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Resolved Question

Random shut down on with new ASUS motherboard

Feb 27, 2016 1:14PM PST

So I will try and be as detailed as possible here, so forgive me for the wall of text lol! (specs at bottom)

About a little over month ago I picked up a new asus m5 a97 r2.0 board, because i wanted to fit more ram, and 16GBs of g.skill ram. I used the other components that I had in my old set up (CPU, GPU, drives and psu). Everything seemed to be going fine with it during the windows installation, and it even kept going long enough for me to install the drivers that came with the board, was well as chrome, and avast. Then I started to check for windows updates (I don't think it actually got to install any but i could be wrong as this first try was a month ago) and BAM! It powered off! It did not restart, it just flat out cut the power, no error or anything. I tried system restore just in case it was the drivers that came on the cd but nope! It kept shutting down...

I started to think that it could be some issue with the psu (in fact i think i had CONVINCED myself that that was exactly it cause i was using a 480W, so i really didn't google around that much), so I decided to get a better one and upgraded to a 730W raidmax and while i was waiting for that to come, I switched back to the old board and ram so that 1. I wouldnt be bored and 2. I could check to make sure that my parts still worked and yeah everything was fine and i kept using my old setup for several more weeks and it was all good.

So my new psu shows up and im all happy, thinking this would solve the issue..... WRONG! Same problem again! *sigh* so I googled around again and couldn't really find anything that exactly applied to me (most of the posts i ran across regarding this issue with this board were with people who were overclocking and i don't do that, in fact i really dont know a lot about it) so I tried updating the BIOS hoping for the best, but that didn't fix it either.

Its doing it like 5 - 10 mins after starting windows. Also, I doing know if this indicates anything, but i've been sitting here in the uefi BIOS screen for like an hour now and it has NOT powered down or anything. Not sure what that means but theres that!

I've built a few machines before, and I dont recall ever having this kind of issue before. I could really use some help guys. Here are my specs:

MB: ASUS M5A97 R2.0
CPU: AMD FX 6300, 3.5ghz
PSU: Raidmax RX - 730SS
RAM: G.SKILL Ripsaws 4 x 4GB (16GB total) DDR3 1866
GPU: Zotac GeForce GTX 650
SSD: Silicon Power 240GB S60 2.5" 7mm SATA III 6Gb/s (windows installed here)
HDD1: 1.5TB Seagate ST31500341AS
HDD2: 500GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AZLX
Case: DEEPCOOL TESSERACT
DVD/CD Writer: LITEON 24x iHAS324
OS: Windows 7 Pro

(if i forgot anything, please let me know)

Discussion is locked

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

Best Answer

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It was bad thermal paste
Mar 14, 2016 8:00PM PDT

Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to get back with you on this, but I took it into the shop and had them figure it out cause I was busy with school. It turns out that I had bought some expired thermal compound and the temps on the cpu was going crazy! They hooked me up with some fresh paste and everything is all good now! Thanks for your help! Maybe your tips will help someone else with similar symptoms!

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Answer
Shut down
Feb 27, 2016 8:31PM PST

One stick of ram....test.
If no help try a different slot.
If no help try a different stick.
If no help try safe mode...test.

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Answer
I see a split rail PSU
Feb 28, 2016 8:41AM PST

The +12V is a pair or 24A rails. Let's do a quick check if we exceed the 50% mark on GPU and CPU. That's my threshold on PC designs when I see split rails.

The CPU has a TDP of 95W
The GPU seems to be 130W

24 x 12 is 288 so you are pressing your luck here. This isn't to say it's closer than what I want to see for a stable PC.

As noted, reduce parts to a minimum and see if it comes up.

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Gpu....TI vs non TI
Feb 28, 2016 8:59AM PST

The op shows a non TI model.
Looks to be about 70w.

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I was pulling the Watts off a Tomshardware.
Feb 28, 2016 9:15AM PST

It was from a stress test, maximum. I cheated here by not including the entire PC with drives and more because it's my method for first cut analysis if the PSU should be reviewed in depth.

It's possible that the old 480 W could be a better supply if the 480 was a single rail. Those split rails tend to create issues if we go over 75% of load. So over the years you learn to start at 50%