reboots while working with windows

[Roderik Emmerink]

Hi,

I installed Windows XP (linux wont install at all at the moment). I've
got the Asus A8N-SLI board in my PC with a 160GB SATA HDD (and Asus 9200
GE video card). When I install programs and sometimes just when using
programs the system reboots (no blue screen or whatever). Any idea what
might be the reason for this problem. I do not use a raid setup,
nevertheless I installed a driver for large disk support and softraid
when installing windows. However I am not sure if it was the right one
(made 4 different floppy disks with the Asus motherboard cd).
Not sure if this is the source for the problem, all suggestions are welcome.

Regards,

Roderik

 

[KC Computers]

I installed Windows XP (linux wont install at all at the moment). I've got

the Asus A8N-SLI board in my PC with a 160GB SATA HDD (and Asus 9200 GE
video card). When I install programs and sometimes just when using
programs the system reboots (no blue screen or whatever). Any idea what
might be the reason for this problem. I do not use a raid setup,
nevertheless I installed a driver for large disk support and softraid when
installing windows. However I am not sure if it was the right one (made 4
different floppy disks with the Asus motherboard cd).
Not sure if this is the source for the problem, all suggestions are
welcome.

That sounds like it could be the power supply. A system will
reboot like that if the PS is not powerful enough, doesn't
supply enough amps on certain rails (i.e. +12V), etc.

The A8N-SLI motherboard/system can be a power hog depending
on the CPU, RAM and video cards. What make and model is
your power supply, video card, etc?

 

[Roderik Emmerink]

That sounds like it could be the power supply. A system will
reboot like that if the PS is not powerful enough, doesn't
supply enough amps on certain rails (i.e. +12V), etc.

The A8N-SLI motherboard/system can be a power hog depending
on the CPU, RAM and video cards. What make and model is
your power supply, video card, etc?

Well, The 380W Antec power supply should be enough. It is a low end
video card (just one, nvidia 9200GE) and just one HDD (some pheripials
but they cant take much).
In what range should the voltages be?

 

[KC Computers]

Well, The 380W Antec power supply should be enough. It is a low end
video card (just one, nvidia 9200GE) and just one HDD (some pheripials
but they cant take much).

Did you make sure to plug in the 4-pin 12V power plug as well??

 

[Paul]

Well, The 380W Antec power supply should be enough. It is a low end
video card (just one, nvidia 9200GE) and just one HDD (some pheripials
but they cant take much).
In what range should the voltages be?

You should disable the instant reboot in the OS, and get
the machine to blue screen instead. If I google on
"Startup and Recovery" I get:

Settings
Control Panel
System
Advanced tab
Startup and Recovery

If the computer will not stop on an error, and give a blue screen,
then it could be a power problem, or for some reason the computer
has executed a reset.

The voltages should be +3.3V, +5V, +12V and should not drop by
more than 5%. The +12V can get pretty heavily loaded, and the
acceptance value would be +11.4V . Since there can be some
measurement error in the hardware monitor, you could let it
drop a little more than that, before you begin shopping for
another power supply.

Get a copy of Prime95 (mersenne.org) and run the "Torture test"
option. It will load the CPU to 100%, and max the load on +12V.
See if the computer reboots instantly, as soon as that test
starts to run.

If it takes a while running Prime95 to kill the computer, perhaps
it is overheating ? Check the voltages and the temps with
Asus Probe. If the heatsink is not sitting flush with the
top of the processor, that might be enough to cause it to
overheat. I hope there is some kind of thermal interface
material, between the heatsink and the CPU (either paste or
pad). With Asus Probe, you can watch the temps before Prime95
starts, and then see what happens as it runs.

I doubt the PSU is actually running out of power, but it could
be defective. A 9200 won't draw a lot of power.

You should also memory test any new computer, just to see if
the DIMMs are OK and you are using stable settings for the
memory. Memtest86 is available for download from memtest.org .

Paul

 

[Roderik Emmerink]

Did you make sure to plug in the 4-pin 12V power plug as well??

This is the EZ_plug in (about) the middle of the board?
I unplugged this one because I read that it was for use in SLI mode (2
video cards) and I use just one video card. But if you think it is
nevertheless better to plug it in, please let me know.

 

[Roderik Emmerink]

You should disable the instant reboot in the OS, and get
the machine to blue screen instead. If I google on
"Startup and Recovery" I get:

Settings
Control Panel
System
Advanced tab
Startup and Recovery

If the computer will not stop on an error, and give a blue screen,
then it could be a power problem, or for some reason the computer
has executed a reset.

The voltages should be +3.3V, +5V, +12V and should not drop by
more than 5%. The +12V can get pretty heavily loaded, and the
acceptance value would be +11.4V . Since there can be some
measurement error in the hardware monitor, you could let it
drop a little more than that, before you begin shopping for
another power supply.

Get a copy of Prime95 (mersenne.org) and run the "Torture test"
option. It will load the CPU to 100%, and max the load on +12V.
See if the computer reboots instantly, as soon as that test
starts to run.

If it takes a while running Prime95 to kill the computer, perhaps
it is overheating ? Check the voltages and the temps with
Asus Probe. If the heatsink is not sitting flush with the
top of the processor, that might be enough to cause it to
overheat. I hope there is some kind of thermal interface
material, between the heatsink and the CPU (either paste or
pad). With Asus Probe, you can watch the temps before Prime95
starts, and then see what happens as it runs.

I doubt the PSU is actually running out of power, but it could
be defective. A 9200 won't draw a lot of power.

You should also memory test any new computer, just to see if
the DIMMs are OK and you are using stable settings for the
memory. Memtest86 is available for download from memtest.org .

Paul

First, much thank for your answer.
The voltages are within the 5% range (when measured with Sandra, BIOS or
PC Probe)
I will disable instant reboot on the next startup (although this would
be more like a work-around than a solution, maybe).
The CPU temperature is in case qute low (34 degrees).
I will look for Prime95 to torture my systeem even more ;-)
By the way, it is just accidentaly rebooting (once in four hours as a
mean value)

 

[Robert Hancock]

This is the EZ_plug in (about) the middle of the board?
I unplugged this one because I read that it was for use in SLI mode (2
video cards) and I use just one video card. But if you think it is
nevertheless better to plug it in, please let me know.

It is likely best to plug that in anyway even with only 1 video card,
especially if you are using a 20-pin power supply and not a 24-pin (are
you?)

 

[Roderik Emmerink]

It is likely best to plug that in anyway even with only 1 video card,
especially if you are using a 20-pin power supply and not a 24-pin (are
you?)

Yes, I will plug it in. If it gives a better voltage I'll leave it in.