UNSOLVED
Computer automatically shuts down suddenly
3 year old Dell 4500
P4 2.4
1024 Ram
(new)nvidia fx5500 256mb
(new) psu 425 atx
Sound blaster Audigy 2
no other drives but the factory ones.
Mostly my gaming machine,Half Life 2, World War 2 online, Call of Duty, various others.
It's as if some one has pulled the plug on my machine when it happens. No diagnostic lights are on in rear, no front power light on.
Have tried All the obvious solutions:
Machine clean as a whistle.
Pulled 1 stick of ram out started machine... same thing.
Changed slot for stick of ram.....same thing.
Pulled stick of ram and put other one in...same thing.
Changed slot for stick of ram..... same thing.
Exchanged video card with known working one...still no help
Dx Diagnosstics is registering my ram at 1022 not 1024, is that normal?
Dell 4500 has that Green plastic shroud that pulls air from the back of machine where the fan is. Fan seems to be working fine. Huge heat sink under green shroud seems hot to the touch after it shuts off.
Is there a differant fan and or heatsink that can be purchased for the 4600? or some other type of better cooling that can be utilized?
Also should i have re-greased under heatsink after taking it off? it looks like a square patch of pink bubble gum under there.
Or perhaps i should just order up another gaming machine, it is about that time with all the new technology that we have seen in the past 3 years.
I really thought this was going to be a ram problem from the begining but i was swayed to it being the PSU after i changed the ram around. Still not sure about this ram though.
Thanx one and all for your input i shall check back here regularly through the weekend.
P4 2.4
1024 Ram
(new)nvidia fx5500 256mb
(new) psu 425 atx
Sound blaster Audigy 2
no other drives but the factory ones.
Mostly my gaming machine,Half Life 2, World War 2 online, Call of Duty, various others.
It's as if some one has pulled the plug on my machine when it happens. No diagnostic lights are on in rear, no front power light on.
Have tried All the obvious solutions:
Machine clean as a whistle.
Pulled 1 stick of ram out started machine... same thing.
Changed slot for stick of ram.....same thing.
Pulled stick of ram and put other one in...same thing.
Changed slot for stick of ram..... same thing.
Exchanged video card with known working one...still no help
Dx Diagnosstics is registering my ram at 1022 not 1024, is that normal?
Dell 4500 has that Green plastic shroud that pulls air from the back of machine where the fan is. Fan seems to be working fine. Huge heat sink under green shroud seems hot to the touch after it shuts off.
Is there a differant fan and or heatsink that can be purchased for the 4600? or some other type of better cooling that can be utilized?
Also should i have re-greased under heatsink after taking it off? it looks like a square patch of pink bubble gum under there.
Or perhaps i should just order up another gaming machine, it is about that time with all the new technology that we have seen in the past 3 years.
I really thought this was going to be a ram problem from the begining but i was swayed to it being the PSU after i changed the ram around. Still not sure about this ram though.
Thanx one and all for your input i shall check back here regularly through the weekend.
Message Edited by Zine on 08-07-2005 12:40 AM
shesagordie
12 Elder
•
46017 Posts
497
0
Posted August 7th, 2005 00:00
Zine.It sounds as if the processor is overheating and system is shutting downDid this happen before you removed the heatsink?Whenever the heatsink is removed both the sink and processor should be cleaned and fresh coating of thermal compound applied.Bev.
- Interesting read at the "Arctic Silver" site, guess that was an important step that should have been adhered to. Looks like i am going to need some thermal paste before i can proceed any further.And thinking back it was after i had broken the seal on the heat sink that i started having this problem, I hope this IS my problem.But what about that cooling aparatus is it possible to have a differant type of cooling system?And what about that DX diag of 1022 vs actual 1024?PSU is new.Thank you for the replies.
shesagordie
12 Elder
•
46017 Posts
497
0
Posted August 7th, 2005 03:00
Zine.The heatsink and retention bracket are proprietary to Dell. Check the retention bracket, to see if its broken or loose
"The PSU is new" did you upgrade the processor?Bev.Message Edited by shesagordie on 08-06-2005 11:32 PM
shesagordie
12 Elder
•
46017 Posts
497
0
Posted August 7th, 2005 18:00
Zine wrote:
"oops, its a 4500. But that does'nt matter, everything else applies."
You're right, except the following.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4500/specs.htm#1101572
Bev.
- Thanx shesagordie , yes indeed right you are, i did look up that link as well after i had discovered my error.I beleive i may have a heat problem, waiting on some thermal grease. Beleive the problem started after i broke the seal between cpu and heatsink.Will keep you informed of my progress.
rick000
2 Intern
•
623 Posts
497
0
Posted August 7th, 2005 00:00