Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Resolved Question

Loss of Output after ~30 Minutes of Use

Dec 25, 2014 12:41AM PST

Description of reoccurring event:
Computer starts up fine (stays on without issue if left idle). Then, after 30 to 60 minutes of use, the monitor stops receiving a signal (and any audio that was playing stops); the computer's fans stay on and the hard drive keeps spinning (pushing or holding the computer's power/reset button has no effect.)

Hardware and Software:
Windows 7
Assembled desktop from individually bought parts.

Other details:
According to my processor temperature monitoring software, the computer isn't overheating.
I tried changing the hard drive (also running Windows 7), but experienced no change in the issue.

Does this problem have an obvious source? If not, what's the next step of troubleshooting I should take?

Discussion is locked

hilogem has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

- Collapse -
ATX 4-Pin Connector
Dec 27, 2014 4:10AM PST

As it turns out, my ATX 4-Pin Connector was fried.

Hopefully this information helps someone else troubleshoot their problem.

- Collapse -
Thanks for the update.
Dec 27, 2014 4:27AM PST

Now you see why temperature reporting is all too often a dead end.
Bob

- Collapse -
Answer
There are many other parts that can be heat sensitive
Dec 25, 2014 1:22AM PST

There are now thousands of posts with this symptom but if you read a few you find the fixes all over the map. All have some things in common such as folk looking at temp and not finding that. Some won't remove the case cover for a test run.
Bob

- Collapse -
Could you give some examples?
Dec 25, 2014 3:10AM PST

Could you give me some examples of components that could be overheating?
I wasn't able to find another post with very similar symptoms in my searching; What keywords should I be searching for?

- Collapse -
All other parts from diodes to other chips.
Dec 25, 2014 3:20AM PST

I was wrong to tell you that there were 1000s of posts. It's closer to millions. The lockup of a PC is that big an epidemic but troubleshooting remains the same. Remove any extra parts, pare it down to less parts like one stick of RAM and don't skimp on details.

For example folk seem to be trying those micro miniature cases and flaming out over lockups. There is rarely any exact match from one repair to the next. If I think back over the last hundred repairs I don't think there was an instance where it was the same thing 2 times in a row.
Bob

- Collapse -
Answer
tell tale sign
Dec 26, 2014 1:32AM PST
(pushing or holding the computer's power/reset button has no effect.)

Definitely ties it to motherboard hardware problem.
- Collapse -
What about the 4 to 10 second press?
Dec 26, 2014 1:38AM PST

They may not know about the the longer press times.

- Collapse -
yes, but what about the reset?
Dec 26, 2014 1:42AM PST

that should be immediate.

could be a multicore processor like x2 or x3 and he or someone else unlocked the other cores to make x4, and they weren't one of the lucky ones where all 4 cores (or more) worked correctly.

- Collapse -
Only on some models.
Dec 26, 2014 4:46AM PST

I've seen a lot of locked up PCs over the years. Some don't reset with the power button in the locked up state. As many PCs no longer have a reset button you have to know about the 4 to 10 second press and hold method on the power button.
Bob