[noneplusone]

Specs:
Windows 7 64-bit
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3-B3
Intel Core i5 2500K
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1600 Kit CL9
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB 7200rpm SATAII
EVGA nVidia GeForce GTX460 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E
Seasonic S12II Bronze 520W 80Plus Power Supply
Dell U2312 monitor

I've been having an issue with my computer where it will shut down without warning and then reboot. There is no BSOD when this happens. It happens very sporadically as well. Typically it shuts down when I play a game (Dota 2 in general) but sometimes it'll do its first crash when it's idling. It generally tends to shut down the first time when I'm gaming and then it'll happen a few more times. But for the few days preceding this I've been playing Dota 2 and it has not shut down. I have checked the capacitors on the mobo and they all seem fine. I have memtested the RAM and no errors were found. I have also changed power outlets as I thought that might've been the culprit. I've formatted and reinstalled Windows 7. I've monitored temps and they are all perfectly fine both idle and under load. This computer is about 2 years old and I've never had this problem occur before. It's been happening for at least a couple of weeks.

I did discover that there seems to be an issue with the mobo coming into contact with the case. Initially, when I put pressue on top and back of the case it'd cause the comp to shut down. I removed the side panels and found that pressuring the top did nothing. So I poked ever so slightly at the piece of metal the mobo is mounted to and found that pressuring a certain area a little caused the comp to shut down. My guess is that the side panel which covers the bottom of the mobo is too tight and when the top is pressured whilst it is attached it must push the mobo into contact with the case. I'm certain I haven't been inadvertently pressuring the side when these shutdowns take place so I assume that this isn't the cause. And they seem to begin when I play Dota 2 (there doesn't seem to be any consistency in terms of how long I'll be playing for before it shuts down. I can play entire games and it's fine but then sometimes it'll consistently crash during 1 game).

Also, just today when it has shutdown it has not rebooted instantly as it was before. Instead 30 seconds or more go by and then it boots.

Does anyone have any idea what the trouble could be? It seems like it has to be a mobo or PSU issue. The fact that it crashes more when under load leads me to believe it is PSU but I am just guessing here.

Any tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

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Hello

I would suggest that you download speedfan and monitor the voltages,and then try to check those voltages prior to shut down and see if heat is affecting the psu.Some psu issues i have helped with, the psu starts to lose it's ability to produce the proper voltage when it starts to get hot... http://www.filehippo...nload_speedfan/

It is a possibility that the mobo as it warms up may start to expand ever so slightly to the point that it may ground itself out on that standout you mentioned...

[Veeg]

Hello

I would suggest that you download speedfan and monitor the voltages,and then try to check those voltages prior to shut down and see if heat is affecting the psu.Some psu issues i have helped with, the psu starts to lose it's ability to produce the proper voltage when it starts to get hot... http://www.filehippo...nload_speedfan/

It is a possibility that the mobo as it warms up may start to expand ever so slightly to the point that it may ground itself out on that standout you mentioned...

[noneplusone]

Thanks for the response.

I've downloaded speedfan but for some reason it doesn't give me any voltage readings. Could I use HWMonitor instead?

If it is the mobo expanding, what do you think would be a good way to prevent that from happening? Sorry I'm not particularly hardware-savvy so that might seem like a dumb question!

[Veeg]

Thanks for the response.

I've downloaded speedfan but for some reason it doesn't give me any voltage readings. Could I use HWMonitor instead?

If it is the mobo expanding, what do you think would be a good way to prevent that from happening? Sorry I'm not particularly hardware-savvy so that might seem like a dumb question!

Yes HW will work just fine... If the probability is there i would suggest that you correct that small grounding issue ASAP...Every little bit helps..It would be the only way to correct it,the heat an expansion is just the nature of the beast...

[Brazened]

Are you using standoffs to support the mobo in the case? And they are in the right place? The mobo shouldn't contact the case at all.

[noneplusone]

Yep there are standoffs supporting the board. I didn't build the comp myself (ordered it from a store in NZ called computerlounge. They assembled it there), but from what I can see there are standoffs. How should I go about correcting this grounding issue? Should I remount the mobo to the case, making sure the standoffs are all in order?

Thanks again for the help guys. Really appreciate it.

[Brazened]

If you can do that I would. All the mounting holes (with screws) accounted for? Maybe an extra standoff left underneath. Way I see it, with the properly placed standoffs and screwed in there's no way the mobo can contact the case.

Also there's a chance of a stray screw underneath as well.

Edited by Brazened, 12 May 2013 - 09:16 AM.

[Veeg]

Yep there are standoffs supporting the board. I didn't build the comp myself (ordered it from a store in NZ called computerlounge. They assembled it there), but from what I can see there are standoffs. How should I go about correcting this grounding issue? Should I remount the mobo to the case, making sure the standoffs are all in order?

Thanks again for the help guys. Really appreciate it.

Make sure the insulators are in place around the screw holes/stand off's...

Edited by Veeg, 12 May 2013 - 12:28 PM.

[phillpower2]

Excuse the interjection folks I know I`m a bit late to the ball

Some readings are better than none noneplusone;

Download Speedfan and install it. Once it's installed, run the program and post here the information it shows. The information I want you to post is the stuff that is circled in the example picture I have attached.
If you are running on a vista machine, please go to where you installed the program and run the program as administrator.


(this is a screenshot from a vista machine)

To capture and post a screenshot;

Click on the ALT key + PRT SCR key..its on the top row..right hand side..now click on start...all programs...accessories...paint....left click in the white area ...press CTRL + V...click on file...click on save...save it to your desktop...name it something related to the screen your capturing... BE SURE TO SAVE IT AS A .JPG ...otherwise it may be to big to upload... then after typing in any response you have... click on browse...desktop...find the screenshot..select it and click on the upload button...then on the lower left...after it says upload successful...click on add reply like you normally would.

Depending on the results we may need to run further software for comparison http://www.cpuid.com.../hwmonitor.html
Screenshot instructions are provided to assist those that may read this topic but are not yet aware of the “how to”.

Have you checked that the backplate that also grounds the MB and rear ports is secure?

[noneplusone]

Hi phillpower2,

I've attached 2 images. One of Speedfan (for some reason it provides me no voltage readings) and the other of HWMonitor (which does).





The backplate actually does seem a little loose. I'll unscrew the mb tomorrow and remount it and also try and make sure the backplate is more secure (getting a bit late here now).

Cheers for the help!

[phillpower2]

Thanks for the update noneplusone which show no issues with temps or voltages

Please refer to my canned text below for testing your hardware outside of the case;

Best couple of suggestions I can make would be first remove the MB and do a barebones set-up on a piece of cardboard (make sure it is larger than the MB) only connect the PSU, the GFX card, screen, 1 stick of Ram and the keyboard.
IF your MB doesn`t have a power test switch you will then need to short out the 2 power on pins on the MB header to get the PSU to activate, you can use a small flat bladed screwdriver or a paper clip bent into a U shape, this is perfectly safe if you do not touch anything else, the idea is to see if we can get a BIOS screen if you do you can then add one component at a time until you find the problem component, you must power down and remove the power cord from the wall before adding another component, second suggestion try a known working PSU, it is not unknown for new components to be bad, third suggestion try and loan an ordinary PCI graphics card (not pci-e) again to try and get a BIOS screen.

Other things worth checking include, if you used stand offs beneath the MB are they in the correct locations (only where there is a screw hole in the MB) otherwise the MB will short out, check for stray screws or bared wires for the same reason

[noneplusone]

The thing is.. If I do that, the computer might never shutdown. I've had whole days go by (where I've played games, namely Dota which seems to cause it to shutdown most often) and it never crashes. It's so inconsistent that I'm not sure I'll be able to find anything by doing that test.

[phillpower2]

It is a standard troubleshooting method, if you do not wish to do it I understand as the choice is yours to make.