A55A-EB71 turns itself off at random intervals

Hi,

When it first started doing it, I sent it back to Asus and they "cleaned the fan". That was good for a couple of months, then it started happening again. Send it back and this time they replaced the motherboard and processor. That lasted longer than the first time, but yes, it is doing it again. Is this a common problem? Are some of the motherboards know to be defective? I'd like to think that I didn't get two bad ones in a row, but you never know. Otherwise, I can't imagine what could cause this besides overheating which I don't think is happening. All you hear is a 'click' and the laptop completely powers off.

Thanks

 

Download HWMonitor and check CPU and GPU and other temperatures. If anything reaches ~100C, the computer will automatically shut off.

 

Seems strange it would continue if they actually changed the motherboard. There's this problem with some of their models... (read: all in the last 10 years, until latest design generation) where the solder on some of the contacts on the motherboard cracks eventually, so the circuit might break if the laptop is thrown around a bit, or if the components shift slightly. Basically, a ticking time-bomb. Award of the century to whoever came up with the idea of fastening the ac contact directly with solder..

But it's uncommon that something similar to this happens in the power supply or the power switch housing, since those are made with the expectation that the wires will actually be used to transfer power... . So unsure what it could be. But logically, there's probably only the power-supply option left (or maybe the contact from the power supply - stranger things have happened..).

 

It can fail a minute after you turn it on or it may take hours. I've tried putting it under stress using things like Memtest86+, Prime 95 or the Intel stress test. It can do all that with no problem (at least it has in the past). But it has failed while doing nothing more than composing email. It's hard to monitor the temperature as you say, because you might not be looking at the temperature near the time that it fails. Do you know of any tool that will record the temperature periodically so that it can be checked after the fact?

 

Nevermind. HWMonitor won't record the temperature, but HWMonitor Pro will. I missed that the first time around.

 

Today I once again ran the high CPU load test from Prime95 for about 12 minutes. It got within about 6 degrees C of thermal shutdown, but never turned off. It never sees a CPU load or temperature even close to that in normal use. It can fail when you are just scrolling a web page.

 

If it's still under warranty, maybe you can ask for a complete replacement or refund? It would be the third time.

 

Asus doesn't process refunds, so that would be up to the retailer's stipulations. A replacement might be permissible, but no guarantees. Perhaps the factory paste job was poor and the shoddy application is causing the high temperatures.

Have you checked msconfig to make sure the CPU isn't running on a single core? What was the max temp?