AMD Athlon XP 2100+ restarts at random

[jookz]

I have an AMD Athlon XP 2100+ and a SOYO kt333 dragon ultra platinum edition motherboard. It seems that it restarts randomly.... Its always when im doing something though, its never restarted itself when has been idle. It also seems to be becoming more frequent... it has happened 2 or 3 times today alone. I have no idea of even where to START diagnosing this problem... can anyone help out?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

If you're using winXP right click on My computer, click properties, click the advanced tab, click settings for start-up and recovery, and uncheck the Automatically restart box, then check the system log for errors. Another possibilty is that the PSU is dying and when you draw more power it's crapping out.

 

[veryape]

Your power supply probably isn't up to snuff. Really, to be on the safe side you need at least a 350watt, preferrably a 400watt. I have a 300watt running my 1800xp, but it's a risky proposition, and I just happened to get a decent power supply in my case. What size is your power supply? And what is your ram type, and what is it set at.

John-Paul aka veryape

 

[ojai00]

You should also check the heatsink to make sure that it's attached correctly (maybe add some thermal paste?). Sometimes, overheating can cause the automatic restarts. Hope this helps.

 

[blurredvision]

I run the exact same KT-333 SOYO Platinum Edition DRAGON with an 1800+ and a GF4 Ti4400, and have had no problems with power. I have a generic 300watt. Along with these components, I also have an extra NIC, 2 hard drives, 2 cd-roms, a floppy, and 5 case fans. Never had a problem yet.

 

[jookz]

I dont think its the heat... I monitor my temps w/ motherboard monitor, and they are always pretty low, I just got a thermaltake volcano 7+, and added 2 case fans.. so I stay near 40C all the time... the case stays near 30C... Should I try reapplying the arctic silver anyway? Maybe theres a part of the die that had too thin or thick a layer? I would think that the processor temp reading would be pretty close to accurate within 5 degrees.. As for my power supply, it says 315Wmax and 340W break.... if that helps. I also did a memory test recently, and I let it run for a few hours, and it passed through 19 times... every test passed, so I dont think that there is a prob w/ my memory.. I hope this new info helps. I still have no idea what it could be!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Well presuming you're using XP the default is to auto reboot if there is an error so by disabling it as I suggested if there's a software conflict, ect. then it'll show up in the system log and you can reference the error code through the MS knowledge base to help define the issue.

 

[Softballslug]

Try a different brand of memory. I built a computer for a friend and he purchased a 512Mb stick of PNY. His computer would just re-boot for apparantly nothing. I swapped him my 512Mb stick of Kingston and he hasn't had a re-boot since. For what its worth, his PNY works just fine in my computer......