PC shut's down after 2/3 hours

What is temperature od CPU and inside the case?
Also, is uptime is the same when idle and 100% CPU load (for example, running seti@home)?

The chip type is the FX.51  Temp is around 46c      
Uptime is very random - Can last about 7 hours & shutdown normally other times it crashes after 2 hours or so

How about the power coming into the computer a UPC would help stablize the line voltage.
Jerry

Could be also a traditional virus problem. Blaster, Sasser and several other viruses shuts down PCs. If you have one of these viruses In most cases they shut down your PC when you connect to the internet.

He is running a SMC hardware firewall & windows XP Firewall, plus adaware & McAfee Virus scan 8 with latest dat & Worm protection enabled. No virus' detected

Does the PC powers down suddenly? just like a power failure?

Cyber

It is running too hot, get a better heat sink + fan, plus exhaust fan if possible, that is the most common problem with amd

Cheers

Cyber-Dude - It's like the power cable has been pulled out - just a complete power down. There is nothing in the event viewer either.

sriwi - It's not a heat problem, the AMD website says that temperatures over 60c will cause problems. It also wouldn't explain why the sytem would be up for 7 hours one day and then a couple of hours a different day

OK
It is something to do with the power unit. If your power is not to shut down automaticcly rather saddenly, you may check few things:
1. Try to search BIOS and see if all settings are properly configured (i.e. Auto Shut down is not enabled).
2. See if the battery is charging well, as well as the PC is not working on Battery.
3. Try the power unit elsewhere to see if problems are reoccuring.

In my opinion it is somthing to do with internal electricity connectors where heating inside your PC causing some sort of short thus  disable all computer electricity...

Cyber

try to put in a compound heat between the processor and the heat sink, see whether is it making the temperature goes up or down

Is the whole pc powered off at that stage, or just your display?
If it's the whole pc it sounds like a power problem.
What rating is the power supply?

Check the power saving options in control panel, no brainer I know but worth a mention.

Do you know what the capacitors look like?
They are like small cylinders pointing up normally the tops look like metal and have little lines joining in the centre.
Are the flat or are they bulging?  Check this page. (http://www.certifyexpress.com/index.cfm?do=hardware&hardid=5279)


Does your bios keep an error log? (don't bother with windows or whatever os you have I don't think it's that.

Remove any pci cards from the machine and see if it still does it.

Change video cards if you can.

Run a memory checker if all else fails. (normally you would get odd error messages if this was the case)

Good Luck

Hi!

Sounds like a bad contact somewhere, maybe even a hair-crack on the motherboard itself. Already tried to replace the motherboard?

Also try to reduce the load on the PSU, e.g. unplugging additional HDDs or CD/DVD-drives - maybe that gets you somewhere

Good luck!

Hi

2 to 3 housrs of working and switching off could indicate problem with your CPU or your Power supply

Try following steps

1>Shift your computer to a diffrent power outlet and check
2>Change your power supply and check (SMPS)
3>If possibe change your CPU or check it  with another motherboard

Hope this would help
Regards

Just a quick update - he has installed SP2 and then the PC blue screened on boot every time (no surprise there then). He's rebuilding the PC and i'll let you know if he still has the problem...

I had a similar problem a long time ago and it was because of the voltage setting of the CPU which was wrong. As I recall it was set for 5V while it should have been set to 3.8V. There are jumpers on motherboards that you use to adjust the CPU voltage. Read your motherboard manual for how to set the right voltage for your CPU and check what is the correct voltage setting of your CPU then adjust accordingly.

Best of luck

It will get worse...

SP2 is a bit problematic...

Cyber

I have read in other forum - if you have SP1 installed, you better install all updates (from windowsupdate) too, before installing SP2.

If he's going to rebuild anyway, try this:

Take MB out of the case, and only use MB with CPU, Ram (as few as possible, preferrably time tested), VGA (onboard if applicable), PSU and HDD - and PS/2 keyboard and mouse. Disable all possible onboard devices. Arrange this hardware neatly on a non-conductive surface (wooden table, ...).

1. Try this setup for a few hours. If this works, problem is caused by another component -> 3.
     If it crashes -> 2.


2. Only hook up a floppy disk drive with a memory testing program, and run this for a few hours. If this works, the problem lies
     with the HDD. -> replace HDD
     If it crashes, the mainboard/processor is probably screwed (as he already changed PSU and Ram). -> Warranty on
     mainboard/CPU.


3. Repeat these steps, adding components and enabling onboard devices one by one. Eventually you will find what part crashes the system (if you didn't already find it).

<WillHudson> with a Gigabyte G8NNXP motherboard and an Athlon 3200 64 processor (non FX).

<WillHudson> The chip type is the FX.51  Temp is around 46c      

Now is it a FX or not? I'm confused...

What memory r u using and timing is it on (mhz / cas). Have had similar problems when mixing pc3200 with pc2700 DDR @ 400Mhz (pc2700 is rated for speed upto 333Mhz). Also do you have cpu throttling enabled in bios? could be the psu can't cope with peak consumption of a device (like CPU kicking back to full speed or VGA, ATAPI, HDD). How much amp can the psu deliver on +5V and +12V?

Blue Rishi

It was fine after he rebuilt it with SP2 - apparently its something to do with the chip - an error which was fixed in sp2

That's 12 abandoned posts in 2 day that I've subscribed to...

Can't these people see the use and beauty of the concept of this community - Ignorance is bliss, right?

Doesn't really matter what happens to this post imo, quite specific problem, and we don't know what caused it. If he doesn't reply, i'd say delete it :)

Ah ok, quite relevant info then.

You can get a refund Will, if noone suggested any of this.

Doesn't bother me if i get a refund - i've got infinite points anyway =)

Heh, same here :)

But the question has to be finalized. Gotta look at the big picture - if 80% of the questions are answered and finished correctly, then this may very well become the best hardware resource ever on the web!
(I know they advertise as "already the best", still I'd like to see an answer to my tech questions listed in every Google query - and we're going towards that imo).

daleoran / modulo:

Can't you make WillHudson's comment about SP2 the 'accepted answer'? This way people looking for an answer for this problem can still find how this issue was solved.