PC keeps switching off

malef!c · 30 Oct 2010 at 09:37

Morning all.

Over the last few days the kids PC has been switching itself off or freezing up.
Thought it was heat related but all fans are fine and the CPU has had an extra dollop of arctic silver stuff on it.

Occasionally it beeps and switches off (3 long beeps I think it was) or just locks up.

I installed a small program to check fan speeds and voltage levels out of the PSU and the -5V line is showing as 0.27V, the rest are around where they should be.

Would this be a sign there is a fault with the PSU or other problems brewing?

Cheers!

edit: here is a screenshot of the PSU lines:

Hagar · 30 Oct 2010 at 09:50

Your +3.3V is showing at 1.78V not OK and +5V at 5.56V slightly over +1% but probably OK, there is a second +5V at 4.97.

I would not be happy with these readings and would check with

a) HW monitor and other software monitors.
b) A hardware PSU tester.

It does appear probable that there is a problem, and may need a new PSU. Please post your hardware spec for recommendations.

cheers, andy.

Tealc · 30 Oct 2010 at 09:56

The only way to check voltages reliably is with a multimeter. The software provides an indication only and should not be relied upon.

Extra dollop of Arctic silver doesn't sound too encouraging. I hope you mean that you removed and cleaned off the old TIM and put a small amount of new Arctic silver on the CPU.

Speedfan should also be able to show CPU and core temperatures which might be useful in spotting a problem.

When the PC beeps is it at startup in the POST sequence? Or when it is already running and in Windows? Most motherboards have a key to these beeps which you can use to determine faults.

What is the spec of the system?

malef!c · 30 Oct 2010 at 10:50

Cheers chaps - will get the box out and give it a general clean out whilst I am there.

@Tealc:
- yes I did clean the original stuff off...appeared to be more of a pad originally used.
- beeps are after a random amount of time after the kids have started playing on it

As for the specs - not 100% but will check it all out when I open the case!
I have a spare PSU so may pop that in and check those voltage rail values again.