Random Restarts

[boiler]

I've been having a problem for probably the last 2 1/2 months with my computer randomly restarting. I will be in the middle of something, then all of a sudden the screen goes black and it goes to reboot. No idea why. I could be playing CS or just listening to music and surfing the net. Occasionally when it does this reboot, the BIOS output says my cpu is running faster than it's supposed to.

 

This problem is weird... sometimes it happens three times in one day, then it doesn't happen again for like a week and a half. Could this be caused by my crappy motherboard? Here's what I know/think:

 

1) I KNOW it's not an overheating issue. my P4 630 idles at 38C and maxes at 53C.

2) I know I am not getting any type or error or warning, it just restarts.

3) I THINK that my psu is fine. It's not a top-o-the-line psu, but its decent for what I'm running.

4) I know I did not spend $120+ on this motherboard.

5) I know I do not have any spare parts to "test" my rig with.

6) I am 99.9% sure I do not have a virus or spyware. I ran mcafee enterprise and anti-spyware and both came up with nothing.

 

Any ideas what might be causing this? Unstable motherboard? Bad PSU? Other?

 

I can probably afford to replace maybe ONE thing on this comp, but that would be it.

 

Here's my system specs:

 

P4 630 3.0GHz

ECS 945P ATX motherboard

200GB WD Caviar SATA2

1GB (2x512) Corsair RAM

eVGA GeForce 7800GT

Lite-On DVD +/- R/RW

 

Thanks for your help in advance!

[DNA]

I had the same thing a year ago or almost the same and it ended up being the PSU being half gone. I would look at that maybe 1st, it is most common.

 

 

I've been having a problem for probably the last 2 1/2 months with my computer randomly restarting. I will be in the middle of something, then all of a sudden the screen goes black and it goes to reboot. No idea why. I could be playing CS or just listening to music and surfing the net. Occasionally when it does this reboot, the BIOS output says my cpu is running faster than it's supposed to.

 

This problem is weird... sometimes it happens three times in one day, then it doesn't happen again for like a week and a half. Could this be caused by my crappy motherboard? Here's what I know/think:

 

1) I KNOW it's not an overheating issue. my P4 630 idles at 38C and maxes at 53C.

2) I know I am not getting any type or error or warning, it just restarts.

3) I THINK that my psu is fine. It's not a top-o-the-line psu, but its decent for what I'm running.

4) I know I did not spend $120+ on this motherboard.

5) I know I do not have any spare parts to "test" my rig with.

6) I am 99.9% sure I do not have a virus or spyware. I ran mcafee enterprise and anti-spyware and both came up with nothing.

 

Any ideas what might be causing this? Unstable motherboard? Bad PSU? Other?

 

I can probably afford to replace maybe ONE thing on this comp, but that would be it.

 

Here's my system specs:

 

P4 630 3.0GHz

ECS 945P ATX motherboard

200GB WD Caviar SATA2

1GB (2x512) Corsair RAM

eVGA GeForce 7800GT

Lite-On DVD +/- R/RW

 

Thanks for your help in advance!

[Guest zerodamage]

Reboots are typically 1 of a couple of things. I think -{ATCG}- DNA is right in this case and it is probably your PSU. It could also be a video card heating problem. Make sure the fan on your video card if there is one is spinning.

[Wolfsblood]

Both Zero and DNA's idea's are worth checking out. My wife's computer was doing the same thing last summer. Turns out the viddy card fan died. SHe didn't have a problem using basic windows programs, but playing SWG, or GW, or COV would shut her comp down very quickly. Sometimes she got a message about something wrong with video. Don't remember the error msg was, but as I recall it didn't show up all the time either.

[*BiGBonES**]

A good question to ask is how powerful is your psu? I found out the hard way a few days ago that mine wasn't powerful enough

[Kruten]

You can check your rails and voltages or whatever with SpeedFan. Easiest way I know. If you don't know what you're looking at just post up what it says.

[Cranky Bullfrog]

I have seen this type of problem occur for a couple of reasons.

 

Problem #1 - One time it happened because my daughter's video card fan had slagged itself (literally melted the plastic blades off the fan and the plastic center armature of the motor melted to the point where it would not even rotate). The video card (a TI-4200) was somehow staying alive despite the complete lack of local cooling. However, it would eventually overheat in a game and the machine would spontaneously reboot.

 

Problem #2 - memory problems. We had a machine that would spontaneously reboot (no warning just boom) due to a defect that had crept in with one of the memory sticks. It was easy enough to diagnose. I changed the machine over from two sticks to one and operated it with first one stick and then the other. The problem stick showed up pretty quick. If you have a spare memory stick, it makes this easier to determine too.

 

Neither of these two problems would give us any warning. The machine would just reboot and start over.

 

Hope that helps you some. Good luck and let us know what you find.

 

Cranky

[NOFX]

my guess is your psu. Not that? Then run a memtest.

Edited March 8, 2006 by NOFX

[boiler]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I know it's not a vid card problem, the card is new as of november, and I checked the fan and temps an hour ago and all is well. Never gotten a heat warning for the card (as I set it up to do so). It also sometimes reboots when I'm running non-graphics intensive apps, so I can rule that out.

 

Is there any way to determine if something's wrong with my psu? I know what the ratings are supposed to be for it. They're right near the lower requirements of my 7800gt, but wouldn't I notice a more frequent problem than a few times every couple of weeks? I can sometimes play cs,nfsmw, etc for several hours and not have any problem at all, then have the thing reboot on me when I'm checking e-mail.

 

Any suggestions as far as mem tests? I don't have any spare sticks of ram floating around (this is my only desktop and my first-ever build). I do have 2 sticks of 512, so I guess I could remove one and test them seperately...

 

Thanks for your help guys, I need to solve this silly problem

[Cujo]

take a look at your power supply and check how many amps are on the 3.3, 5 and 12v. you can check in bios what each rail is reading. should be within 5% but ideally within 3%. ie. 12v should be between 11.4 and 12.6.

 

it honestly could be anything though. typically random reboots are caused by a faulty power supply or bad ram.

 

edit - also, what brand is your power supply?

Edited March 8, 2006 by Cujo

[HWarrior]

Is there any way to determine if something's wrong with my psu? I know what the ratings are supposed to be for it. They're right near the lower requirements of my 7800gt, but wouldn't I notice a more frequent problem than a few times every couple of weeks? I can sometimes play cs,nfsmw, etc for several hours and not have any problem at all, then have the thing reboot on me when I'm checking e-mail.

 

Any suggestions as far as mem tests? I don't have any spare sticks of ram floating around (this is my only desktop and my first-ever build). I do have 2 sticks of 512, so I guess I could remove one and test them seperately...

 

A bad PSU or dying PSU can act up at random times. The problem shows up when the rails don't stay within range. If you don't have PSU plugged into surge protector, then even a small surge can throw off your rails. Doesn't always work but you can try and check log the voltages. I can't remember right now if speedfan has logging capabilities but use whatever monitor supports your MB. Log the voltages for atleast 24 hours or until next restart. Check those voltages for any swings +-5%.

 

For memtest, just use Memtest86. Create a bootable floppy/CD and just start it up and let it run atleast 4 hours (longer better). Check the results.

[Guest zerodamage]

Create a memtest floppy or cd-rom and run it. Just boot into CDROM or floppy and let it do it's thing for 30+ minutes. If you have RAM probs it will usuall show up within a few mins.

 

http://www.memtest86.com/

[boiler]

Here are the specs for my el-cheapo PSU:

 

Coolmax 400W

+3.3V - 30A

+5V - 28A

+12V1 - 14A

+12V2 - 15A

 

I know this is el-cheapo that came with the case, so I would not be too surprised if this is the problem.

 

UPDATE:

 

I ran speed fan, and now I'm pretty confused.... My BIOS claims that my 12V rail is getting 12.132V and my 5V rail is getting 5.134V, but here's what speedfan says:

 

Vcore: 1.37V

+12V: 5.65V

3.3V: 3.34V

Vcc: 5.07V

Vin2: 0.00V

5Vsb: 5.07V

Vbat: 0.00V

 

 

Is this the cause of my problems??? If so I'm getting on Newegg as soon as someone confirms and am buying a stinking Antec 500W beaut.

[Guest zerodamage]

That speedfan utility is crap. It gives all wrong readings. Just go by what your mobo says.

[boiler]

Its weird that the speedfan reading could be so far off...

 

My bios only gives me the readings for a 12V and 5V rail, seems like I should be getting more than that.

[Cujo]

ya speedfan isn't always the best. especially if you have an uncommon mobo like you do.

 

that powersupply is definately my number 1 suspect.

[boiler]

Thanks for the recommendations guys. I'm thinking I'll replace the power supply here in the next week or so and see how that goes. Even if it's not the actual problem, wouldn't hurt for the future to have a nice antec power supply!