Odd new PC problem

is there anything that is touching the motherboard that isn't when it's on it's side? It could be a short that is being caused but if it seems to do it at about the same time every time then that probably isn't the case.

Check ALL your hardware and ensure that there isnt something shorting out the board/ or power supply. Something is happening when you stand it upright so maybe its something swinging in the breeze that moves just right whiel standing it upright versus being on its side. Another thing I would check is the HDD. I have seen in the past that when some hard drives are used for extended periods of time on their side, upside down, etc and then moved to a different orientation (IE: upright) they seem like they dont want to work....or even throw errors on boot up. How old is the hard drive? I'm not sure if you are stating that just the MOBO and CPU are new or if the entire system is new. Let us know.

The HDD has been running in the upright position, not on its side.  Something has to be shorting it out, because it runs just fine.  But I do I figure out what it is?

This makes no sense.  I have checked over every nock and cranny of this MB and nothing is shifting to cause a short.  The only thing I can think of is the cooler I mentioned isn;t meant to run vertical, and causes the pc to sht down.  It will turn on for about 45 seconds and then it cuts off.  On its side, it runs just fine.

If you are having cooling issues, you can check the BIOS for the temperature. See if the temp reaches preset thresholds when your PC is stood up.  You can also tinker with the presets in the BIOS, and see at what point (temp) it is set to automatically shut down. Try increasing this by 5 degrees and see if it helps.

My temp doesn't change, I have a meter on the front of the case.

What are the temps you are seeing in the bios for the CPU and Northridge?  Secondly, when you say its stays on for about 45secs. and then shuts down, is this during the boot process or it happens even while sitting in the bios? I would monitor the temp in the bios for that prescibed 45seconds and see if it shuts down again while monitoring the temps. Look at the CPU temp, Northbridge temp, voltages for your CPU, memory, and NB in addition to monitoring those temps. and you should be able to see something in there causing this issue. As Bam mentioned above, some bios settings have a Thermal cut-off temp set in the bios to prevent hardware from being damaged. Therefore, if your CPU cooler isnt cooling the cpu properly or any other hardware with this feature enabled in the bios, you will get the same result and it will SHUT-Down . Is it booting up and attempting to load the OS , and then shuts down automatically after your said timeframe? Let me know.

Ok, I understand what you are saying.  BUT  if it is running just fine as it is right now on its side.  If I take and right it the way it is meant to sit, within that 45 seconds it cuts off.  It doesn't matter if I try and boot it standing up, or if it is running fine on its side and I right it, within that time frame it will shut off.  No change in temp what so ever.  It sits currently between 48.3 and 50.6 c.  This is a brand new CPU, Motherboard and cooler.  

There is a setting within the BIOS to up the cut off temps.  You say I should adjust it, but if the temp isn't changin as far as I can see, than what?

To be honest, those temps are borderline high for normal operation, but again it depends on the cut-off point set in the bios.....What type of CPU cooler are you using?

ZEROtherm CPU Cooler CF900 775  

When I first fired up this system, it was running in the 60's c.  As I continue to run the system it keeps coming further and further down

This still doesn't explain why it runs on its side and not standing up normal.  Doesn;t matter what settings I adjust, or what I am using, the fact remains that this system works on its side just fine, but stand it up normal, and it cuts off and I still have no idea why.

As a test, I went into the BIOS as you suggested and turned the case off its side onto its feet and I watched the temp go up to 85c (the cut off point) and turn off.  So why isn't my cooler cooling off my cpu?

How much termal paste should you use in between the cooler and the cpu?  I wasn't very liberal, do you think that may be the issue?

What type of thermal paste are you using? Typically, you can apply it in one of two ways for socket 775 CPUs depending on how many cores you have....This Presler chip has dual-cores therefore I would suggest a thin short line from left to right across the top(Approx. 3/8" in length) to ensure smooth coverage when the heatsink is re-attached and that shouid be enough. I've seen it both ways, a simple dot of thermal past in the center and a line across the cores. I prefer the line across the cores as I have built several dual core machines over the past year and seem to benchmark better with that type of thermal application. I also prefer to use the Arctic Silver 5 Thermal paste when installing new cpus.

My best guess would be that the cpu fan isn't securely fastened to the motherboard/CPU, and when it is on its side, it loses some contact.

Disconnect the mother board cables, clean them and reconnect them again. But to my opinion if it is new then opening the case might void your warranty. if nothing works get it to the dealer and make use of your warranty

I mean the motherboard power cables and check the processor is fitting correctly in it place maybe remove it and re-install it too

The thing I am noticing when I am watching in the BIOS is, the CPU Fan speed doubles when it is on the side.  So I think my guess of the CPU nopt being able to run vertical was somewhat true.

for the heat paste, look here : (it shows for a video card, but cpu = the same = 1 drop)
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/eng_index.asp
take out the cpu, reseat it, and make sure the heatsink sits flat on the cpu surface

HI
 
Maybe it's a short between the m/b and the case. Try to Isolate between the m/b and the case with, for instance, that bag that comes with the board. I've caughted 3 or 4 of this cases and usually it's an isolation issue.

remove the processor and fan and re-install it with its fan again

dr-4N    please read the posts before suggesting anything; you seem to suggest everytime what has been suggested already

nobus I think it will be much better if you try finding a solution to the question than commenting on other comments beside I think it will be better for the author to decide if he has seen this suggestion before or not so simply do not waste your time in usless comments

>>   in usless comments    <<  like the repeated ones you post ?

The answer to the problem was the heatsink fan I purchased was meant for a rack mounted server.  I watched in the BIOS the fan speed difference between the CPU running on its side verse when I stood it up.  The fan dropped more than half in speed which made the CPU over heat and the PC would shut down.  Thanks for all the help guys!

By the way nobus regarding the repeated comments it was my first time to go through the whole document and read every single comment till the end and to ur surprise I request that you read the whole comments again and you will notice that you did the same thing (repeating what others said before) because if you read it all you will discover that my second comment (before you even participate in the question) was:
"I mean the motherboard power cables and check the processor is fitting correctly in it place maybe remove it and re-install it too"
while your first comment after you participated was:
"for the heat paste, look here : (it shows for a video card, but cpu = the same = 1 drop)
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/eng_index.asp
take out the cpu, reseat it, and make sure the heatsink sits flat on the cpu surface"
if you read it you will notice that you are suggesting the same as what I suggested beofre but I did not attack you telling you that you are repeating comments simply because if you are repeating yomments I assume that you are an expert yourself and that you (like me) do not have enough time to read all what others say in a single question and that you only read what you wrote and the asker comments because this will tell you what was suggested and the asker reacts to these suggestions. You see I do not read every single comment because simply it would be rather better to answer new questions than to keep my self busy with what others do. And your comment carried a hidden insult suggesting that I am cheating solutions from others. KINDLY BE INFORMED THAT WHAT I WRITE COMES ONLY FROM MY HEAD AND FROM MORE THAN 25YEARS EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD OF COMPUTERS STARTING FROM THE OLD TEXAS COMPUTERS TILL THE MOST SOPHISTICATED COMPUTERS IN THE MARKET NOW. So again save your time and comments to answer questions and in view of my previous posts in this question and your posts it is me now telling you do not suggest what was suggested before.