Can the BIOS cause a thermal shutdown to a computer?

Answer 1

Yes. One of the jobs of the BIOS is to monitor the temperatures of various components inside of the computer (like the CPU) and automatically shut the computer down if the heat reaches dangerous limits. This action is done to protect the motherboard and computer components from permanent damage.

If your computer is shutting down due to high temperatures, then you should take the following actions:

(1) If you have overclocked the computer deliberately, then you should undo those settings or restore default BIOS settings.

(2) Ensure all the fans in the computer are spinning when it is powered on. If a fan does not spin then power-off the computer and check the power connections of any fans which are not spinning. If they still don't spin when the computer is powered on again then shut the computer off and replace the fan before using the computer again.

(3) If your processor or video card is overheating then turn off the computer, take it outside and use a can of compressed air to blow the dust out of the heatsinks and fans, as dust can collect in the fins of a heatsink and impair its ability to cool your CPU or GPU.

(4) If the above does not work, then power-off the computer, unplug it. Then remove the heatsink and fan from the CPU and apply a small amount of thermal paste to the CPU (where it comes in contact with the heat sink). If you do not have thermal paste available, you can sometimes get by with 'jiggling' the heat sink so that the existing thermal paste can tightly bond with the CPU and heat sink -- although you should strongly consider replacing the thermal paste even if this method works.