# Troublesome Desktop (need help)



## josephwmartin (Jan 25, 2014)

I've recently bought a new desktop and on first start up we had it running for about 15 minuets and it shut down. every time it shuts down the CPU LED light flashes. we have tried a few things but we need help!


----------



## 95Viper (Jan 25, 2014)

josephwmartin said:


> every time it shuts down the CPU LED light flashes


Is this on the motherboard?  Almost sounds like a laptop going to sleep or hibernate.

Is it the one in your specs or another? If not, what make and model or specs.

Have you tried resetting the CMOS(BIOS) and disabling any overclocks.
Also, check that the CPU temps...  may need to check the CPU cooling systems. (Not on correctly, lack of TIM, to much TIM, fans not working, etc.)


----------



## josephwmartin (Jan 25, 2014)

We reset the CMOS and we are thinking its temperature related so we are getting thermal paste tomorrow because its looking a bit thin and all the fans are working 
And nothing's too warm but it might be set to shut down at temperatures which are too low 


95Viper said:


> Is this on the motherboard?  Almost sounds like a laptop going to sleep or hibernate.
> 
> Is it the one in your specs or another? If not, what make and model or specs.
> 
> ...


----------



## Law-II (Jan 25, 2014)

Hi



josephwmartin said:


> We reset the CMOS and we are thinking its temperature related; And nothing's too warm but it might be set to shut down at temperatures which are too low


Assuming this is the Asus sabertooth 990fx [as this has not been confirmed]

*Enter system bios*



*Hardware Monitoring*

Look in hardware monitoring at the CPU temps; leave the PC running keeping a close an eye on CPU temps
What temps are shown*?*
Dose the system still shut down after 15 minutes*?*
Source - *here*



josephwmartin said:


> getting thermal paste tomorrow because its looking a bit thin


Note: Thermal paste [TIM] is meant to be applied in a thin layer

atb

Law-II


----------



## de.das.dude (Jan 25, 2014)

probably manufacturing defects. if its under replacement warranty from the seller, i say dont go through too much trouble. specially if its an Asus board. they dont make them like they used to anymore.


----------



## BarbaricSoul (Jan 25, 2014)

If you really want us to help you, you need to answer our questions.



95Viper said:


> Is this on the motherboard?  Almost sounds like a laptop going to sleep or hibernate.
> 
> Is it the one in your specs or another? If not, what make and model or specs.



so what are the specs of the system you are having problems with?


----------



## josephwmartin (Jan 25, 2014)

Hi sorry yeh we've ran that and monitored the temperatures but it cuts out at about 40 degrees.  

It's the Acus sabertooth 990fx 
I have 2x8gb memory 
And an AMD fx-8510 

It's a second hand system and I tried it before I bought it and it was running find but when I got it home it started to shut down before I could do anything


----------



## josephwmartin (Jan 25, 2014)

The full spec on my profile


----------



## 95Viper (Jan 25, 2014)

Is it giving any BSOD errors?
Have you look at the "Event Viewer" in the Admin tools for clues?

Since, it seems you moved the system (I don't know how far or if it was a hard ride)... have you checked or reseated all the connections?

Have you checked in the "Power Options" to make sure it is not set to shutdown, sleep, or hibernate after a given time?

Run a chkdsk on the drives for errors?


----------



## Jetster (Jan 26, 2014)

If you buy a PC and it doesn't work . Take it back. If you bought is used and cant get your cash back then bench test it. Take it completely apart and clean the dust out


----------



## josephwmartin (Jan 26, 2014)

It doesn't start up for log enough and if we try and turn it on after a break it goes for a few minuets but once it's down if we try again it just shuts down after 5 or so seconds. That's why we are thinking maybe a thermal problem. We've left it in a cold room now and we going to check again in the morning to see what it is like.


----------



## josephwmartin (Jan 26, 2014)

Jetster said:


> If you buy a PC and it doesn't work . Take it back. If you bought is used and cant get your cash back then bench test it. Take it completely apart and clean the dust out


I think we are getting close to that to be honest


----------



## 95Viper (Jan 26, 2014)

josephwmartin said:


> we had it running for about 15 minuets





josephwmartin said:


> It doesn't start up for log enough and if we try and turn it on after a break it goes for a few minuets but once it's down if we try again it just shuts down after 5 or so seconds



Sounds like it is getting worse... yea, I think it may be time to look elsewhere and take that one back.


----------



## josephwmartin (Jan 26, 2014)

Do you think there is anyway to salvage it or does it sounds more like a hardware problem?


----------



## 95Viper (Jan 26, 2014)

You can salvage just about anything that is not a burnt piece of rubble; but, the question is... How much time or money do you want to sink in it?


----------



## josephwmartin (Jan 26, 2014)

I was looking for a project ahahhaaa thanks anyway I'm gunna try again tomorrow ill update if anything changes


----------



## Jetster (Jan 26, 2014)

Yes its hardware related. You just need to figure out which hardware. Which is time consuming and requires testing parts. Otherwise its a guessing game. Could be the power supply, board, short in the case, heat sink not aligned properly, GPU or memory not seated properly.


----------



## 95Viper (Jan 26, 2014)

Well, if it is just a project and you got a good deal; then, go for it.

I would start by doing a little troubleshooting and if that did not help, I would go to full tear down and rebuild/testing mode.
It would help if you have another system and extra known good parts for testing.

Good Luck on the project.


----------



## de.das.dude (Jan 26, 2014)

its a crapped board and someone got rid of it. asus boards are pretty crap nowadays even flagship ones like sabertooth which is supposed to be built for quality..

its a thermal issue, but with the onboard vrm of the motherboard, but not the cpu.
as it runs and gets hot the soldering joints have cracks which become bigger and then the soldering fails.

you might try reflowing the solder by running a hot air gun over the chip. but its not guaranteed to work.


----------



## josephwmartin (Jan 26, 2014)

de.das.dude said:


> its a crapped board and someone got rid of it. asus boards are pretty crap nowadays even flagship ones like sabertooth which is supposed to be built for quality..
> 
> its a thermal issue, but with the onboard vrm of the motherboard, but not the cpu.
> as it runs and gets hot the soldering joints have cracks which become bigger and then the soldering fails.
> ...


Alright we'll give it a go


----------



## micropage7 (Jan 26, 2014)

de.das.dude said:


> its a crapped board and someone got rid of it. asus boards are pretty crap nowadays even flagship ones like sabertooth which is supposed to be built for quality..
> 
> its a thermal issue, but with the onboard vrm of the motherboard, but not the cpu.
> as it runs and gets hot the soldering joints have cracks which become bigger and then the soldering fails.
> ...


woohoo... before taking asrock for my board i considered take sabertooth board
anyway, maybe better you take everything off from the case for further inspection. it could be from board, heat or psu.
if you have any spare hardware you may test it with that


----------



## josephwmartin (Jan 26, 2014)

micropage7 said:


> woohoo... before taking asrock for my board i considered take sabertooth board
> anyway, maybe better you take everything off from the case for further inspection. it could be from board, heat or psu.
> if you have any spare hardware you may test it with that


Unfortunately not but I can always rope in some friends


----------



## josephwmartin (Jan 26, 2014)

We took the CPU out and gave it a clean and applied some thermal paste now it's working fine. Thanks for all the suggestions


----------



## Law-II (Jan 26, 2014)

Hi



josephwmartin said:


> We took the CPU out and gave it a clean and applied some thermal paste now it's working fine.


 
That's great news 

atb

Law-II


----------



## de.das.dude (Jan 27, 2014)

hahaha, so it was your fault XD


----------



## josephwmartin (Jan 27, 2014)

No it was the previous owners fault I'm amazing and fixed it ahahah good computer to I got it for 350


----------



## de.das.dude (Jan 27, 2014)

so the cpu and heat sink was already mounted?
if it was shipped/travelled with, i can understand how it might become loose. old TIM gets dry and flaky.


----------



## josephwmartin (Jan 27, 2014)

Yeah I'm just glad it's fixed ahaha


----------



## 95Viper (Jan 27, 2014)

Glad we could help and enjoy your project!


----------

