Epox 8rda randomly turning off, can't even install OS

[Fryguy88]

After having a bunch of strange problems (like my friend screwing in a screw wrong and stripping it), and then having to put the WD Hard Drive on CS so that it would be properly recognized, the computer now boots properly, but it will just randomly turn off, sort of. The Computer will just shut down, but the case will still be powered on, and the power light will still be lit up (sometimes that goes out too, but the case still has power). So I hold down the power button for 4 seconds to turn it off completely, then press the button to power it up again. I managed to get windows XP installed yesterday, but it was still extremely shot. Thinking it was the OS, and the installation procedure, I formatted, and went to install 98, still nothing it locks up. Here's the specs:

Epox 8rda
AMD 2100
Crucial DDR 2700
WD 40gb
Lite-on 48x
Gainward GF3
Thermalright/Panaflo
Antec 430W

The computer is NOT overheating, motherboard monitor when I had XP running was saying temps in the 115F range, and PC Health in the BIOS is giving similar readings. I originally had a 300W Enlight psu, but people thought that was too little, so my friend went out and picked up the antec 430W, if anything it's more frequent now than it was before, but that just might be illusion. It seems to have been getting worse and worse over the whole time. It doesn't seem like anything is bad, because it will all work for a time, and then just decide to randomly shut down. I have tweaked around with a LOT of the settings in the BIOS, to no avail. I'm out of ideas and I have no idea what to try/replace now.

 

[mechBgon]

Brainstorm time!

• What CPU speed did you set in the BIOS? The 2100+ should be set to operate on the 133MHz bus for a speed of 1733MHz.
• Did you double-check the PSU to make sure it's set to the proper voltage (110V/220V) on the rear
• Could the heatsink be installed backwards? Refer to Figure 13 and 14 here for two pitfalls to avoid.
• Besides reversing the heatsink, it is also possible to highside the Thermalright heatsink on the socket (push the sink as far to the other end as the clip allows)

Good luck on the troubleshooting. Welcome to the Forums

 

[Fryguy88]

umm, the heatsink is a very real possibility (we have the mobo, ram, and proc boxed up right now for an RMA because I'm convinced that there was a defect).

However...

I'm looking at the Artic silver imprint on the heatsink now, and it doesn't directly line up, but even still, my processor temps were good (or at the very least acceptable), so I don't see how having a misaligned heatsink would have messed with me.

My PSU was properly set to 115V (american).

The bus speeds were set correctly, and even severly downclocked at times (133 bus 166 RAM is correct, was running 100/100 at one point, not helping).

 

[mechBgon]

Tell me more about the imprint. Do you mean that it looked like the heatsink was tilted and not making perpendicular contact? The temp readings that the user can view have about a 2-minute time-delay factor because they come from a thermistor mounted inside the CPU socket, and are separated from the CPU itself by about 5mm of airspace, so they're not a sure method of knowing the real CPU temperature.

The CPU's internal thermal-panic thermistor is monitored directly by the motherboard, and will cut power in less than 1/2 second if the thermistor is indicating an overheat, which would result in the system simply stopping dead in its tracks as if you'd pulled the plug out of the wall. And I have had that happen a couple of times, once with my brand-new Thermalright heatsink which was on in the right direction, but a bit too close to the solid end of the CPU socket. System kicked off instantly upon power-up, and when I investigated, I saw that I needed to push the heatsink over to the other end. Gotta like those protective circuits

 

[Fryguy88]

Then possibly that was the problem, even though I had disabled all of that type of turn off stuff. And the imprint was all there, just not dead center on the heatsink.

 

[Dea]

Did you check the power supply and the video card?

 

[Fryguy88]

Yes checked both.

I turned the heatsink around, and now it works fine.

 

[SpideyCU]

I remember someone here recently else doing the exact same thing (having the heatsink turned around). I'll have to make sure I don't do this myself when I put the new T-bred in.