PC keeps losing power

[Ronnie Pickering]

I can promise you, my mates computer did exactly the same thing, once the GPU got to a certain power threshold that it needed the computer would shutdown (Not due to the PSU not having the right wattage). all im doing is quoting a computer specialist (Who fixed this problem by supplying a different PSU with the same wattage)

Alright weird. never heared that problem tough

 

[puppy1004]

Did you install the GPU and CPU yourself or did it come with the Alienware PC?

Make sure you actually plugged the correct things in, else it will be trying to draw power from the motherboard, which is not sufficient enough to power the GPU/CPU under load

 

[shobbobo]

Hey my computer keeps doin that, my problem was all the dust inside the computer xD donno if it help but everyone clear your PC help alot for about everything xD

 

[Daanish]

Could just be as simple as the PSU not being compatible with the GPU, my friend had this problem a few weeks ago.

um, how would he even get to start his pc then lol. also that doesn't explain random shut down's. gpu feeds the monitor and the graphigs when the card would fail it would not just shut down the pc.

They thought this was the issue, and so I got a free GTX 970 . It fixed it for a while, and I have been having less issues recently .

Did you install the GPU and CPU yourself or did it come with the Alienware PC?

Make sure you actually plugged the correct things in, else it will be trying to draw power from the motherboard, which is not sufficient enough to power the GPU/CPU under load

CPU came with PC, GPU was replaced like, 6 months ago .

I'll download the software which was previously mentioned and keep you guys updated!

 

[Zeito]

@GP. Daanish sorry i'm late to the party. On the face of it it does sound like a PSU issue, especially if that's fixing it in the past. a 1KW psu is more than enough for your pc, I've mine running off a 750W and i know it'd be fine with 550W so your psu is more than doubly capable of powering that machine.

AFAIK alienware were long ago bought by dell - it would be worth seeing if they ever integrated Dell's Built in diagnostics to their machines as these can test all the components independent of the OS. It's usually a boot option on the bios splash.

If the PC is under support/waranty still (unlikely with a 1st gen i7) i'd just hit up dell/alienware to replace it. Alienware are not a good manufacturer of machine anymore and are very overpriced for what you buy - but i'm not here to judge your purchasing decisions.

A thermal shutdown event will almost certainly display a message to that effect when you turn the pc on that it was shutdown due to the CPU tripping it's thermal value (usually around 80C) so i dont think it's that unless you see anything like that in your bios.

If you boot it up and go into the bios, if it's anything like Dell's unified bios it will have a Power/ACPI log, and a thermal event log, look there for time and dates that correlate with your shutdowns.

I would say that more than likely it's a big, cheap PSU that's badged as alienware. If it's a standard ATX psu size, i'd just get one myself to replace it froma  good known brand. A corsair PSU will cost you around 30-50 quid if you want modular or whatever, and 600W should be fine.

First, check for thermal or power event logs in the Bios and let me know what it says. But unless your pc is literally CAKED in dirt and it's roasting hot -  i dont see it shutting down from heat.

What's the wiring like in your home? Does the PC run through a surge protector? Much cheaper than a new PSU, and can soften out spikes that might trip the PSUs internal safety. For example: When my fridge in my kitchen kicks it's pump on, i used to get a big burst of static/the tv turned off which was a right pain in the arse. Also every now and then i turn on my downstairs lights and they all blow because the wiring sucks. Surge protect the PSU and see how that works out, check the bios for thermal/power logs, make sure the pc isnt caked in dirt.

 

[Daanish]

-snip-

Thanks for replying!

Alienware has been bought by dell, and the recent repairs have been by dell engineers. The initial warranty has far since run out, but I am on an extended warranty currently which was renewed last month. As a result, I don't think I am allowed to buy a new PSU and chuck it in without voiding the warranty. I also am reluctant to hand it into the shop as they often take several weeks to fix this issue, and my laptop runs ArmA at a low FPS xD

Looking through it now, I can't see any diagnostic software.

Regarding the warranty, here is what has happened so far:

3x PSU changes

1x GPU change

1x MoBo / CPU, Cooler change (They cut the liquid cooling wire and mobo got destroyed).

After the most recent change of a PSU and GPU, the problems have become less frequent. 

In regards to buying an alienware, I bought it a few years ago when I knew little about PC's, and at the time the alienware was the only decent prebuilt in my local shop, the rest were stuff like i3s with 4 gigs of RAM and internal graphics. It initially came with 2x AMD ATI Radeon 6900s with 1GB of VRAM each. 

Regarding the BIOS, I've never really had to navigate through it, but I'll have a go. Do you recommend doing it today / tomorrow, or next time my PC crashes? 

Although I have never cleaned my PC per say, it isn't covered in dirt - at most a small layer of dust. 

Unfortunately I don't know much about the wiring in my house. I live in the countryside, on a small lane off a main road. There are a couple houses nearby, and some terraces about 500 metres away. We have had a few power cuts in the past, longest being I think 3-4 days. I did (and probably still do) own a box which you plug into the wall, and then your PC into which beeps when too much power is being drawn. It beeped alot the first time I got this issue, and I haven't tried it since. 

Thanks for your long reply though! Would you suggest that I also try out the CPU stress testers as well as look in the BIOS?

Thanks,

~ Daanish

 

[Zeito]

-Snip!- Are you trying to outdo my long reply?

If it's under warranty then get them to replace it to keep that all kosher, unless you're going to build a new machine.

A small layer of dust wont cause problems. I have dustballs in my case and it's sweet. All gravy baby.

If you're in the countryside you are more likely to have poorer quality wiring, your distance from the local substation is probably greater and that rural development budget isnt ususally spent on the power infrastructure! Just look at how poor your roads are also surrey sucks!

The beeping on power draw could be either draw or a surge down your line, you really want a dedicated protector if you're that far down the line - what are your DSL speeds like? I imagine you're probably far from your local exchange too which would see poor/low speeds.

You could try system testers sure, download the Ultimate Boot CD, burn it to a usb drive, boot off that and there are all manner of tools and utilities use to diagnose your system. Just stay away from the HDD Destruction section, it's for deep wiping of machines

Feel free to ping me on ts instead of us making these crazy long replies!

 

[Daanish]

-SNiP - I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE: also surrey sucks!

I'll probably give them a ring, and ask them how long it will take it replace. Last time they said it will take a while since it is hard to source parts.

I used to have poor internet speeds of around 300 Kilobyes /s but since upgrading it is about 3 megabytes / s.

I'll message you on TS later

 

[Zeito]

Zeito is just the best, I really must give him my bank account number and sortcode later...

I deal with their prosupport teams a lot in work, it's genrally pretty good as it's next day parts or next day parts+engineer, or some ofour systems are on 4hr 'mission crit' support. When i got a dell laptop i made sure to get it from their business line for the business warranty

Bytes or bits? 3megabytes a sec would be a 30mbit connection which isnt too drastic. if it's 3megabits/sec then you're on a 3 MB connection and today that's just poor  We were on 3MB dsl for about 8 months until openreach could improve the BT cabinets around here as this entire place is countryside.

But anyway yeah - buy a surge protector, see how that rolls.

 

[Daanish]

I deal with their prosupport teams a lot in work, it's genrally pretty good as it's next day parts or next day parts+engineer, or some ofour systems are on 4hr 'mission crit' support. When i got a dell laptop i made sure to get it from their business line for the business warranty

Bytes or bits? 3megabytes a sec would be a 30mbit connection which isnt too drastic. if it's 3megabits/sec then you're on a 3 MB connection and today that's just poor  We were on 3MB dsl for about 8 months until openreach could improve the BT cabinets around here as this entire place is countryside.

But anyway yeah - buy a surge protector, see how that rolls.

Paying for 40mbit, getting about 30mbit, which is pretty much 3 megabytes. We were on ADSL, now fiber optic to the box, and copper cabling to our house

 

[Daanish]

Just DL'd speccy after Bf4 causing the problem again.

GPU idle: 47

MoBo Idle: 42

CPU Idle: 60

Will update when I have played a game

 

[Daanish]

Ok so I played bf4 and it crashed again. GPU was around 50-60,  CPU was 67 - 70. 

Whyy!!!???

Also my ram is 655MHz xD

 

[Ronnie Pickering]

Ok so I played bf4 and it crashed again. GPU was around 50-60,  CPU was 67 - 70. 

Whyy!!!???

Also my ram is 655MHz xD

temp's are good. i'll leave this to @Zeito or someone else because this goes beyond my knowlegde probably.

 

[Zeito]

Ok so I played bf4 and it crashed again. GPU was around 50-60,  CPU was 67 - 70. 

Whyy!!!???

Also my ram is 655MHz xD

Surge protector man!

Also it's 655 because of the way DDR ram works out it's Dual Data Rate frequency.

 

[lionel]

Could easily be a ram issue, random crashes no obvious culprit, remove the ram and reseat it, thermal expansion has caused me a headache before.

 

[Zeito]

Could easily be a ram issue, random crashes no obvious culprit, remove the ram and reseat it, thermal expansion has caused me a headache before.

It's possible, but this would cause a bluescreen i'd imagine and not a total power off unless it was some catastrophic failure and all the ram ejected at once?

 

[Rossss]

@GP. Daanish Do any fan speeds audible increase when starting a game? Just curious if anything gets very hot very fast. I'm no expert as this but i've had a good few issues happen to me in the past. 

 

[Zeito]

@GP. Daanish Do any fan speeds audible increase when starting a game? Just curious if anything gets very hot very fast. I'm no expert as this but i've had a good few issues happen to me in the past. 

It would have to get very hot, very fast. Speccy has reported normal temps for him for major components so far. I dont think this is a thermal problem.

 

[Rossss]

It would have to get very hot, very fast. Speccy has reported normal temps for him for major components so far. I dont think this is a thermal problem.

I would agree although my 650 Ti goes from 30C to 60C in 30 seconds when launching some games. This could happen with others but higher temps but I doubt it, just interested.

 

[Daanish]

@GP. Daanish Do any fan speeds audible increase when starting a game? Just curious if anything gets very hot very fast. I'm no expert as this but i've had a good few issues happen to me in the past. 

Sometimes, but then they return to normal

It would have to get very hot, very fast. Speccy has reported normal temps for him for major components so far. I dont think this is a thermal problem.

is 60 degrees idle normal?

Also, ArmA seems to work fine, and I would regard it as being more intense than a game like rocket league or BF4