*Comp Fixed!* Random Reboot Problems

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

Alright, I'm not sure what to ask or where to start, but my recently made computer, (check sig) is restarting itself every once and a while. It will stop games from playing by exiting to the desktop, etc. Also the HDD seems to have a slightly high noise from it when the computer boots up, but I don't hear it much after that. I'm wondering what could be the problem as everything is entirely new, except the monitor which is refurbished. Any help would be appreciated.

BTW: I'm running Check Disk now and I will run MemTest as well afterwards. Any other programs that would be good in this situation?

 

[Green Man]

Nice computer. Are you over-clocking?

 

[Rike]

Sounds like memory issues. I'll bet Memtest gives you errors.

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

Yeah, I will be overclocking, but only when I get all these issues sorted out.

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

I'm also wondering if the ATI drivers for my card and the NForce 4 drivers are doing something they shouldn't be doing.

 

[Rike]

Never heard of that happening.

BTW, the link to your system in your sig is busted.

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

Don't know how to get it to say just My Rig as a hyperlink...

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

How long does MemTest take? When does it show errors? After the program is finished or while it's working? Going on an hour and 1/2 and still no errors whatsoever it looks like.

 

[thorin]

www.memtest86.com

Doesn't take long, let it do it's full regular set of tests. It reports error as it finds them. (IIRC the last time I used it a full set of tests on a 1400 took about 45mins)

 

[Green Man]

It might be helpful to look up the errors in event viewer. It could be hardware or a driver issue. Running memtest is a good choice to rule out a RAM problem.

 

[thorin]

RAM or heat. memtest will throw errors if you CPU is overheating as well.

 

[jonnylingo]

Originally posted by: AtaruMoroboshi18
I'm also wondering if the ATI drivers for my card and the NForce 4 drivers are doing something they shouldn't be doing.

I have heard of that giving people problems. Not so much rebooting, but in video performance. Scores on 3d Mark would be low if there were remnants of old drivers. Might want to try reloading....

-jonny

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

I hope that 0 errors in 3 and 1/2 hours is pretty good. Is it? I think it's because of the video drivers or something, the Sapphire CD that I got didn't include ANY Catalyst drivers...which really makes me mad...

 

[l Xes l]

how are ur temps?

 

[amdskip]

What power supply are you running?

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=PS-S12-430 This power supply, it was on sale for about $50. Recommended by Ribbon13. BTW: How do I check the temps and how do I keep it from restarting and rebooting so much?

I keep trying to install FarCry, but it always restarts in the middle of installation. Doom 3 comes up for all of a few seconds. Halo will cut out when it damn well pleases. This is sickening to me, I have a great rig, but it runs like crap...

 

[Rike]

At least the link to your rig works now.

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

Alright, been doing some tweaking and stuff, and got it to the point where it will work, but everyonce in a while if under strain the computer reboots. Every time I play a game that would strain my computer I get 2 seconds and then reboot. I was able to play farcry pretty well until I patched it. Now it starts up, goes for 2 seconds then reboot. I'm racking my brain on this, it could be the video card or the PSU or something else. I'm not sure what it is.

 

[Rike]

Check your heatsinks on your CPU and vid card. If they are not seated correctly, they could overheat and cause a shutdown.

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

Everything seems to be seated correctly. Popped open the case and everything looked to be fine. Hey, does the X850 XT require an external powersource or what?

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

I just checked the bios and on idle the CPU is 38 Celsius, the PWM AREA is 42 Celsius, and the Chip Set is 46 Celsius.

 

[Green Man]

Originally posted by: AtaruMoroboshi18
how do I keep it from restarting and rebooting so much?

It could be a hardware or power issue, but it might be getting a stop error.

Now, open the properties of "my computer" a click on the advanced tab. Look down to the Startup and Recovery section and click on Settings.
Find the system failure section and uncheck the automatically restart box.

This isn't meant to fix your problem, but it may prevent the spontaneous reboots and provide you with some valuable information about the problem.
Anyway, the purpose of that option is to automatically restart the computer if it BSODs so the user doesn't see the BSOD.

 

[winterlude]

When I read your first post, my first instinct was power supply or cooling problem. You seem to be having enough power, but is it clean? In other words, are you using a UPS?
Secondly, what are you doing for cooling? Do you have system fans going? When I built my Athlon 1800+ system a few years ago, I had similar problems. Whenever the CPU hit 100%, the computer would freeze or reboot. After I put a couple system fans in, it was okay.
One thing you could try (as a test) is to underclock your chip (by a lot!) and see how stable it is. If it's still rebooting, then the problem is probably with your ram. If it's stable, then your system is probably running too hot.

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

I have a UPS, pretty sturdy one, though may get a different one. All the fans are on and powered. Also, wouldn't underclocking void the warranty?

BTW: Are there ways to check for faulty equipment, software-wise?

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: AtaruMoroboshi18
Also, wouldn't underclocking void the warranty?

No, only overclocking, even that is hard to prove. On the overclocking side, modern chips and mobo's have lots of built-in protection so it is difficult to do much real damage without the system shuting down to protect itself.