PC broke down

[Peter Korsten]

Op 13-9-2011 22:17, tom adam schreef:

> I've got a HW problem with my PC which makes it unusable ;-)
>
> Symptoms are as follows:
> [...]

James is probably right on the money with his suspicion of a heat 
problem, although I wouldn't worry about damaging the motherboard: this 
is why your PC shut down. An i5, an Asus motherboard... I doubt that 
these would be damaged.

The original CPU temperature was worrying. My i7 (with a MASSIVE yet 
very quiet cooler) never gets hotter than 50° C, even when playing 
games. (The graphics card, now that's a different story.)

If it remains at 42, fine. I don't think it's the CPU fan either, given 
the relative low temperature. If you have a problem with the CPU 
temperature, you notice it within 5 seconds rather than 5 minutes.

It's not the video card, it's not the expansion cards, it's very likely 
not the hard disc (what brand, by the way?), so that leaves the memory. 
Which wouldn't surprise me, since memory is often the culprit.

Is there a way that you can check the memory, like the temperature? 
Maybe install Speedfan in those few minutes that the PC works, and 
provided you can actually measure this?

What brand is the memory, and what exact type? Could you perhaps try 
different memory sticks?

Finally, it could also be a problem with the motherboard itself, 
although again this is not very likely. Asus is OK, although I won't buy 
one again after a particularly bad experience with three out of four 
Asus products failing on me during a particular time.

Anyway, if you have some more info on the memory and other temperatures, 
that might help.

- Peter