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Usage spikes and auto-shutdown

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by alxcsby

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A little background: my bosses wife put a new monitor (pnp)on her dad's computer. It suddenly "quit working". Enter me.
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He has a custom box, running Wink2k SP4. The monitor is a huge panel, LCD...the works. I turn on the computer with no problems, it took me a few minutes to get it to start malfunctioning (I had time to reinstall a printer, fix his network, run an ipconfig release/renew, and start to check the email). Seemingly out of the blue, the CPU shut down.
I restarted it and it shut down immediately before the login screen.
I wait a few seconds, open it and run BIOS. It reports his CPU temp at 85oC. That scares me, so I check and I don't feel anything anywhere near that warm. I set all the heating alerts to active, and to alert me at 90oC. I restart the computer, and all the alarms go off. I turn them off in BIOS, and boot up. I'm almost satisfied that he just needs some new heatsink paste.
But, he says this has never happened before. That makes me curious, so I go where we left off at opening his email (via MSN Messenger 7.0)--boom, immediate shutdown.
I reboot, do it again, and again, and again to the same results.
I reboot, exit MSN at first chance, and go to remove the program...it shuts off as soon as I open the "Add or Remove Software" tool.
So, I reboot, navigate down through Program Files and delete the file. Everything seems to be running smoothly. I start to work on getting an alternate method of logging him into his email, we reset his email, and it shuts down.
So, I recheck the Event Viewer, and it's having problems with mobsync.dll, I unregister it. Problem keeps happening.
I open Task Manager and move to the Performance Tab. I open the "Add or Remove Software" tool. CPU Usage history Spikes, falls, HUGELY spikes, falls, then tops out and it shuts off. Every time it shut off, it did this in Usage History. Even just opening MS Word brought it near the brink.
I checked his memory, I checked indexing allocations, everything. Can't find a single reason for it to be doing that.
So, any ideas why that could be happening?
Again, it reports a very high operating temp, though I can't feel it (and at 85oC, I should be smelling it, too).
It shuts off at irregular times, sometimes without any seeming provocation.
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Incidentally, I could produce the same errors with the old monitor installed, and he assured me this happening immediately after the new monitor was installed.

8 replies

by older mycroft

Did you manage to amass a technical spec of the machine?

Custom what ? - Mini, midi or full tower ?
What CPU ?
How much RAM ?
Graphics card installed ?
Number of and function of fans ?
Rating of PSU ?
Age of system ?

by alxcsby

Sorry, should have stuck that in there...
It's a full tower, built into a "CoolMaster" case. (never heard of it)
Built in Graphics card with a mainboard (separate processor) I'd never heard of.
CPU was Intel Pentium, but I don't remember which...I'd have to go back and look.
Don't remember the number on RAM, but he had enough.
Single Fan positioned in the upper-mid area of the back of the box, with a (I assume, didn't take it apart) side-mount board.
Didn't check PSU
2 year old system.
(Sorry, I'll get more details if you think it's necessary...a lot of the stuff I checked I disregarded as no-names. Which was a reason I suspected the board first.)

by older mycroft

You reported that the heat sensor was reporting 85'C but you couldn't feel anything like that.

Yet you also said "Single Fan positioned in the upper-mid area of the back of the box, with a (I assume, didn't take it apart) side-mount board." I'd suggest that if you never took the case apart, you're not really in a position to discount the possibility of a heat problem.

The recent installation of the 'monster' LCD screen may have involved the physical moving of the tower unit: any physical movement of a tower, particularly one that has sat untouched for a long period, can cause things to shift and settle again, including dust. The heat-related shutdowns could be related to this.

by ozi eagle

Hi,

I too would firstly suspect a heat problem.

Open the case and check / clean the CPU fan / heat sink with compressed air. Be sure to stop the fan from spinning or you may create enough electricity to damage something. Also check that the fan does rotate freely. Remove the heatsink / fan assembly from the CPU chip, clean the surfaces, apply heat sink compound and reassemble.

Check the PSU fan for free rotation and then clean PSU with compressed air, again stopping the fan from rotating ( use a small screwdriver). Check case fan for free rotation. Any fan that is stiff or frozen should be replaced, though dismantling, cleaning and lubricating will restore operation for a while.

Good luck.

Herb

by thumbsup2

Don't forget to check the power supply as well. Sometimes they overheat due to their own fan improperly cooling when there's a draw on the system.

I'd have to agree with everyone else.... the problem is heat related and activated when the CPU is pushed. That's what made me suspect the power supply.

by alxcsby

I'll give it a shot, I thought it was heat, but didn't want to go prying apart a custom box until I was sure. I should have an update tomorrow night on if that's the problem...
Based on some other evidence, I really thought (and now am reassured) that it was some overheating directly on the processor. Good idea on the powersource though.
I'll have a look and let everyone know...thanks again for the second opinion(s).
-A.

by alxcsby

I went back today to have a look at it, screwdriver and replacement heatsink (cannibalized off an old box here at the office...just a temp fix) in hand. No problems. It does seem to get a little heavy on CPU usage when I open the "Add or Remove Programs" dialogue, but that appears to be it. So, I took it apart, and cleaned it thoroughly. Doesn't appear to have any problems.
Incidentally, I was right about the configuration, but in the middle of his mainboard was something I haven't come across before.
About 1"x1" Tang-orange metal, looks like a heatsink without a fan. "Gigabyte" printed on it. It was hot enough to burn my hand if left there. I would say probably close to 80'C. Any ideas? Dead in the middle of the mainboard, set diagonally.
The processor, and heatsink assembly was about 2"-3" above it.

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