I am in the process of converting my PC to use water cooling and am creating a device that will monitor coolant level and temperatures using a PIC12C671 and some thermistors.

If the coolant level reaches a critical level, I want to be able to instantly power off the system without having to go through a graceful software-based shutdown. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this?

Is there are reason you want a hard shut down when the temperature reaches X instead of a software-based shutdown when the temperature reaches X-5?

On the first sign of over heating punch your computer in the face.

Ctrl-Alt-Delete and hold down Ctrl when you press the shut down button. You'll get a prompt for emergency shut down (NOT graceful) and hit ok. Takes about 3 seconds to shut down you computer.


REALLY useful Windows server trick that also applies to desktop versions of Windows.

On Windows XP computers not part of a domain you need to do this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/281980

My assumption has always been that the technology knows when to shut itself down. But this is only based on a laptop I used to have that always shut itself off before it melted itself to death if it ever reached critical temperatures. Well, almost always. There's a reason I don't have that laptop anymore...

that sounds like a really bad idea. besides, its better to do a soft shutdown rather than an automatic one. what if you are in the middle of a gameplay and it shuts off, you'd have your self to blame.

any ways, yeah, I would not recomend messing with your PC's power supply much less automatic hard shut downs.