PSU on the way out?

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Happilly playing Civ IV (xmas present) and next thing pc rebooted itself.
Started again and shortly afterwards same thing.
3rd time Pc stayed powered off.

Next morning wouldn't POST. So took psu out, tested it, and all Ok. Put PSU back in & it booted Ok.
Ran MEMtest all ok
Surfed etc. all ok, started playing Civ & rebooted again.

Checked various civ forums and losts of posts about Civ crashing to desktop.
So tonight put new graphics driver on, crossed fingers and played Civ - yep,you guessed bang.

Plan B - Play AOE III - only switched to Civ as stuck on AOE! Pc had been fine when running AOE - not tonight.

Crashed again & wouldn't POST. Checked PSU again, ok, plugged back in and POSTed Ok.

This time decided to check XP crash settings - made sure the don't restart option was un-checked. About 30 secs later the bloody thing rebooted.

So no blue screens of death, no microsoft crash analysis on restart and my PSU tester says it's Ok.

Still reckon it's the psu though.

Anybody got any ideas before I buy a new PSU in the morning?

 

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

are you sure you not overheating or have a memory problem? I know those two games also require alot of hardware so just make sure you got enough cooling in there too!

does the pc reboot if you just do 'normal' stuff?

 

Have you checked the logs in Event Viewer to see what they tell you? Beyond that, a quick Google search seems to indicate that what you are experiencing isn't uncommon. One site says that the crash problem is attributed to a Patch for the game. This may be less of an issue with your PC and more with the game software. Try not playing games (I know it must be hard) for awhile and see if the rebooting behavior persists or stops.

 

Cheers for the replies.

Did check the temp in between crashes and it was Ok.

Will check the logs later - on a difference PC at the mo.

Going to uninstall Civ - that was my first thought but with it not POSting thought it might be more serious.

 

I tend to agree with you. Clearly software is not causing the system to fail the POST.

It could be that your tests on the PSU are done when it is not under a heavy load and so are giving you false information.

It still sounds to me like an overheating CPU or a PSU issue.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Sounds like a temperature issue to me...

I had a similar problem with a game I installed on my laptop. Every now and again the game would cut out and the laptop would reset. The same game on the PC would run for hours on end with no problems.

Sitting with the laptop on my lap I found I was blocking the fan vent and just moving my knee over to "unblock" the vent the game would run with no problems!

 

I would pop the case open give it a good clean out. Remove the graphics card and reseat it. If you have any isopropyl then put some on the contacts. If you have some CPU paste then remove the CPU, clean the base and treat it to some new paste. The system should be happier even if it isn't a temp issue.
The temp fault wouldn't explain why it didn't POST next morning, as it would have been stone cold. I would have also thought if Windows Protection shut the system down because of dangerous temp it would be in event viewer.

Let us know how you get on

 

Todays plan - boot it up, check the event logs, play AOE

What actually happened.....booted it up and it crashed again.

Tried to reboot - didn't even spin the fans . Got the psu tester out and reported ok for a second and then all the lights went out.

Off to my local shop to get a new psu later.

Cheers for the help & advice

 

TBH - the cost of a PSU is fairly negligable. At work, we just swap it out if we think it could be the problem.

 

Oh, good, you found the culprit.

Did you use an Antex PSU tester or a multimeter? Purely out of interest...

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=158610

 

oh, thanks. Does this put a load on the PSU and spin the fan up?
Can't see anything mentioned in the spec...

 

The only plug in is for the main motherboard supply.

First time I tested the PSU I unplugged everything.
Next time left all the drives etc. plugged in so they spun up.

It had green lights both times so all appeared Ok.

Lights dropped out when I tested this morning but by this point I knew the PSU was dead as it didn't spin anything.

First time I've used it in anger. Not sure if a more expensive one would have given an indication of the problem sooner.

Looking back think I diagnosed it Ok - only thing to remember for next time is to check the logs for clues.

Not put the new psu in yet so I'll check the logs Monday probably

 

Yeah, it looks like the one you have and one made by Antec are the only two around- do the same job. Glad you got to the problem.

 

Couldn't see anything from the spec either. Considering the only components which are visible are LEDs and a switch, I would say a negligible load was put on the PSU. Hence it would only act as a guide as to whether the various output voltages are present or not.

So *if* the PSU was totally dead, the tool would indicate which voltage outputs were missing. However it would not indicate acurately whether the voltages are correct or whether the outputs fail under a heavy load.

 

Put new PSU in this morning & it's dead as a very dead thingy

Back to the shop in the morning

To Be Continued....

 

u put a new PSU in and its dead?

 

Oh, blimey. I hope the PSU didn't blow the mobo or anything else before it pegged out...

 

hmm i got my theory here mate:

Your mobo is packed(ing) out ... you old PSU is fine (since you said a couple of times it tested ok) and so is the new PSU... tell me do the capacitors on the mobo look swollen?

 

Here's the final chapter...

Sunday morning plugged PSU in a rush as needed to printer off directions to sunderland.

No power - check tester - no lights. Plugged printer in to other Pc and set off.

This morning - unplug PSU from PC and test again before taking back to the shop - no lights

Then notice atx connector still plugged into the mobo. Unplug it and lights everywhere on the psu tester.

Looks like in my rush plugged the bloody thing in wrong!

Moral of the story....test the PSU before plugging in then you know it's operator error.

Off to play Civ IV again......