Pc crashes at home and works fine at local tech shop

[Tr1ggerfish1]

I recently was having trouble with my pc crashing while running anything that pushed the system aka games and the benchmark that i use for testing (valley). However, when i went down to my local tech shop the crashes that where persistent at around 20 min into each test where nonexistent, in fact my system ran for more than 8 hours at the shop. But when i brought it back to my place 27 min into a benchmark it crashed i tried getting a ups to see if that would help but i have had no luck.

I'm open to suggestions and if you need more information feel free to ask.

[Guest]

What is plugged in at home that was not present at the shop? Do you keep that tower in a place with restrictive airflow?

[Bananasplit_00]

could be the wall power thats utter crap and spikes/droops every 20 ish minutes for some reason

[Tr1ggerfish1]

3 minutes ago, Legendarypoet said:

What is plugged in at home that was not present at the shop? Do you keep that tower in a place with restrictive airflow?

The only inconsistency from my home to the shop is keyboard, mouse and screen...and well the outlet i guess.

And my pc is sitting on my desk with side panels open <- side panels where open at the shop as well 

 

[Tr1ggerfish1]

Just now, Bananasplit_00 said:

could be the wall power thats utter crap and spikes/droops every 20 ish minutes for some reason

Even with a UPS?

[Bananasplit_00]

Just now, Tr1ggerfish1 said:

Even with a UPS?

sure, if you can empty that UPS and then your wall dosent have enough power to provide to your computer it could crash. alternatively the UPS could be the issue to begin with

[Tr1ggerfish1]

Just now, Bananasplit_00 said:

sure, if you can empty that UPS and then your wall dosent have enough power to provide to your computer it could crash. alternatively the UPS could be the issue to begin with

Well the ups is new but the battery has a full charge..

[Bananasplit_00]

Just now, Tr1ggerfish1 said:

Well the ups is new but the battery has a full charge..

if the computer is directly connected to the UPS then there is something between the UPS and the computer thats the problem. if you remove the UPS from this what happens then? does it still crash?

[Tr1ggerfish1]

Just now, Bananasplit_00 said:

if the computer is directly connected to the UPS then there is something between the UPS and the computer thats the problem. if you remove the UPS from this what happens then? does it still crash?

yes, it does still crash when directly connected to the wall.

That's why i bought the UPS because i thought it might be power fluctuations.

[Bananasplit_00]

Just now, Tr1ggerfish1 said:

yes, it does still crash when directly connected to the wall.

That's why i bought the UPS because i thought it might be power fluctuations.

have you tried another power cable? is the computer in an area where its getting compromised in any way?

[Tr1ggerfish1]

Just now, Bananasplit_00 said:

have you tried another power cable? is the computer in an area where its getting compromised in any way?

I have tried moving my system to other parts of my home and it has crashed every time.  

[Bananasplit_00]

Just now, Tr1ggerfish1 said:

I have tried moving my system to other parts of my home and it has crashed every time.  

try swapping the power cable to your PSU, and if that dosent work im out of ideas here

[Tr1ggerfish1]

Just now, Bananasplit_00 said:

try swapping the power cable to your PSU, and if that dosent work im out of ideas here

I only have the power cable that was supplied with the psu (power supply unit). However, this was the same cord used at the shop. The cable for the UPS is actually attached (built into the system).

[Bananasplit_00]

Just now, Tr1ggerfish1 said:

I only have the power cable that was supplied with the psu (power supply unit). However, this was the same cord used at the shop. The cable for the UPS is actually attached (built into the system).

well i got nothing for you, you could try swapping out the PSU, might help, but i havent got any more ideas to try. whocrashed might help you i guess but we basically know its a power thing

[Tr1ggerfish1]

2 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

well i got nothing for you, you could try swapping out the PSU, might help, but i havent got any more ideas to try. whocrashed might help you i guess but we basically know its a power thing

I'm going to try getting the guy form the tech shop to come to my home to see my system there. We shall see if he can find anything..i hope he can...

 

[Pesukarhu]

5 minutes ago, Tr1ggerfish1 said:

yes, it does still crash when directly connected to the wall.

That's why i bought the UPS because i thought it might be power fluctuations.

Did you get an always-online ups or a cheap one?
Cheap ones pass the power through until it is completely lost, and then quickly switch over to battery power (this way weaker components can be used in the ups as they are not under load all the time, thus lowering costs)

An always-online ups filters the power "through" the battery getting rid of most if not all crap that is coming from the house outlet.

 

It does sound like you have something like a/c, electrical heaters etc. on the same circuit or phase and that is causing issues.

[Tr1ggerfish1]

1 minute ago, Pesukarhu said:

Did you get an always-online ups or a cheap one?
Cheap ones pass the power through until it is completely lost, and then quickly switch over to battery power (this way weaker components can be used in the ups as they are not under load all the time, thus lowering costs)

An always-online ups filters the power "through" the battery getting rid of most if not all crap that is coming from the house outlet.

 

It does sound like you have something like a/c, electrical heaters etc. on the same circuit or phase and that is causing issues.

I'm not currently at home but here is the one that i have:http://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/Power-Saving-Back-UPS-NS-1080VA/P-BN1080G?isCurrentSite=true

as far as the a/c goes i don't really know but i do know when it starts up it draws a lot of amps. But from what i cold tell the crashes where independent from the a/c starting up.

[argyle]

is the UPS also an AVR? if you get brownouts that can cause issues like you describe, but an AVR uses the battery to clean the power before it hits your system.

[Tr1ggerfish1]

2 minutes ago, argyle said:

is the UPS also an AVR? if you get brownouts that can cause issues like you describe, but an AVR uses the battery to clean the power before it hits your system.

I'm not currently at home but here is the one that i have:http://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/Power-Saving-Back-UPS-NS-1080VA/P-BN1080G?isCurrentSite=true

[argyle]

5 minutes ago, Tr1ggerfish1 said:

I'm not currently at home but here is the one that i have:http://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/Power-Saving-Back-UPS-NS-1080VA/P-BN1080G?isCurrentSite=true

as far as the a/c goes i don't really know but i do know when it starts up it draws a lot of amps. But from what i cold tell the crashes where independent from the a/c starting up.

That model includes AVR and it has a light indicating if it's being used (bottom left of the LCD). If you see that lit frequently it could be an issue with power or wiring in the location.

 

There's also a sensitivity setting on that model and the default is medium, you may want to turn the sensitivity up to high. From the manual:

 

Quote

 

Adjust the sensitivity of the Back-UPS to control when it will switch to battery power; the higher the sensitivity, the more often the Back-UPS will switch to battery power.

1. Ensure the Back-UPS is connected to AC power, but is OFF.

2. Press and hold the POWER button for six seconds. The LOAD CAPACITY bar will flash on and off, indicating that the Back- UPS is in programming mode.

3. Press POWER again to rotate through the menu options. Stop at selected sensitivity. The Back-UPS will beep to confirm the selection.

 

 

Edited October 12, 2017 by argyle
added instructions

[Pesukarhu]

Quote

• Topology: Line Interactive

The ups also has avr so it should clean the power, at least in theory. But it is still line interactive meaning that is not cleaning everything. You should try which happens first: Ups runs out of battery OR pc crashes. This will give a hint if there is dirty power.

Also, how do you get power to your house? Is it some janky old cables or modern stuff?

[Tr1ggerfish1]

4 hours ago, Pesukarhu said:

The ups also has avr so it should clean the power, at least in theory. But it is still line interactive meaning that is not cleaning everything. You should try which happens first: Ups runs out of battery OR pc crashes. This will give a hint if there is dirty power.

Also, how do you get power to your house? Is it some janky old cables or modern stuff?

Pc crashes first and if it's any hint my home is 20+ years old.

I can't just run my pc for that long on the batteryif that's what you are asking, it will only last 12 min on battery

[Pesukarhu]

You could try a better ups or a better psu. Maybe try a kill-a-watt to monitor voltage from the wall when the pc crashes?

[BWLServers]

Or just bring the UPS, power cable, and your peripherals to the shop

[Gargone77]

might seem like an obvious thing, but....which outlet are you plugged into on the UPS?  Only a few of the outlets are on the battery, the rest are just surge protected.

 

I've made the mistake before, but my UPS wasn't as clearly labeled.