Dodgy PSU

[VCDHunter]

I had a phone call yesterday from a mate saying that "my pc switches off when encoding in DVDShrink" after a five min conversation it would appear that his PC encodes about 70 - 80% then the entire thing switches off. Not a reboot or a BSOD just off, dead.

I'm already sure that its his PSU and not an overheating issue, but I thought I'd gather some opinions here before venturing over to his house with a different PSU.

[rallynavvie]

I would look to thermal issues first with a problem like that as it sounds like it may be time enough to max out an OEM heatsinks thermal efficiency. But if you don't think it's related to heat then the PSU can certainly fold the system if it gets drawn on too hard for an extended period of time. No easy way to stress-test a PSU for most of us so the solution is to put a better one in and see if that fixes it. May need to check the system specs and make sure the one that's in there is even rated for all the hardware.

[VCDHunter]

I would look to thermal issues first with a problem like that as it sounds like it may be time enough to max out an OEM heatsinks thermal efficiency. But if you don't think it's related to heat then the PSU can certainly fold the system if it gets drawn on too hard for an extended period of time. No easy way to stress-test a PSU for most of us so the solution is to put a better one in and see if that fixes it. May need to check the system specs and make sure the one that's in there is even rated for all the hardware.

It may well be a heat issue but all the overheat issues I've ever had or seen simply caused a reboot rather than a shutdown. I'm hoping its a PSU problem as I have two spares.

[Soopafresh]

Does he have automatic thermal shutdown set in his bios ?

[VCDHunter]

Does he have automatic thermal shutdown set in his bios ?

It never was, but of course now he has a new MB which I forgot about.

Must check that with him.

[zzyzzx]

If you think it's a heat issue, remove the cover and see if you can duplicate the error.