It hasn't been fritzing out recently and I did try to heat it up and overload it. So still at sea. Thanks for the suggestions though. I'm hoping that I'll get more of a clue once it does it again. In the mean time I'm not complaining.

 

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you can force it to overheat under controlled condition by using a hair dryer

 

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How old is this PC? Is it a laptop or desktop? If it's an older desktop PC I would definately bet on power supply or card with a glitch. Short in the video card can be caused by damage from a failing power supply. I've heard of older laptops with a failing old battery pack or faults caused by power surges (left plugged into the wall to charge overnight and a bad lightning storm caused power fluctuations) that led to shorted out cards, but that's pretty rare.


Power supply will go bad, its inevitable based on use and how stable your current is over time. If you do not use a basic surge protector, live in an area prone to brownouts/blackouts (California) or lightning strike outages (like me in Florida) you can shorten the life of the power supply. The symptoms of a failing powersupply sound like what you described as it will usually show up first on power intensive activities like 3D gaming/video but overtime will worsen as the PS gets worse and result in irregular behavior and eventually random shut downs/blue screen of death.


It's about a $60-120 part and so long as you get one that fits your casing and is the proper wattage for your motherboard it is a pretty easy repair. Although if you have never done it yourself, definately worth taking it to a repair shop and watching it be replaced as shorting out your MB can mean damage to basically everything, especially that harddrive.

Best way to increase the lifespan of a power supply:

1) NEVER get the cheap crap made in china. Always get a reputable brand, like Corsair, Antec, Thermaltek, Seasonic or a few others. If it costs less than $50 (for a modern 750W or more PSU), then it's most likely crap. I paid my "Antec TruPower New 750W" PSU 140 Euros (approx. $160), but you can get 750W Corsair ones for significantly cheaper. Not only the "cheap crap" will last less, but it also puts your other components at risk if it burns. At least, even if you manage to burn your Corsair, it won't burn your whole motherboards before dying.
2) Do yourself a favor, buy yourself an UPS (uninterruptible power supply, not the delivery company ). Is will not only protect your PSU from the variations of the current in your area, but also save you from losing all your data if you have a blackout.

 

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