| geek_mykyva | November 18, 2008, 10:51 am | #1 |
| Brand new computer keeps shutting down after about 20mins. I have to wait at least 5-10mins to reboot otherwise it shuts down during startup. It's a Aristocrat Ascension Athlon64 Dual Core XP5200+2GB RAM +512MB Graphics Computer. It was custom built because I was told that was the way to go, because I use it mainly for audio, movies, movie making, photos, high internet usage, etcI've taken it back twice & he tells me it's the software, but I used to have a 5year old laptop that did everything with no problems, it was just a lot slower than the new PC. Can anyone shed any light on this? |
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| geek_ferita | November 18, 2008, 10:55 am | #2 |
| Sounds like a ram problem if yiou have to wait 5 to ten minutes as that could be the ram clearing |
| geek_aktell | November 18, 2008, 10:58 am | #3 |
| He tells me it's the software Hi there,
What software is he talking about? If you have to wait how could it be the software. Just sounds like MELLINNIUM in Hamilton there are just all full of it as soon its out of the door they do not want to know you any longer. regards aktell |
| geek_poohy99 | November 18, 2008, 11:04 am | #4 |
| Umm, take it back and tell him to either fix it or refund your money. Companies like this are the reason companies like Dell and HP/Compaq sell a lot of computers. |
| geek_gyrogearloose | November 18, 2008, 11:06 am | #5 |
| Sounds more like a temperature problem to me (wonders how RAM takes 5 minutes to clear???). Is the fan over the CPU going? Is it being overclocked? Keep taking it back. |
| geek_mykyva | November 18, 2008, 11:08 am | #6 |
| I forgot to mention also that it shuts down during windows movie maker when saving a movie to my computer, or when I'm converting audio or video files, & also when I'm watching movies or listening to music. I'm no computer expert by any means, but it feels like it's "lazy" & can't cope with the workload it's supposed to. |
| geek_kevin16 | November 18, 2008, 11:12 am | #7 |
| Sounds like temprature what size/make PSU?,..computer 'retailer',.. did you pick the parts from their wide selection and they assembled it for you?, or did the 'tech' ask you what you wanted the build for and discuss it with you?,... |
| geek_tptrader | November 18, 2008, 11:16 am | #8 |
| I third temperature take it back. |
| geek_mykyva | November 18, 2008, 11:20 am | #9 |
| , that's what I oringinally thought, but he reckons it all checked out ok. By the way it cost $1809.00 including a 22"LCD monitor. |
| geek_mykyva | November 18, 2008, 11:25 am | #10 |
| , I discussed with him what I intended to use the computer for & I basically relied on his expertise to build a PC from what I told him. Like I said earlier, I'm no computer buff. |
| geek_kevin16 | November 18, 2008, 11:28 am | #11 |
| K simple then take it back, it doesn't perform the function,..the 'tech' gets my vote for a 'not yet competent',... |
| geek_gyrogearloose | November 18, 2008, 11:31 am | #12 |
| - "it all checked out ok" but it still reboots, therefore it must be a software problem??? I vote with kevin16. |
| geek_nzoomed | November 18, 2008, 11:35 am | #13 |
| Teperature problem possibly perhaps the heatsink is not on the CPU properly and is overheating so the computer shuts down to stop damage |
| geek_kevin16 | November 18, 2008, 11:37 am | #14 |
| Or something less obvious like a case fan blowing the wrong way,... |
| geek_mykyva | November 18, 2008, 11:47 am | #15 |
| Thanks guys, I think I'll print this message board off & show him when I take back the PC. By the way, was that the way to go, by getting a PC custombuilt or should I have bought retail? Cheers. |
| geek_kevin16 | November 18, 2008, 11:49 am | #16 |
| Custom built,.. is the way to go, theoretically you get something that will do what you want time and time again without a hiccup,.computing doesn't need to be frustrating if the equipment matches the workload. |
| geek_mykyva | November 18, 2008, 12:01 pm | #17 |
| Cheers kevin, I'll take it back one more time & give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm a pretty patient guy, but it's wearing pretty thin now. I've also been using my 5yr old crusty, slow, but "reliable" Toshiba Laptop to get me through. Frustrating to say the least! |
| geek_gibler | November 18, 2008, 12:34 pm | #18 |
| Try and see the temps with something like http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php |
| geek_cybertao | November 18, 2008, 12:45 pm | #19 |
| I'll bet good money the CPU is overheating. This guy should be running an application to put the CPU under full load, such as Prime95( http://www.mersenne.org/ftp_root/gimps/p95v257.zip ). A cooling problem might not show up with usual use, but will slowly overheat when the CPU is working hard(such as when converting video). Coupled with speedfan gibler listed above, you can see how quickly the CPU heats up and cools down. |
| geek_gibler | November 18, 2008, 12:51 pm | #20 |
| Reminds me of a warranty repair guy at work who managed to not get the heatsink on properly so temps were hovering around 80 degrees. Put a load on and shutdown. Could be a power supply crapping out as well... |
| geek_gazzanova69 | November 18, 2008, 12:52 pm | #21 |
| has the right idea though i would use coretemp http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/ and maybe stress test your system with prime95 http://www.playtool.com/pages/prime95/prime95.html , see if it does shut itself off due to overheating, make sure to take a screen shot as proof |
| geek_poohy99 | November 18, 2008, 1:02 pm | #22 |
| "getting a PC custombuilt or should I have bought new?" Clearly if you are not PC-savy you should buy a brand name. I would ask for your money back since the shop has proven their incompetence. |
| geek_gibler | November 18, 2008, 1:04 pm | #23 |
| I'm not too sure why people are laying into the system builder. I've seen quite a few systems such as Dell or Apple with a fault that was there from the start or DOA. Even very rare stuff such as bad CPUs. Seems to be premature to start the blame game. |
| geek_cybertao | November 18, 2008, 1:08 pm | #24 |
| You kind of right, gibler. But assuming it's a heating issue, the builder should have run a stress test to check it. Mass produced machines are done on a production line, where they probably don't take the time to check the final machine or only check a sample proportion. Someone building a machine themselves has no excuse not to make sure everything is sound. I would expect a custom build to be higher 'quality' than something like a Dell. |
| geek_gyrogearloose | November 18, 2008, 1:16 pm | #25 |
| And it's been back with this fault twice already ... |
| geek_drcspy | November 18, 2008, 2:09 pm | #26 |
| 'the software' eh ?........right........get it partitioned then a clean install of windoze on the 2nd partition then run prime95 or similar....if it shuts off then its NOT the software...... |
| geek_morrisman1 | November 18, 2008, 2:41 pm | #27 |
| Re 19 thats a 'feature' of vista. it does have some merits! |
| geek_mykyva | November 18, 2008, 3:05 pm | #28 |
| Cheers guys, I've just gotten off the phone with him & he reckons he may have to check out or change the "motherboard" whatever that is. Funny thing is, no-one here's mentioned anything about a motherboard. Does this guy sound like he knows what he's doing? Suppose well wait & see.... |
| geek_morrisman1 | November 18, 2008, 3:18 pm | #29 |
| Sounds like he doesnt want to admit that he has stuffed up somewhere. in the mean time you should download cpuz and in the background run an intensive application like an encoder and watch the temperatures on your cpu. |
| geek_mrtoken | November 18, 2008, 3:32 pm | #30 |
| Sounds like heating to me as well ....... |
| geek_morrisman1 | November 18, 2008, 3:36 pm | #31 |
| oh im not sure if cpuz monitors temerature. either way you need to monitor the temperature of your cpu and that will tell you if that is the cause. most cpus will shut the computer down if they get above like 85&6; |
| geek_sirfer | November 18, 2008, 3:46 pm | #32 |
| Aristocrat Ascension Athlon64? Too many 'A's in the name...that's your problem right there;o) |
| geek_kevin16 | November 18, 2008, 3:49 pm | #33 |
| When you get a few bucks double your ram too,still would like to know the PSU specs if you'd be so kind,.. |
| geek_drcspy | November 18, 2008, 4:00 pm | #34 |
| A motherboard is the large circuit board inside the box taht EVERYTHING plugs into.....however i doubt I'd be trusting of this person as he is just guessing......a pc doesn't normally shut down due to motherboard probs unless it has bad capacitors.....its MUCH more likely it's running too hot......just try this......restart the pc and as soon as it starts to power up tap the 'del' key repeatedly (this is the normally used key to access the bios) this should take yo into the bios.....look for 'hardware monitor' and take a look at the temperatures and report back here..... |
| geek_mykyva | November 18, 2008, 4:59 pm | #35 |
| I've taken the PC back & he reckons the temp never went past 52degs last time it was in. Kev, I don't know what PCU stands for but here are some more specs on the receipt. nVIVIA nForce4 Motherboard, Dual-Core AMD AM2 CPUs, supports DDR-800 RAM/HT2000, Ultra ATA-133, 2.0GB DDR2-800RAM, Certified Dual Channel, 320GB HARDDRIVE, SATA Barracuda, Ultra ATA-100, 7200rpm, 8Mb Cache. Upgraded Video Accelerator to nVIDIA GeForce 8500GT, 512MB DDR2 RAM Dual Head for 2 Monitors. |
| geek_mykyva | November 18, 2008, 5:02 pm | #36 |
| Sorry kev, I meant PSU.... |
| geek_morrisman1 | November 18, 2008, 5:02 pm | #37 |
| But the cpu wont be under load while just running the bios drcspy so it might not be an accurate representation. |
| geek_cybertao | November 18, 2008, 6:02 pm | #38 |
| There are 3 versions of the Athlon 5200+ The maximum operating temperature is between 68-72 degrees. |
| geek_puffydawg | November 18, 2008, 6:44 pm | #39 |
| Grab thes progs speedfan and prime 95, install speedfan and set running open up prime 95 and run a torture test and speed fan will tell you the temps of your cores the you can see for yourself if the guy is FOS, sounds like a thermal shutdown issue to me.
one thing when it huts down does it shut down like windows would normally or just go dead. if dead then you could have a dicky Power supply but do the test with those two progs first. |
| geek_dunedin_ree | November 18, 2008, 6:55 pm | #40 |
| I vote for over-heating take it back and mention the Consumer Guarantees Act. |
| geek_brian_491 | November 19, 2008, 5:20 pm | #41 |
| I would say without a doubt its your CPU
converting movies etc puts a load on the CPU and I bet the bios is set to kit itself between 50-70 degrees etc or it could be something as simple as a miseated CPU but going by AMD's heatsink you would have to be the biggest Noob in the world to iggy a AMD heatsink |
| geek_brian_491 | November 19, 2008, 5:22 pm | #42 |
| Try this on startup press and hold DELETE or what ever button is used to access the BIOS once inside GO to SYSTEM HEALTH STATUS or maybe HARDWARE MONITOR and tell us what the CPU temp is |
| geek_puffydawg | November 20, 2008, 1:01 am | #43 |
| The other thing that came to mind was we had a new pc that we built come back with shutting down issues and after a lot of investigation we found that one of the thermal sensors on the cpu for one of the cores was faulty and misreading the temps and causing the shutdown, replaced the cpu for the customer and all was fine, using the progs in said to one core in 5 mins under load would hit 120C which is wrong, with new cpu both cores ran at 48C after 8hr torture test they were still under 50C. |
| geek_drcspy | November 20, 2008, 4:28 am | #44 |
| if it's a case of a cpu not seated properly or similar then it'll be running hot even while in the bios.....at idle...and thats always a good indicator that somethings not right......and it's sooooooo simple to do ....this poster hasn't even botherd to do this and it'd take about two minutes to do .......they've come back and said 'he' said it didn't exceed 52deg.....well who gives a shit what 'he' said .......test it yourself and then get back, to us I HATE people who wont help us to help them ......such a simple request .....get into the bios .....check the temp.......how F*ckin hard is that ?.....too hard obviously.... |
| geek_mykyva | November 20, 2008, 9:47 am | #45 |
| Settle down drcspy, I would have checked it myself had I'd known how to, but I had already dropped it off to the technician. Before you start trashing genuine traders asking for advice, just stop & think maybe, just maybe they don't have a clue, which I don't when it comes to computers. I'm a mechanic by trade, I don't "do" computers..... |
| geek_lythande1 | November 20, 2008, 10:53 am | #46 |
| Aristocrat is meaningless. Custom built PCs don't have "brand names".You bought this from Henderson Computers, an outfit that doesn't even list them on their website.
Why custom built is better usually is because of the quality of parts used in them. Usually. Unless the idiot used crap brand components.
I think it sounds like overheating too, although could be Motherboard, drcspy other than capacistors you can get some weird problems. But you would have been better off going to Computer Lounge for a PC, those guys use only quality stuff and have terrific after sales service.
Next time ask for recommendations first. |
| geek_xdee | November 20, 2008, 11:03 am | #47 |
| Take it back Other have mentioned it already, but here you go. No software will shut down your PC by itself. Whoever sold you the PC is talking bs or he have no idea what he's doing.
The shutdown is most likely caused by overheating, bad motherboard (usually bad capacitors) or sometimes by a weak power supply. |
| geek_drcspy | November 20, 2008, 11:05 am | #48 |
| I presume you can read ? i posted simple enough instructions in |
| geek_drcspy | November 20, 2008, 11:06 am | #49 |
| Lythande1 (hey there mate) yeh sure I'm well aware of 'weird problems' which can occur with a mobo......still I re-iterate its really simple to check temps and that's a basic check i'd most likely do first......and while at it check the bios readings of voltages etc..... |
| geek_cybertao | November 20, 2008, 11:15 am | #50 |
| He probably couldn't be assed. And I don't blame him. BIOS is a scary place for people that have never been into it(most don't even know it's there), and it takes time to learn what temps are what, what they should be, voltages, timings...and it's really not his problem - that belongs to the system builder. We'd be keen to hear what happens, mykyva. Have you got it back? |
| geek_mykyva | November 20, 2008, 11:54 am | #51 |
| ....I did read that, thanks, butI had already dropped off the pc an hour before you posted the instructions, trust me, I would have done it myself, your instructions were simple enough, but it was too late by then. I did however let him know what you & the other posters recommended, thanks again. I will definitely keep you posted on the outcome. Pickup tommorrow-fingers crossed. |
| geek_drcspy | November 20, 2008, 12:35 pm | #52 |
| Cool will be interested to see the result...... |
| geek_kevin16 | November 20, 2008, 12:42 pm | #53 |
| 2, Same,.. there's always something to be learned from these things,.. |
| geek_mykyva | November 20, 2008, 4:59 pm | #54 |
| Wow, looks like all of you guys were right.. Just got my pc back & so far after 30mins no problems. He says there was an air bubble in the processors heatsink, which of course was making it overheat. Funny how he found the problem after I mentioned what you guys were telling me. Thanks again everyone for their comments, advice, etc...
PS. I'll be back if the pc plays up again, cheers. |
| geek_gibler | November 20, 2008, 5:08 pm | #55 |
| 4 thanks for reporting back...many just leave us with a mystery! |
| geek_0800xford | November 20, 2008, 5:11 pm | #56 |
| you'd probably name and shame him and he knows it. good to hear you got it sorted =) |
| geek_drcspy | November 20, 2008, 6:24 pm | #57 |
| 'air bubble in the processors heatsink' .....lol yeh .....well that means that he either was a bit tight with the thermal paste and didn't put enough on....and thats very suspect...if it's a NEW pc the heatsink will be NEW also and that means that he wont have used thermal paste as all NEW heatsinks come with a heat transfer PAD stuck on the bottom.....so he's full of sh*t....what is more likely is he didn't SEAT the heatsink properly......anyway....its nice to know we were right.....plenty of very experienced techs here :-) |
| geek_mykyva | November 21, 2008, 10:18 am | #58 |
| Yeah, he was sort of stuttering when explaining to me about what he found, not very convincing. Got into the bios last night & out of interest checked temp, 36degs. Would've been interesting to have seen the temp before taking it back to him. Big ups to u tekkies! |
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