tonybushell
asked on
why does my computer keep shutting down unexpectedly?
my pc keeps shutting down, most often in the middle of a graphics intensive games and i'm trying to find out what's causing it - i think it is overheating, or perhaps has a faulty psu as this is a more recent problem, kind of in keeping with the coming of summer. I've run diagnostics like BurnInTest and SiSoft's Sandra and Norton SystemWorks on the RAM and other components but can't find a single problem anywhere. Windows Event Manager reports NOTHING, indicating that whatever is going wrong is either on a level windows doesn't recognise or report, or that it's happening too quickly to be reported.
I'm looking for tools that could tell me on a hardware level what's wrong and why it's bombing out so unexpectedly and repeatedly. a software based thermometer would be great as well! unfortunately i don't have another psu to swap to test with, nor do i have any other components (RAM, video card, etc) of the same type I could swap out, so I'm relying on an app or test to point to the problem
The machine is a P4 2.4 / 1 GB DDR SDRAM / Intel 824855G/GL/GV mbd / GeForce4 Ti 4400 / Windows XP Pro (Build 2600) SP1
I'm looking for tools that could tell me on a hardware level what's wrong and why it's bombing out so unexpectedly and repeatedly. a software based thermometer would be great as well! unfortunately i don't have another psu to swap to test with, nor do i have any other components (RAM, video card, etc) of the same type I could swap out, so I'm relying on an app or test to point to the problem
The machine is a P4 2.4 / 1 GB DDR SDRAM / Intel 824855G/GL/GV mbd / GeForce4 Ti 4400 / Windows XP Pro (Build 2600) SP1
SOLUTION
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The RAM and psu are probably the primary suspects if it isn't an over heating problem
ASKER
thanks, crazyone - i used AIDA32, as suggested and got the following readings for the temp - however, I'm not sure what an acceptable range is -
Sensor Properties:
Sensor Type Winbond W83627HF
Sensor Access ISA 290h
Temperatures:
Motherboard 32 °C (90 °F)
CPU 42 °C (108 °F)
Aux 49 °C (120 °F)
Cooling Fans:
CPU 2668 RPM
Voltage Values:
CPU Core 1.49 V
CPU Aux 1.60 V
+3.3 V 3.20 V
+5 V 5.03 V
+12 V 11.67 V
-12 V -11.95 V
-5 V -5.25 V
+5 V Standby 4.90 V
VBAT Battery 3.30 V
Debug Info 5D 64 C8 BB C0 24 31 20 FF FD FF 61 (01)
Sensor Properties:
Sensor Type Winbond W83627HF
Sensor Access ISA 290h
Temperatures:
Motherboard 32 °C (90 °F)
CPU 42 °C (108 °F)
Aux 49 °C (120 °F)
Cooling Fans:
CPU 2668 RPM
Voltage Values:
CPU Core 1.49 V
CPU Aux 1.60 V
+3.3 V 3.20 V
+5 V 5.03 V
+12 V 11.67 V
-12 V -11.95 V
-5 V -5.25 V
+5 V Standby 4.90 V
VBAT Battery 3.30 V
Debug Info 5D 64 C8 BB C0 24 31 20 FF FD FF 61 (01)
Try CPUCooL to monitor your temps.
http://www.podien.onlinehome.de/
http://www.podien.onlinehome.de/
Your temps are ok put run some heavy or intensive programs and see how it looks then.
ASKER
hey, the machine is bombing with increasing frequency - have run every RAM tester I can find and they all report no problems - BUT i just read something about SDRAM, where it said that DDR SDRAM would have problems with a gig or over, due to parity errors/problems - does this sound familiar or likely?
Try the ram jumpers if they are in the wrong place it just crashes (black screen white writting) could also be the CAS latency in the Bios it could be too low and pushing the ram too hard
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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system information tool
AIDA32
http://www.aida32.hu/aida32.php