PC Shut Down Without Warning, Won't Restart.

[HUSSAR 272]

I have a little problem with my PC.  I installed an SSD, formated it as drive "F" and installed Prepar3D v3.  I ran disk cleanup after installation and the PC ran for the day (9 hours) and then it just rebooted without warning.  I had never run disk cleanup before if I may add.  Upon trying to reboot I received a message that stated that the overclock failed and to press F1 to enter the BIOS.  The setting's looked okay and I ensured the proper boot order was in place so I exited and the PC still wouldn't boot.

 

I removed the SSD thinking that it was causing the problem but nothing changed.  I am really stumped.  Anyone have any ideas?

 

Thanks,

 

Robert

[MarkW 1,493]

Do you at least get into the BIOS screen on startup?  If so try going into the BIOS and make sure the computer is booting up from the SSD.  Sometimes when you switch things it tries to boot from the DVD drive and there is nothing there so it will not startup.  If the boot order is ok then you should go back to default settings and then try again.  It may be the overclock.

[Jazzfan 57]

   Your problem may be a heat issue versus an electrical one. Check on the seating of the heatsink against the cpu. Definitely try removing your overclock, as MarkW suggests. After that, do a double check of everything attached to the mobo, including all power connections and sata plugs to the mobo, mem modules, etc, just be certain that something wasn't displaced.

 

regards, Craig

[HUSSAR 272]

Hi fellas,

 

Thanks for both your replies.  Fortunately I can save my settings in the BIOS and I will check everything out.  I'm back at work today so I won't be able to do anything until later in the week.  your answers will send me down the right path when I start to look for the cause.

 

Thank you,

 

Robert

[HUSSAR 272]

An acquaintance of mine thinks I may have fried my CPU.

[JRBarrett 3,075]

An acquaintance of mine thinks I may have fried my CPU.

Possibly - though if you can get into the BIOS setup menus, your CPU is working - but that doesn't mean it hasn't been damaged, and might fail when you put any kind of load on it.

 

However, as others suggested, do look very carefully at all power cables and connections. I started having all kinds of sudden shutdown and reboot problems on my computer after installing a second hard drive, and thought that something might have gotten fried. Turned out that the locking tab on the main power connector from the PSU to the MOBO came unlatched when I was connecting the new SATA cable for the HDD, and as a result the connector was not firmly seated. That was the cause of all the problems.

[PWJT8D 446]

I had a similar problem like yours about a month ago. I would be playing FSX or P3D and then my computer just shut off.. like someone pulled the plug out of the wall. Hitting the power button would result in everything spinning up and then shutting right back off. A few attempts it would make it to the BIOS and sometimes not. I spent a few hours trying to get it to boot into Windows. Two of those attempts resulted in the overclock failed message so I hit F5 to return my BIOS to default settings. Another time attempting to boot I got an error saying my motherboard detected a power surge and shut down.

 

I then suspected my Corsair HX750 power supply had failed and still within warranty I contacted Corsair which they accepted my request for an RMA. When I installed the new power supply my computer would then again boot up normally.

 

However now it crashes every time I try to do something that uses the GPU. Open P3D and once I get dropped on the runway it crashes. Try EVGA's OC Scanner and do a benchmark, the test starts and I get a crash. Try BurnItTest 3D graphics test and it crashes. Browse the internet all day long no problem. So now I'm waiting for my RMA of my GTX 980 to get to my door to see if that fixes that problem. Seems as though my surged power supply may have fried my GPU. So one problem resulted in another.

[martin-w 3,235]

I have a little problem with my PC.  I installed an SSD, formated it as drive "F" and installed Prepar3D v3.  I ran disk cleanup after installation and the PC ran for the day (9 hours) and then it just rebooted without warning.  I had never run disk cleanup before if I may add.  Upon trying to reboot I received a message that stated that the overclock failed and to press F1 to enter the BIOS.  The setting's looked okay and I ensured the proper boot order was in place so I exited and the PC still wouldn't boot.

 

I removed the SSD thinking that it was causing the problem but nothing changed.  I am really stumped.  Anyone have any ideas?

 

Thanks,

 

Robert

As the others have said, set the UEFI to default and test, no overclock at all and that includes the RAM, technically XMP is an overclock too. This should always be the first step, the variable to eliminate when troubleshooting.

 

If you have to reset the CMOS do it.

 

Check all cables as Jim has said, and in addition look at the ATX connector contacts. I had an issue similar once that was caused by scorched contacts.

 

PSU can be tested very easily with a meter, or with something like the Antec PSU tester. I have one, great tool.

 

As for frying your CPU, I very much doubt it. I can't recall the last time I came across a knackered CPU. CPU's are designed to throttle back to avoid damage and then shut down. Intel are so sure of the capability of the CPU to do this that they provide overclocking insurance for a miniscule sum. If it's an old CPU I guess it's possible but otherwise I would say no.

[HUSSAR 272]

Thanks guys,

 

This is all very useful information.  I will have a look at the wires tonight, maybe I loosened something while installing the SSD.  I'll let you know how things progress.

 

Robert

[Bubi42 1]

I had an identical problem last year and the fix, when found, was easy....

 

The problem was the computer was shutting itself down 'automatically' to preserve the CPU from frying itself through simple overheat.

 

Bought and installed a new CPU fan / heatsink and 'hey presto'!

 

Until then, I never knew computers had built-in self- preservation...

 

Hope this helps.

 

Toni.

[MarkW 1,493]

I had an identical problem last year and the fix, when found, was easy....

 

The problem was the computer was shutting itself down 'automatically' to preserve the CPU from frying itself through simple overheat.

 

Bought and installed a new CPU fan / heatsink and 'hey presto'!

 

Until then, I never knew computers had built-in self- preservation...

 

Hope this helps.

 

Toni.

 

Thankfully they do.  I had my last build autoshutdown due to overhead and it was because the pump on my water cooler had failed.  Replaced the pump and back in business, no damage to the CPU.

[BrianG 12]

As well, I had similar problems ( unexpected shutdowns) . Tuns out I had quite a bit of dust in the fins of the CPU heat sink. As well, the old thermal paste had become dry and brittle. Cleaned everything up and applied fresh thermal paste. No more shut downs. Blue and black screens went away and frame rates drastically improved. Heat can reek havoc. Easy thing to check for. Hope this helps.

 

Best,

Brian

[martin-w 3,235]

Until then, I never knew computers had built-in self- preservation...

 

 

 

This is why we enthusiasts should always pay attention to core temperature, not CPU temperature. CPU temperature is measured from a sensor just under the integrated heat spreader and is typically lower than core temperature.

 

Core temperature on the other hand is measured from the DTS [Digital Thermal Sensor]. The DTS is embedded in the die and measures the temperature of each core.

 

Frequently people get mixed up by core temperature and CPU temperature and can't fathom why their favoured temperature measuring utility is reading a different temperature.

 

Core temperature from the DTS isn't a true physical temperature, it's an offset from TJMax, and TJMax is the safe maximum operating temperature. This is the only purpose for the DTS and thus core temperature measurements, to provide thermal protection. As the reading approaches TJMax the DTS begins to count down, when it reaches TJMax and thus zero the CPU begins to throttle back.

 

When the CPU reaches approximately 25 degrees above the thermal throttling temperature, the CPU's THERMTRIP signal is activated and the CPU shuts down to avoid damage.

 

It's an effective technology, one we should be thankful Intel developed. Rarely these days to CPU's get fried thanks to thermal throttling and shutdown. It works so well that Intel are perfectly prepared to offer their Performance Tuning protection Plan for a miniscule sum.  Knacker your CPU overclocking and Intel will be good enough to send you a new one.

[HUSSAR 272]

A quick update.  I had a chance to start the PC last night, the option to boot into safe mode or start windows normally was offered and I selected safe mode with networking.  Within minutes I saw the PC BSOD and when it tried to reboot I heard a few beeps (one long, two short).  According to my ASUS manual it is a "no memory detected" error.  

 

I won't have a chance to look at my PC until late in the weekend, I'll provide an update when I can. 

 

Thanks again to you all for your help, it is much appreciated.

 

Robert

[HUSSAR 272]

My PC tech-friend has run the PC through a gambit of testes and the hardware stood up to everything.  He found the HDD OS install is corrupt so I have to reformat and do a re-install.  I bought a 1Tb SSD hoping to migrate the data over when I got the PC back but that would be useless now.

 

So now I have to decide whether to go ahead and build a new PC or stick with the current one which is running an Intel i72600K 3.4 MHz CPU circa 2012.  The hardware is great but a little dated.

 

Shame on me for upgrading to Windows 10 and running a disk cleanup which I believe deleted some of the setup files.  Live and learn.

 

Thanks to all of you for chiming in, appreciate it.

 

Robert