler. Try plugging it into a different USB port to make sure the port hasn't failed. (That's if it has a usb header, I'm not sure how the pump works on that model)

Its plugged into the cha fan 1 port on the motherboard. I do get a reading off that in the bios
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Its plugged into the cha fan 1 port on the motherboard. I do get a reading off that in the bios

Ah, ok, definitely sounds that either the heatsink is not quite fitted correctly, or the flow of coolant isn’t working, weather that be pump related or just natural thermal cycles. I would double check the heatsink is really securely mounted, if it is, I’d contact PCS if still in warranty, or corsair.

I had a friend who’s h100i cooler failed and the Corsair support was excellent.
 
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