Crashing, PC Problem?

[andyw823]

Ok, if done a GPU stress test with Geeks3D FurMark and exerienced the black screen, at the last look i noticed the GPU temp was 75c but don`t know what it was when it blacked out.
I have also used Prime95 and used the "blend" option which tests a bit of everything, again a blackscreen!

[belkenn]

Hi Andy,
Please forgive a silly question; have you checked that your fans (power supply and case) and your CPU heat sink are clean; if they are dusty this can cause thermal problems, especially the fins on the CPU heat sink.

Ken

[theokus]

Hi Andy,
Please forgive a silly question; have you checked that your fans (power supply and case) and your CPU heat sink are clean; if they are dusty this can cause thermal problems, especially the fins on the CPU heat sink.

Ken

I told hem too Ken
The Power SU is a real dust bag....
Problem is you have to open that PSU-case.
And after 3 or 4 years it's too late

It's mho and ONLY MHO > I did never trust AMD.
Never had one or bought one.

Problem is the distance... if I could I would Andy help at his home

[theokus]

---------
sorry

[theokus]

Ok, if done a GPU stress test with Geeks3D FurMark and exerienced the black screen, at the last look i noticed the GPU temp was 75c but don`t know what it was when it blacked out.
I have also used Prime95 and used the "blend" option which tests a bit of everything, again a blackscreen!

Andy,
As somebody told us here already.
Open the case.
Get out the hardware and have a close look at it.
Make the whole case and hardware dust free.

Put the pc together with the MINIMUM hardware.
(no soundcard too)

Try again.

I understand how do you feel

[belkenn]

Hi Theo,
Its ok my friend; I sometimes forget that not everyone can open a power supply I have no problems of doing so myself as I started in electronics at the age of 10; but I would not advise it to anyone who does not understand how dangerous it is to do so. I do agree it would be nice to see his system as everything would be apparent.

Ken

[theokus]

Hi Theo,
Its ok my friend; I sometimes forget that not everyone can open a power supply I have no problems of doing so myself as I started in electronics at the age of 10; but I would not advise it to anyone who does not understand how dangerous it is to do so. I do agree it would be nice to see his system as everything would be apparent.

Ken

No problemo Ken.
I have 2 pc's here.
The good-one and the second best

The second had a problem.
Did not know what it was.
All seem ok.
But then the pc started, but not enough.
The pc got in kind of cycle.
I did hear also a kind of 'ticking" not like a hard disk he.
So it was the PSU with a ton of dust in it.
So I bought a new one....
I use dark-power from Be-Quiet
http://www.be-quiet.net/be-quiet.net/in ... iteLang=de

[gptech]

If nothing else, we now seem to have determined that the nice, new, and pricey SSD isn't actually at fault.
The only thing Andy has that could be swapped out for testing purposes is the old 200W (?) PSU so I'd suggest giving this a try first, connected to the bare minimum of components needed to get the machine running. If it works perfectly it would seem to be a PSU problem, if it still fails the GPU becomes the number 1 suspect.

[andyw823]

Just to addto my last post,while running prime95 both the MB and CPU temps read 52c before the black screen. I've had the case open on this pc more time than I've opened a tin of beans and I know both the CPU fan/heatsink are dust free, so is the case fan. However I will inspect the PSU. Don't know if I've mentioned before but the pc is just over 12 months old.

[theokus]

Just to addto my last post,while running prime95 both the MB and CPU temps read 52c before the black screen. I've had the case open on this pc more time than I've opened a tin of beans and I know both the CPU fan/heatsink are dust free, so is the case fan. However I will inspect the PSU. Don't know if I've mentioned before but the pc is just over 12 months old.

Aaah, OK Andy!

I do agree with gptech.

Take care when opening that psu and don't use a screw driver...for removing dust.
Blow it out with a "can of compressed air". Don't know the word
About "12 months" > I don't think now that dust is the problem... but like gptech: it could be the PSU anyway.

[gptech]

.....more time than I've opened a tin of beans .....

call me a pedantic, awkward old so-and-so, but don't you just open a tin of beans the once??

[andyw823]

.....more time than I've opened a tin of beans .....

call me a pedantic, awkward old so-and-so, but don't you just open a tin of beans the once??

lol, meant to be "more times than i`ve opened tins of beans"

Anyway im home from work now so ill do some inspecting. On my way home from work i was doing some thinking about my PSU, do they fail/play up if they get too warm? A while ago i upgraded my CPU heatsink and fan as the standard one sounded like a jet engine! The new one which is an Arctic Freezer draws the air up through the heatsink and exhausts it near the CPU (Vertical). My case exhaust fan is on the back, could warm air be being drawn into the PSU and causing it to malfunction? There is no option to mount the heatsink any other way than Vertical but i could have it drawing the air from top to bottom.

[Kromaatikse]

The ATX case concept actually encourages that exact situation, with the PSU helping to remove warm air from the vicinity of the CPU heatsink. In some low-cost designs there is no fan on or behind the CPU heatsink, and the PSU fan does *all* the work by itself.

With that said, a PSU which is on the verge of failure may show the first problems when it is warm. Is it a brand-name PSU? Does it claim 80 Plus certification?

[andyw823]

Not sure on the brand I'll have to inspect. I experimented with the heatsink/fan tonight, I turned the heatsink round so the fan was at the top near the PSU blowing down through the heatsink. I started RW and a HST round the test circuit at 103mph for just over an hour and NO black screen!!!!!! However my MB temp was at 51c and the CPU was at 56c but this could be down to new thermal paste on the heatsink ( I hope )

[Kromaatikse]

Those temperatures are not ridiculously hot, but they do suggest that the airflow in your case is poor - having the CPU fan blowing it's hot air into the middle of the case probably doesn't help.

However, keeping the hottest air away from the PSU does seem to have made it more stable. This suggests strongly that your PSU is the main problem. If you open the side of the case you should be able to see the label on the PSU, which will tell me more.