Can anyone explain to me my particular problem (random shutdowns)? I've read as many 9860 threads as I could find and none some to match my problem.
What DOES NOT happen:
> Overheating (as far as I know). The fans are all full blast. I've elevated mine for the last 3 years to let it breath more. I even sometimes put a glass of ice on the left hand rest to absorb heat. I even put a fan blowing circulation around the PC. The reason I don't believe it is the overheating is because sometimes the shutdown occurs when the PC is just starting up fresh for the day! Sometimes only a few minutes from booting up. I got the GetThermal and only the GPU fan is set low, but I always turn it on full speed before I start into my work.
> Battery. I don't have any charging issues... other than the battery only last ~30minutes if that, but that is expected, I think.
What DOES happen:
> The shutdown started about ~3 years ago, but was very rare. Once a month if that. It went exponential in the last month to where is it unuseable for me. I only use mine for CAD at work (no gaming whatsoever) and have the NVIDIA GPU with the OpenGL.
> It has only ever shutdown while running the CAD software, which is Unigraphics (like CATIA or similar level). I do memory-intensive 3D modeling (engines, transmission subassemblies). Subassemblies that I used to be able to call up and manipulate in the past... well, are impossible now. During the loading (which normally would take ~1-5 minutes depending on the size), the PC just shuts off. No BLUE power light... just fans whirring. I have to press the button to restart, which it does always... so far. If I try to load the same or similar... it'll crash again. It's done this to me at least 50 times in the last ~15 days of usage. After 2x or sometimes 3x, I give up... in fear of screwing up the software.
I'm no PC expert by any stretch, so I don't know what to do. I was hoping Sager would know and I emailed and asked what the problem is and if they knew how to fix it, but the guy just gives me vague answers and just says to send it in for repair, not replacement, because the MOBO is not made anymore.
I'd like to KNOW what the root cause is, but I cannot read anything similar to my issue here. I'd hate to spend over $500 to "repair" it only to have whatever may be FAULTY by design/mfr go bad within months again. They are useless on real answers as they probably don't want to have me use their emails to sue them or something. It's not like I have money to get a lawyer or anything. I'd be willing to suck it up and get it fixed ONLY if I knew the fix was real and not temporary (they offer 6 months warranty).
I am really angry, because when you spend $3600 on a PC, it should freakin' last well beyond 10 years. Heck, my ancient Dell is still kicking with its old Pent4 and 10G of memory... and I got that back in ~1994! If it is something as big as the motherboard... man, that is like buying a new car and having the engine block crack a small leak that only lets you use it for about 10 miles before you have to add more coolant!
What can a man do???
What DOES NOT happen:
> Overheating (as far as I know). The fans are all full blast. I've elevated mine for the last 3 years to let it breath more. I even sometimes put a glass of ice on the left hand rest to absorb heat. I even put a fan blowing circulation around the PC. The reason I don't believe it is the overheating is because sometimes the shutdown occurs when the PC is just starting up fresh for the day! Sometimes only a few minutes from booting up. I got the GetThermal and only the GPU fan is set low, but I always turn it on full speed before I start into my work.
> Battery. I don't have any charging issues... other than the battery only last ~30minutes if that, but that is expected, I think.
What DOES happen:
> The shutdown started about ~3 years ago, but was very rare. Once a month if that. It went exponential in the last month to where is it unuseable for me. I only use mine for CAD at work (no gaming whatsoever) and have the NVIDIA GPU with the OpenGL.
> It has only ever shutdown while running the CAD software, which is Unigraphics (like CATIA or similar level). I do memory-intensive 3D modeling (engines, transmission subassemblies). Subassemblies that I used to be able to call up and manipulate in the past... well, are impossible now. During the loading (which normally would take ~1-5 minutes depending on the size), the PC just shuts off. No BLUE power light... just fans whirring. I have to press the button to restart, which it does always... so far. If I try to load the same or similar... it'll crash again. It's done this to me at least 50 times in the last ~15 days of usage. After 2x or sometimes 3x, I give up... in fear of screwing up the software.
I'm no PC expert by any stretch, so I don't know what to do. I was hoping Sager would know and I emailed and asked what the problem is and if they knew how to fix it, but the guy just gives me vague answers and just says to send it in for repair, not replacement, because the MOBO is not made anymore.
I'd like to KNOW what the root cause is, but I cannot read anything similar to my issue here. I'd hate to spend over $500 to "repair" it only to have whatever may be FAULTY by design/mfr go bad within months again. They are useless on real answers as they probably don't want to have me use their emails to sue them or something. It's not like I have money to get a lawyer or anything. I'd be willing to suck it up and get it fixed ONLY if I knew the fix was real and not temporary (they offer 6 months warranty).
I am really angry, because when you spend $3600 on a PC, it should freakin' last well beyond 10 years. Heck, my ancient Dell is still kicking with its old Pent4 and 10G of memory... and I got that back in ~1994! If it is something as big as the motherboard... man, that is like buying a new car and having the engine block crack a small leak that only lets you use it for about 10 miles before you have to add more coolant!
What can a man do???
