Unexpected shutdown

H

Haole Boy

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Aloha everyone. Hope you're all well during these crazy times!

I'm working on a gaming computer: iBuyPower iSeries, AMD ASRock z390 Phantom Gaming 4-IB motherboard with Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9700K CPU @ 3.60GHz, Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 2080, plus lots of lights that change colors regularly.

Customer reporting that it shuts down on its own while playing games. Did normal stuff
- sfc /scannow found and fixed something (it never tells you what it fixes...)
- chkdsk did not find any errors
- blew out dust from water cooling radiator
- updated BIOS to latest level (was very back-level)

Looked through event logs to see if I could find a "smoking gun", but there are no error messages that I can relate to an overheating event and no evidence of blue screens.

Is there anything else I can look at to see if my assumption that there's an overheating issue is correct? Or some setting I can turn on so that something gets written to the event log?

Mahalo,

Harry Z
 
@Computer Bloke and @seashore - thanx for the replies.

Yes, it's a hard power off (at least that's what has been reported to me). Any recommendations on what tools to use to monitor the situation? I've stumbled across HWinfo64, but am hesitant to spend a lot of (non-billable) time learning how to use it, and have not found a "cookbook" with recommendations on which monitors to use and which to not use.

Harry Z
 
First thought is the power supply. It's carrying a heavy load. Can you trigger the shutdown using Prime95 or Heavyload?
 
@Computer Bloke Thanx for the info. I'm a mostly software guy, so looking at the vast array of sensors was a little intimidating. Your advice was what I was hoping to receive.

So, using heavyload as recommended above to test the CPU, the Distance to TjMAX numbers for cores 0 - 7 range from 59 - 61 degrees centigrade. Definitely above the 20 you mentioned. The CPU temp itself was around 51 C. This is with a two minute test. Not sure how long it takes to fail when the customer is playing his games. I've asked for that info.

Appreciate all your assistance,

Harry Z
 
I've talked some more with the customer. Since I charge on an hourly basis, they are concerned about the cost. I'm going to return the machine to him for now to see if the BIOS and driver updates make any difference, and he'll get back to me if he needs additional assistance.

He also tried talking to the iBuyPower tech support line, and after a few hours on hold finally talked with someone. They did something that indicated to them that there should be 4 fans and only 2 are working. There are only 2 fans in the tower (plus one in the power supply) so I don't have any idea what they were looking at. Hopefully once the customer has it at home, he can remember what they did and I can remote connect and take a look for myself.

Harry Z
 
@frase It's quite possible that they meant the fan(s) on the video card. I was using cpufan and I guess it does not show the video card fans. Waiting to hear back from the customer on whether or not the problem is still there.

@nlinecomputers I would hope that the manufacturer would include the proper sized power supply - especially considering what they charge for that machine. But, if it comes back I will check into this, too.

Harry Z
 
Mahalo to all who replied. Feedback from the customer is that he is not seeing the overheating / shutdown at this time.

Harry Z
 
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