Computer shuts down without warning

[Princess Celestia]

Hey my computer shuts down without warning and I am wondering what the culprit could be and I know it isn't the power supply as it is brand new and I think it could be just overheating too much but when I reboot it says Warning! System is now in Safe Mode please resetting CMOS in wherever that is, I don't remember exactly where it is and I'd ask my dad to fix it but he's at work. It seems to like to shut down during CS:S for no apparent reason. Any suggestions and help would be appreciated.

[Darkwing Duck]

First go check your event manager(under the system tab). It should tell you exactly what the issue is; if not my initial thoughts are that you are having an overheating issue, so open up coretemp and gpuz and have them log your temperatures. Let me know whats up with all that then we can proceed from there.

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

So basically, your computer shuts down by itself.... Does it give you a blue screen then it shuts down. If you have a problem that shows your cpu temperature I would check that. But hey, I'm not a genius at computers, I'm just telling you what people have told me.

[Linoleum Knive]

I would wait for Enigma to blow us all away with his expertise, but I am leaning toward an overheating issue.

[Weeman]

overheating, pour water on it to cool it down.

[60Seconds]

Too much porn is the reason for your problems, but this is the solution.

 

[Nevodka]

overheating, pour water on it to cool it down.

 

This, A++ advice works for me every time.

[BranHorse]

specs of the pc?

also the brand of the psu

there are a lot of cheap psus that are known to murder complete systems, raidmaxx apevia are two i can think of that have a rep for doing so

if its a over heat issue you can look at the temps with a program called core temp (its free). if its a amd system it shouldnt go over 60c intel id say a little higher

also you can open it up and make sure the fans are working. especially the one over the cpu

[enigma#]

overheating, pour water on it to cool it down.

 

With the exception of blowing up your computer, it definitely sound like an overheating issue.

 

When did this start happening? If it started after you replaced your PSU, check your connectors that go to your mobo, fan connectors.

 

If it's during an operation with significant load, it may be because either your GPU or CPU can't handle it (heat-wise), check fan connectors, reseat your CPU (if you know how to) and reseat your GPU)

 

Oh and if you haven't recently, blow your case out..

[Princess Celestia]

I'll keep that in mind but I am not qualified to do the things you have suggested as I have a nasty track record of breaking things while trying to fix them.

[Deln]

i've had similar overheating problem with my other computer. I fixed it by cleaning the dust that was on my CPU heatsink(there was alot) and its started to work fine again.

 

Do you clean your computer regularly? if not id suggest you do.

[Devistator]

Could be a bad ram chip.

Try to take them out and put them in one at a time and see if it still shuts down.

Also you need to get the windows crash log.

[Derragon]

Here's a multi-step guide to pinpoint the issue:

 

1. Download the following programs:

- HWMonitor by CPUID DOWNLOAD

- FurMark DOWNLOAD

- Prime95 DOWNLOAD

 

2. Install HWMonitor and FurMark, and extract Prime95 to your desktop.

 

3. Open up HWMonitor and check your CPU temperatures.

 

4.

- On AMD: If your temperatures are around 60C, your heatsink is the issue. The fan speed may be too low, the thermal paste could be getting old, there may be a lot of dust, etc...

- On Intel: If your temperatures are around 70C-80C, ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

- If neither, skip to step 5.

 

4.1: If you are overheating already, you can fix it by replacing the heatsink, cleaning the heatsink of dust, replacing the thermal paste, or manually increasing the fan speed. If you are not confident enough to do this yourself, take the computer in to your nearest computer repair shop, or find someone who is.

 

4.2: (Increasing the fan speed) Can be done by disable SmartFan or Q-Fan in the BIOS. Consult your motherboard's manual or contact your motherboard's manufacturer if you are unsure how to do this (GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND THOUGH)

 

5. Open up Prime95 and run the Blend test.

 

6. Bring HWMonitor to the front and watch the temperatures. If the temperatures exceed the temperatures in Step 4, then once again you have a heatsink issue. Return to step 4.1 to resolve the issue.

 

6.1. Let the computer run Prime95 for around an hour (or longer). If the computer crashes or gets a blue screen, return to step 4.1.

 

If you are sure your processor is not overheating, these steps will help:

 

7. Open up FurMark and run a stress test (DO NOT ENABLE EXTREME BURNING MODE)

 

8. Let the benchmark run for a minimal of 30 minutes. This will put your GPU under the most stress it can. There is a chance it will crash the computer regardless.

 

Temperatures will most likely exceed 70C. If it hangs at around 80C at the 30-minute mark, you are not overheating.

 

9. Your computer crashed? Once again, heatsink/fan issue. MSI Afterburner (Or Catalyst Control Center if you're using a Radeon card) will allow you to increase the fan speed. Bring the fan speed up to around 60% manually and test with FurMark again. Increase the fan speed until the temperatures stay below 80C.

 

If you cannot keep the temperatures below 80C or if the computer continues to crash during the benchmark, continue to step 10.

 

EDIT: Furmark is the ultimate gaming scenario. It is known to crash computers regardless, and so you should be fine if it only hovers around 80C. If it goes into the 90C-100C area. that is when you need to worry.

 

10. RMA your graphics card if possible. Otherwise, your only other solutions are to find an aftermarket cooler for the said card, clean out the heatsink, or to replace the card entirely. Either way, you're in for a fun time. MSI, XFX, EVGA, and many other companies have great warranties though, so you should be able to RMA it.

 

11. If none of this works, then send me a PM and I will try to help out even more. This post is long enough as it is.

 

Hope this helps,

 

- D.