An IT administrator upgrades the CPU on a media editing station. The system powers on successfully and loads the operating system, but completely powers off without warning after 10 minutes of high-load video rendering. The system cannot be turned back on immediately, but will boot normally if allowed to sit powered off for several minutes. Which of the following is the most likely cause of this behavior?
- Thermal protection shutdown due to unremoved protective plastic film on the heatsink baseAnswer
- BSystem RAM modules installed in adjacent non-matching memory slots causing memory controller overcurrent
- COperating system boot drive file corruption causing a power reset signal
- DBypassing the initial motherboard POST routine due to PCIe expansion power starvation
Answer
Thermal protection shutdown due to unremoved protective plastic film on the heatsink base
Modern CPUs include built-in thermal logic designed to instantly cut power when temperatures exceed safe operating limits (typically ~100°C) to prevent permanent hardware damage. Failing to remove the protective plastic film from the bottom of a heatsink blocks effective heat dissipation into the cooling fins, causing temperatures to spike under heavy processing tasks like rendering. The delay before the computer can be powered back on occurs because thermal protection sensors prevent start-up until core temperatures return to safe baseline levels.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
CPU thermal cooling mechanics and thermal protection shutdown
Estimated Time:1m 30s