PC Keeps Restarting.

[Paul]

Hey y'all.

Having just built my pc with some new bits, new motherboard and hard
drive i'm having a problem. My PC keeps restarting at random intervals,
while playing games and also when just general activity. It doesn't seem
to be heating problems, the CPU is running at around 30c and the system
temp is about 35c. All fans are running, it even restarts with the case
open. I've tried swapping my RAM to see if one of the sticks was faulty
but still does it. I don't even get a bsod, i have the 'automatically
restart' option unchecked too. Power supply is ample i believe, at 550w
so i don't think it's a power problem as i didn't have this problem in
my old build.

The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L.
Graphics card is a 8800gt 512mb pci-e.
Sata hard drive @ 250gb.
XP Home SP3.
core 2 duo 6400.

I don't have a cd burner or floppy drive so i can't use memtest.
The event viewer doesn't show any errors either.

Any one have any suggestions?

Cheers.

First thing I'd check, is what version of BIOS are you running.
Gigabyte shares a common problem with other makers, in that
the board probably won't be well tuned when using "All Auto"
settings, until the fifth BIOS is released. By then, they've
sorta got their act together. For some people, a change in the
BIOS makes all the difference.

I'd start by looking at that, and if you're still having problems,
come back and we'll cook up a test plan, including bumping RAM
voltage and the like.

Also, if you want some more testing tools, try this one. When it
asks, you don't want to "join GIMPs" and just want to run the
Torture Test. Using the custom setting, you can dial down the
memory to be tested a bit, which will allow you to do a few
other things on the machine, while Prime95 is running. This
version of program supports more than one thread, and on my
P4 3GHz with hyperthreading, it runs two test threads. I was using
it today, as described, to test the new RAM I got. (Dialed the
memory allocation down about 50MB, so I could run a newsreader.)
This'll warm up your CPU a bit. Best thing about my new RAM,
is it didn't need any voltage boost to work, and is running
quite cool as a result.

http://www.mersenne.org/gimps/p95v255a.zip

Paul

 

[RobV]

Jimbob wrote:

[snip]

Ran prime for 10 mins, nothing happened, should i be running this for
longer?

Prime 95 should run for at least 12 hours without error. A single error
will stop the program and indicates that there is a problem within the
system.

 

[John Doe]

Hey y'all.
Hey

Any one have any suggestions?

A generic suggestion is to add either a UPS or a line conditioner /
voltage regulator (if you don't need a battery backup). An
uninterruptible power supply might be readily available locally, a
voltage regulator is readily available online.

Once you have a voltage regulator, you can see fluctuations in house
current as they are being corrected.

 

[jaster]

It is a hiper brand of PSU, so i should be ok.

Yep, looks like i'll have to to rule memory out.

RealTemp, Rivertuner and coretemp, all showing around 30 - 40c.


Cheers.

Seems like you have a generic newer combination. I seriously doubt you
need a bios update. I assume you have CDrom and USB ports. So you
could buy USB stick to write boot diagnostic programs.

I would start at the beginning:

Verify the video, cpu, cpu fan and memory are completely and correctly
installed.

Verify the motherboard is installed correctly, safe from static charges

Completely disconnect the SATA HD and CDrom from the M/B and PSU.

Then boot the PC for a couple of hours to make sure the components are
working.

If you burned a USB boot diagnostic, run the diagnostics, watch the cpu
and gpu temps.

If the PC doesn't crash its probably not hardware but the Windows
install, reconnect the HD and CDrom. Boot to Windows Safe Mode, run a
registry cleaner and defrag the Hd.

 

[John Doe]

Ack, sounds like something a bit above me tbh :O

Can you use an extension cord?

APC Line-R 1200VA
Tripp Lite LC-1200

 

[Dave]

Jimbob wrote:

[snip]

Ran prime for 10 mins, nothing happened, should i be running this
for longer?

Prime 95 should run for at least 12 hours without error. A single
error will stop the program and indicates that there is a problem
within the system.

Ah, i'll leave it overnight if i don't figure it out today.

Holy shit, lots of dancing around this, but to get straight to the
point:

REPLACE YOUR BAD POWER SUPPLY

Yes, Hiper is crap. Try an Antec Earthwatts (Seasonic) next. -Dave

 

[Jimbob]

Hey y'all.

Having just built my pc with some new bits, new motherboard and hard
drive i'm having a problem. My PC keeps restarting at random intervals,
while playing games and also when just general activity. It doesn't seem
to be heating problems, the CPU is running at around 30c and the system
temp is about 35c. All fans are running, it even restarts with the case
open. I've tried swapping my RAM to see if one of the sticks was faulty
but still does it. I don't even get a bsod, i have the 'automatically
restart' option unchecked too. Power supply is ample i believe, at 550w
so i don't think it's a power problem as i didn't have this problem in
my old build.

The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L.
Graphics card is a 8800gt 512mb pci-e.
Sata hard drive @ 250gb.
XP Home SP3.
core 2 duo 6400.

I don't have a cd burner or floppy drive so i can't use memtest.
The event viewer doesn't show any errors either.

Any one have any suggestions?

Cheers.

 

[Jimbob]

While a 550W should be more than adequate for this, many cheaper PSUs are
not actually capable of anything like their quoted rating. I have had a
similar problem to this in the past with one of the PCs I was tasked to
support at work. It turned out to be the PSU on its way out. I am not saying
that this IS the problem, but it might be.

It is a hiper brand of PSU, so i should be ok.

The cheapest option to start with would be to buy a floppy drive (£6) and
run Memtest!

Yep, looks like i'll have to to rule memory out.

What program are you using to measure the CPU temperature? Different
programs will give different values. I have found CoreTemp to be one of the
most reliable.

RealTemp, Rivertuner and coretemp, all showing around 30 - 40c.

Rarius

Cheers.

 

[Jimbob]

First thing I'd check, is what version of BIOS are you running.
Gigabyte shares a common problem with other makers, in that
the board probably won't be well tuned when using "All Auto"
settings, until the fifth BIOS is released. By then, they've
sorta got their act together. For some people, a change in the
BIOS makes all the difference.

I'd start by looking at that, and if you're still having problems,
come back and we'll cook up a test plan, including bumping RAM
voltage and the like.

Is it possible to flash the bios without using a floppy drive, as i
havn't got one at the moment?

Also, if you want some more testing tools, try this one. When it
asks, you don't want to "join GIMPs" and just want to run the
Torture Test. Using the custom setting, you can dial down the
memory to be tested a bit, which will allow you to do a few
other things on the machine, while Prime95 is running. This
version of program supports more than one thread, and on my
P4 3GHz with hyperthreading, it runs two test threads. I was using
it today, as described, to test the new RAM I got. (Dialed the
memory allocation down about 50MB, so I could run a newsreader.)
This'll warm up your CPU a bit. Best thing about my new RAM,
is it didn't need any voltage boost to work, and is running
quite cool as a result.

http://www.mersenne.org/gimps/p95v255a.zip

Paul

Ran prime for 10 mins, nothing happened, should i be running this for
longer?

 

[Jimbob]

Jimbob wrote:

[snip]

Ran prime for 10 mins, nothing happened, should i be running this for
longer?

Prime 95 should run for at least 12 hours without error. A single error
will stop the program and indicates that there is a problem within the
system.

Ah, i'll leave it overnight if i don't figure it out today.

 

[Jimbob]

Holy shit, lots of dancing around this, but to get straight to the
point:

REPLACE YOUR BAD POWER SUPPLY

Yes, Hiper is crap. Try an Antec Earthwatts (Seasonic) next. -Dave

Bah, i'm leaning more towards that too now, i'd rather test it with
another psu before forking out money for a new one, ££ are low at the
moment. My bro is building a new system soon, so i'm gona borrow his new
PSU when he gets it, but he's slow and lazy so could be a while :/

 

[Jimbob]

A generic suggestion is to add either a UPS or a line conditioner /
voltage regulator (if you don't need a battery backup). An
uninterruptible power supply might be readily available locally, a
voltage regulator is readily available online.

Once you have a voltage regulator, you can see fluctuations in house
current as they are being corrected.

Ack, sounds like something a bit above me tbh :O

 

[couillion]

Hey y'all.

Having just built my pc with some new bits, new motherboard and
hard drive i'm having a problem. My PC keeps restarting at random
intervals, while playing games and also when just general activity.
It doesn't seem to be heating problems, the CPU is running at
around 30c and the system temp is about 35c. All fans are running,
it even restarts with the case open. I've tried swapping my RAM to
see if one of the sticks was faulty but still does it. I don't even
get a bsod, i have the 'automatically restart' option unchecked
too. Power supply is ample i believe, at 550w so i don't think it's
a power problem as i didn't have this problem in my old build.

The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L.
Graphics card is a 8800gt 512mb pci-e.
Sata hard drive @ 250gb.
XP Home SP3.
core 2 duo 6400.

I don't have a cd burner or floppy drive so i can't use memtest.
The event viewer doesn't show any errors either.

Any one have any suggestions?

Cheers.

The reboot is also a reported problem associated with XP and SP3, I
found info that SP3 has a problem with "unsigned driver software".