PC Crashing....

[DionysusToast]

Right - any of you chaps know how to figure out why a PC is crashing?

It's gone down 3 times today. First time was trying to produce a video for my programmer. I thought it might be CPU overheating, so I put a monitor on it and started my platform, charting package etc and did the video reproduction again. CPU didn't go over 70c...

Then I switched to the browser, went to a flash site and boooom - thing freezes with no logs in the event log when I restart to tell me what went wrong.

Any ideas? The thing just stops and it's becoming annoying...

 

[forker]

reinstall flash.. sounds like a driver\framework issue. might be worthwhile updating your video driver if an update is availble

 

[Liquid validity]

Right - any of you chaps know how to figure out why a PC is crashing?

It's gone down 3 times today. First time was trying to produce a video for my programmer. I thought it might be CPU overheating, so I put a monitor on it and started my platform, charting package etc and did the video reproduction again. CPU didn't go over 70c...

Then I switched to the browser, went to a flash site and boooom - thing freezes with no logs in the event log when I restart to tell me what went wrong.

Any ideas? The thing just stops and it's becoming annoying...

Does that mean it came close to going over 70?
Personally I don't like much over 60.
Never ran anything close to 70 myself, take the side cover off and use a desk fan as a temp measure.

What kind of crash are you getting:
crash to desktop
blue screen
lockup
Is task manager still accessible?

Does sound temperature / driver related though.

 

[DionysusToast]

yeah - it went to 70. Previously, we had an issue with the board the fan was attached too, the board was cracked and the fan wasn't properly mounted. We had to get a new board from Asus. At that point, the thing didn't crash till it got to the mid 90's....

In terms of the crash - it just stops - all of the screens freeze, keyboard locks up. You can still see what was on the screens when it crashed.

Anyway - new drivers in for the video cards, flash upgraded, will see how it runs....

 

[Liquid validity]

yeah - it went to 70. Previously, we had an issue with the board the fan was attached too, the board was cracked and the fan wasn't properly mounted. We had to get a new board from Asus. At that point, the thing didn't crash till it got to the mid 90's....

In terms of the crash - it just stops - all of the screens freeze, keyboard locks up. You can still see what was on the screens when it crashed.

Anyway - new drivers in for the video cards, flash upgraded, will see how it runs....

F**k me, 70-90 deg...
Is the CPU installed correctly with thermal paste on the heatsink?
First thing I'd be looking at. CPU and case fans all spinning OK?

 

[Liquid validity]

Saying that, I forgot, you're in thailand, could be due to ambient and humidity.
Try a can of compressed air (pc or photo shop), blow the case and heatsinks clear of any dust first.
If hardware is OK, and its just insufficient cooling, more fans or liquid cooling should sort it.

 

[Lightning McQueen]

believe 70-90c a tad high tbh. what cpu is in there? if intel you could be on the verge of a fry up. a new meaning to toast lol

mines running 25c at mo.

are case vents, cooling fans, heat sinks clear of crud? if not, hoover it all out, careful not to touch things! (static) and as already said, make sure those fans are running.

 

[Liquid validity]

believe 70-90c a tad high tbh. what cpu is in there? if intel you could be on the verge of a fry up. a new meaning to toast lol

mines running 25c at mo.

are case vents, cooling fans, heat sinks clear of crud? if not, hoover it all out, careful not to touch things! (static) and as already said, make sure those fans are running.

Good shout, was editing last post to say the same. Forgot about the basics

 

[Lightning McQueen]

Good shout, was editing last post to say the same. Forgot about the basics

no worries there mate, until 'roast, i mean 'toast reports back, we wont know what the score is, and whether its a hardware failure or just dirty innards

 

[wackypete2]

I believe most PC's shutdown if they reach a certain overheat level. Overheating may not be your problem. Try a System Restore back to a point prior to the crashes. Most likely it's a driver problem.

Peter

 

[wackypete2]

believe 70-90c a tad high tbh. what cpu is in there? if intel you could be on the verge of a fry up. a new meaning to toast lol

That's just wrong. Ding they guy when he's down. geez...

Peter

 

[counter_violent]

That's just wrong. Ding they guy when he's down. geez...

Peter

Didn't stop anybody on the Baddaddy thread did it !

 

[Lightning McQueen]

I believe most PC's shutdown if they reach a certain overheat level. Overheating may not be your problem. Try a System Restore back to a point prior to the crashes. Most likely it's a driver problem.

Peter

70-90c not an issue??

but yes, good point. i only have older stuff, so know not of how newer stuff copes with overheat situations. eg my kids laptop will start to goof up, freezing or blue screening, if the cooling intake is clogged with fluff.

if the innards are clean and fans are ok, then sure, a good thing to try after the cooling is looked at.

 

[Lightning McQueen]

That's just wrong. Ding they guy when he's down. geez...

Peter

Didn't stop anybody on the Baddaddy thread did it !

exactly, they are both vendors

 

[wackypete2]

70-90c not an issue??

but yes, good point. i only have older stuff, so know not of how newer stuff copes with overheat situations. eg my kids laptop will start to goof up, freezing or blue screening, if the cooling intake is clogged with fluff.

if the innards are clean and fans are ok, then sure, a good thing to try after the cooling is looked at.

Just an alternate suggestion. He did say it was good to 90c in the past so 70c may not be the problem. We'll find out soon I hope.

Peter

 

[Lightning McQueen]

here's mine running along, still @ 25c only luke warm in comparison.

 

[Liquid validity]

Yeah the CPU should throttle back when running too hot.
Temp is still high, and freezing lockups can be a symptom of overheating.
As its happened during a CPU intensive task, I'd still bet thats the problem.
GPU or CPU being maxed and cooling unable to cope.
No big deal on the hardware front, CPU's and mobo's are easy to replace.

With overheating, the hard drive temp will also be higher, which is more of
a concern as drive failure is more likely (gradual over extended time period, not sudden).
Nasty if you have no drive backups or images though.
Another thing to check is cabling - not obstructing airflow to CPU fan or case fan.
Cases: How to Avoid Overheating | Hardware Secrets

I agree, the cooler the better, server farms have strictly controlled environments
(temp and humidity) for exactly this reason.

 

[pboyles]

or liquid cooling should sort it.

Very irresponsible advice, Beginner Joe is now dipping his laptop in a basin of water.

 

[Liquid validity]

Very irresponsible advice, Beginner Joe is now dipping his laptop in a basin of water.

I'd never use water cooling though, PITA and they can leak even if careful...

 

[DionysusToast]

Fingers crossed... all seems to be well again.

New Shockwave install, resolved a Chrome conflict with mutliple Shockwave plug-ins.

New Video drivers too - it's behaved perfectly since.