Help - Desktop crashes - Suspect house power.

Forums › Desktop computing › Help - Desktop crashes - Suspect house power.

Lukanize

13 posts

Geek

#89928 11-Sep-2011 18:26

Hello everyone,

Does anyone have experience with the house/mains power causing a computer to crash?

My computer crashes randomly, it will crash to a blank screen sometimes black and grey vertical lines.
Then after a few seconds reboot.
Usually during games but also just in Windows 7.
For some reason it crashes the most in Starcraft 2. I also play a lot of Bad company 2 and Left for Dead 2.
Sometimes it will be fine for a few hours and not crash.

I have done lots of troubleshooting.
Tested Ram. CPU.
Reformatted.
All drivers and bios are most recent.
Tried with no PCI cards installed.
Tried with only an old MS ps2 keyboard and usb mouse.
Tried a different PSU.

Now I sent it away to where I purchased it and it wouldn't crash for them. I also took it to my work and it never crashed there.

I got hold of an old server UPS and at first things were really good. The computer seemed to load faster and just run smoother. Eventually it started regularly crashing but the UPS does seem to help.

I had the powerco test things their side and they said it was fine.

So because of this I suspect its the house power.

What are my options here?
Would an electrician be able to tests and would they be able to tell if there is an issue that would cause my problem?
It would prob end up costing heaps too.

Thank you for your time
Luke

richms

28070 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#519645 11-Sep-2011 18:47

Unlikly that its the power.

But do you do anything like sit a mobile phone beside the case in the same place etc? I had an old machine that would reliably crash if my phone was ontop of it and I got a sms or call or whenever it transmitted.

Richard rich.ms

Lukanize

13 posts

Geek

#519653 11-Sep-2011 19:10

I have mobile about 1m away and doesnt crash when I get txts.
There is a cordless phone about 1m away too.

timmmay

20512 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#519807 12-Sep-2011 09:53

Could be a faulty motherboard. I had problems with my PC for a couple of years and a new motherboard cleared it up. Could be power supply too.

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13730 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#519814 12-Sep-2011 10:01

A UPS does not always filter power, just supplies battery backup - so you could still have "dirty" power and was just a coincidence things ran ok for a while with the UPS.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#519829 12-Sep-2011 10:28

How hot is your video card getting? if you are just getting black screen or screen with funny lines, sounds like your card is playing up. Put Gpu Z on or see if the manufacturer has any utils for it and monitor the temp. My EVGA card has a setting in evga precision where it will notify if the gpu is getting too hot.

If it was house power, chances are it would shut down and turn off completely or shut down and restart back to normal depending on what your bios was set to do in case of power loss. Also everything else would be acting a bit odd like your tv etc.
You could also try set it up off a different plug point or change the multi board if you have one to eliminate chance that something is wrong with the multi board or plug point.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

billgates

4705 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#519833 12-Sep-2011 10:38

I would try a new HDD. Had the same thing happen to me at a premise with 2 different desktops that would crash which I replaced one after the other after few months. Reformatted and it would work fine but eventually crash again after few hours or a month. Replaced the Seagate HDD with a Western Digital and no issues anymore. Turns out that there are major issues with 7200.11 V seagate HDD and 7200.12 V are no better either.

Do a firmware update on the HDD if possible.

Do whatever you want to do man.

Lukanize

13 posts

Geek

#519913 12-Sep-2011 13:03

thanks for your replys

A beefy PSU might help but gonna be tough getting hold of one.
I did try another psu with slightly higher amps and it still crashed.

Is there something that can filter power?
I have a DSE 8 way board plugged into the UPS at the moment.

The cards heat appears fine. It isnt hot to touch, maybe warm after a long time.
I ran Furmark and the card took ages to even get to 50 degrees.
Also it crashes when not stressed such as just turned on the computer and just doing stuff in Windows.

Yea the black screen and vertical lines did make me think it was the video card.
But I think its possible that because the video uses alot of power that is why it might be effected.

But the thing is it works perfectly fine at the shop I bought it from and at work.
The shop did benchmarking and testing for a couple of days straight and it didnt crash.
They even played Starcraft II on it.

Here are my specs
Windows 7 ultimate.
Coolermaster 550 watt psu
Asus M4A785TD-V EVO mobo
Phenom II 945
saphire 5770
western digital 640g HD as primary drive.

Oh yea and other appliances do seem weird. I have a linksys wrt54g router that sometimes crashes or you can't connect to it. Also a T-box that is real slow and crashes sometimes, behaves weird, that could be just because its a tbox though. The fridge motor gets real loud sometimes. The house lights sometimes flicker.

Wise

Send money globally for less with Wise - one free transfer up to NZ$900 (affiliate link).

wellygary

8270 posts

Uber Geek

#519942 12-Sep-2011 13:32

Lukanize:
Oh yea and other appliances do seem weird. I have a linksys wrt54g router that sometimes crashes or you can't connect to it. Also a T-box that is real slow and crashes sometimes, behaves weird, that could be just because its a tbox though. The fridge motor gets real loud sometimes. The house lights sometimes flicker.

If it is your "house power" it is most likely to be the appliances running on it. A far out possibility is that something is causing you voltage drops.

How many appliances are running on each circuit? do some appliances power on and off ( heaters, heatpumps, fridges, etc)?

If you think the fridge is running "real loud" ( Do the lights flickering coincide with the fridge motor cycling on and off)? turn it off for a few hours and see if your PC repeats your original fault.

Lukanize

13 posts

Geek

#519970 12-Sep-2011 14:02

Im not sure about what plugs are on each circuit.
I tried the computer on several plugs in different rooms.
My computer is near the kitchen and laundry so I tried turning off the kettle and washing machine.
Haven't tried the fridge yet cos its a bugger to get to the plug.

The flickering and fridge cycling don't seem to happen at the same time i've noticed.

I haven't noticed other appliances turning off as such.

Also the UPS makes a clicking sound every now and then. Like its switching to battery power but the lights don't change and alarm doesn't go off.
Does anyone know what this is?