CMOS Battery Failed?

[rohizz]

I have an Asus P4S533 motherboard with a p4 2.4 northwood. And every 3 to 4 hours, my computer just shuts down completely, and when I restart it, it says CMOS Battery Failed, Defaults loaded Floppy Disk Failure (80) something along those lines. Is my Motherboard just messed up...it five years old...and I need an excuse to get a new rig. What do you suggest I can do? Thanks in advance.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Your CMOS battery may need replacing but would not account for the shut downs. Heat is a more likely culprit.

 

[rohizz]

i have the stock hsf, arctic silver (new coat), and 3 80mm fans...this thing sounds like a continuous sonicboom...how do you suggest I go about getting it cooler? I also have 2 IDE HDDs, a soundblaster live, a 9800pro, an NIC card, and 2x512 ram sticks.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

You'll need to check temps to tell if that is indeed the problem. There are a number of utilities to do that such as speedfan and ATI Tools. Air flow may be a problem regardless of the 'sonicboom' do to sealed case, cable management, etc.

Does it happen if the machine is idling without playing games or heavy multitasking?

 

[rohizz]

It happens when its idling...like when I'm not there. I'll leave it on, monitor off, and then I'll go out. Come back in 3 hours or so, and its shut down. And I turn it back on to read that.

 

[deathwalker]

Could also be a power supply problem..and..I agree a bad cmos battery should not cause a shut down.