Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Ian Jackson wrote:
I had a similar thing which drove me crazy. Happened just after
fitting a new graphics card. Which was just coincidence. Turned out
to be the main processor overheating and shutting down. Its fan was
working normally and no error messages generated. Removing the
heatsink, cleaning and applying new thermo conductive paste sorted
it. Now have a spare power supply...


I had the same problem with the PC shutting down when the processor
was working hard. Its heatsink was full of dust. Soon afterwards, I
again had shutdowns. This time it was because the PSU fan had seized
solid (probably dry bearings). Freeing-off and re-lubrication with
WD40 has worked for the last 6 months (but I will fit a new fan one
day).

Mine was relatively new and the heatsink clean. Plenty of fans, too,
all working. It's a home assembled one which worked fine for a year or
so before developing the symptoms. I used the paste which came with
the heatsink originally and that had gone hard - dunno why.

The heat dries out most pastes ! That is why the move to phase change
materials was made. Also the phase change material allows for a much
thinner interface improving thermal conductivity and thus a more
effective heat transfer.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.