PC Problem: Fans spin up at boot, PC shuts down shortly thereafter

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Bozanimal

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#1 Bozanimal
Member since 2003 • 2500 Posts

I've got a friend that's having some issues with his PC; I'm hoping one of the many computer gurus here can shed some light on his issue:

Sometimes, when I start my (Alienware Aurora) computer, the fans accelerate to an unusally fast speed and stay at that speed. The computer will then just turn off a couple of minutes later. When I turn it back on the fans do the same thing and usually it doesn't even finish the boot sequence before turning off.

I called Dell (Alienware) and talked to a tech support person, and they figured the reason the computer is turning itself off is because it is overheating and there is something wrong with the fans, and are sending someone out to replace them. The problem with this is:

  1. This only happens occasionally, although it has been happening more and more frequently
  2. If the fans are spinning faster than normal, why would that cause the system to overheat? Shouldn't it be cooler than normal?


After further discussion, some detail:
When I called tech support they had me open it up to see if there was any dust clogging the vents. The computer is less than a year old, and in my opinion the vents and fans seemed clean, but I used compressed air to clean them out just the same. I opened the default temperature software this morning, when it started doing this again, and the readings were all just slightly above room temperature (~24 C). This issue only happens during the boot sequence, the fans have never started to accelerate after an hour of playing games when I would imagine it would be at it's hottest.

Thank you for any suggestions,

Boz

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Bozanimal

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#2 Bozanimal
Member since 2003 • 2500 Posts

C'mon night-crowd, anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

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deactivated-57af49c27f4e8

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#3 deactivated-57af49c27f4e8
Member since 2005 • 14149 Posts
sounds like a possible psu or even ram issue. the fans are a symptom of a problem elsewhere.
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C_Rule

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#4 C_Rule
Member since 2008 • 9816 Posts
The fans spinning fast is not causing the system to overheat. The fans are at full tilt to counter overheating. Is the system overclocked?
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Bozanimal

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#5 Bozanimal
Member since 2003 • 2500 Posts
sounds like a possible psu or even ram issue. the fans are a symptom of a problem elsewhere.paullywog
This was my thinking, especially since it's an intermittent problem. I'm just not sure how to diagnose it, though, given the symptoms. It it was regularly reoccurring we could take out sticks to see if it's a RAM issue, at the least, but beyond that he's got me flummoxed.
The fans spinning fast is not causing the system to overheat. The fans are at full tilt to counter overheating. Is the system overclocked?C_Rule
He seems to be a pretty mainstream user; nice PC, but not overclocking it, that I am aware. I find it hard to believe the system is overheating if it's shutting off after only a couple minutes without even running any programs (booting into WIndows, but still). Any further suggestions are appreciated. Thank you, Boz
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LFC2345

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#6 LFC2345
Member since 2011 • 25 Posts
I have exactly the same problem. I tried restarting mine and it shut down in the middle of installing updates, now windows won't load up. Every time I try to find out what is wrong with it it shuts down before I get anywhere. Did your friend get it sorted? Any help would be appreciated. Cheers
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pokemondude2012

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#7 pokemondude2012
Member since 2010 • 5938 Posts
A dell is a dell.. even if it is an alienware.. I have heard of dells that do that alot actually. My friend had two that did it to him recently.