Vista 64 Ultimate reboots while gaming

[Dave C]

I've got a newly built system with the following:

XFX 680i mobo
Intel QX6850 cpu at stock settings
4x1Gb PC2-6400 RAM
EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS video card
PC Power 1200w psu
2 WD Raptor 150Gb h.d.
1 Seagate Barracuda 1Tb h.d.
Razer Barracuda AC-1 sound card
Razer DeathAdder mouse

All drivers are current as is the bios on the mobo. The system works great
but while gaming it will reboot. Sometimes it reboots within 5 minutes of
play, sometimes it takes an hour. The system is watercooled (but no OC'd
yet) so the temps stay low (CPU always below 50ºC, video always below 55ºC).
There is no rhyme or reason as to why it reboots, no BSOD, the screen just
goes black & it reboots. I've tried a Creative soundcard, mobo sound, no
difference. I've swapped the video for dual Ultras SLI with newest drivers
and still does it. I upgraded the psu from a 750w unit thinking it couldn't
handle the Ultra SLI setup and it had no impact.

Any ideas?

 

[David Sanders]

I've got a newly built system with the following:

XFX 680i mobo
Intel QX6850 cpu at stock settings
4x1Gb PC2-6400 RAM
EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS video card
PC Power 1200w psu
2 WD Raptor 150Gb h.d.
1 Seagate Barracuda 1Tb h.d.
Razer Barracuda AC-1 sound card
Razer DeathAdder mouse

All drivers are current as is the bios on the mobo. The system works great
but while gaming it will reboot. Sometimes it reboots within 5 minutes of
play, sometimes it takes an hour. The system is watercooled (but no OC'd
yet) so the temps stay low (CPU always below 50ºC, video always below 55ºC).
There is no rhyme or reason as to why it reboots, no BSOD, the screen just
goes black & it reboots. I've tried a Creative soundcard, mobo sound, no
difference. I've swapped the video for dual Ultras SLI with newest drivers
and still does it. I upgraded the psu from a 750w unit thinking it couldn't
handle the Ultra SLI setup and it had no impact.

Any ideas?

Which game does that?

 

[Dave C]

Which game does that?

It happens in Lost Planet & Bioshock. It happens regardless of the
settings, DX9 or DX10.

 

[Steve Easton]

Have you run a memory stress test?

 

[Dave C]

Yes I did. I ran Memtest86 and all worked fine. I have tested this machine

 

[Steve Easton]

I have heard instances where an overheated display adapter will cause this.
Is the EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS video card fan cooled or heat sink cooled?

--

Steve Easton
Microsoft MVP FrontPage
FP Cleaner
http://www.95isalive.com/fixes/fpclean.htm
Hit Me FP
http://www.95isalive.com/fixes/HitMeFP.htm

Yes I did. I ran Memtest86 and all worked fine. I have tested this machine

 

[Dave C]

When I'm running the GTS it's fan cooled. But the temps stay low, under
60ºC. When I was running the Ultras SLI it was water cooled and they were in
the 40's.

 

[That Guy]

water cooled? man!

When I'm running the GTS it's fan cooled. But the temps stay low, under
60ºC. When I was running the Ultras SLI it was water cooled and they were
in
the 40's.

 

[MaXXimus]

Dave if you come up with a solution I would for sure like to hear it. I too am having random rebooting with my XFX 680i (Model # MB-N680-ISH9) and only during gaming. I have damn near the identical setup as you:

XFX 680i Mobo
QX6850
Dual 150Gig Raptors (non raid setup)
Dual EVGA 8800 Ultras
1000W PSU

I play COD 4 and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance and either can be played for hours and rebooting occurs anywhere from a couple hours to quite a few hours.

Each listing here I tried and then attempted to play one of the games I mentioned and still the random rebooting continues:

Updating the BIOS to P31
Dual Boot with Vista 64-bit and XP 32-bit with no updates and then all updates
Installed Vista 64-bit only with no updates and then all updates
Installed XP Only with no updates and then all updates
Tried NVidia Forceware drivers: 169.28, 169.21, 169.17, 169.06 as well as a half dozen 15x.xx version drivers
Thought maybe it was GPU overheating problem and turned GPU Fans up to 100%
Took case side panel off and used box fan
Updated X-Fi soundcard drivers
Updated Mobo drivers
Uninstalled X-Fi Sound Card
Used onboard sound card
Updated onboard sound card drivers
Disabled onboard sound
Disabled SLi and removed one GPU
Removed GPU and put other GPU in
Reinstalled XP with no additional hardware... no printer, webcam etc etc with no updates and then all updates

Attempt after attempt still caused random reboots. I am to the point I am pounding my head against the wall. I have been told it could possibly be a compatability issue with the 680i motherboards and the QX6850 and have found numerous posts in regards to this random rebooting but none other then yours mentioned only during gaming... so at least I know its not just me now. LOL

My system is actually from Alienware and just purchased it a couple months ago and have a 3 yr warrenty but honestly am tryign to hold out sending it in till I can get some hard evidence of the exact cause of the rebooting. Alienware techs arent exactly the cream of the crop and have delt with them on one other occasion that has left me to this day scratching my head.

EDIT: I notice you have the title as Vista 64 Ultimate Rebooting... as you can see from all various attempts you can at least breath a sigh of relief it has nothing to do with Vista, in all reality it has nothing to do with OS, GPU, drivers, software or overheating.