Newly built PC random restarts

[drSTRIFE]

Hi all.

I have recently built a brand new PC and lately, the PC have just been randomly restarting without warning. The first time it restarted was last week and I heard a loud "Pyaaa/Byaa" sound coming from the PC and it just restarted. Since then, I have been hearing small "click/crack" like sounds coming from the PC (mobo, PSU area of the PC) and everytime the PC restarts, I can hear a clicking sound just before the PC switches off and restarts. The PC is only 2 weeks old and these restarts are totally random.

Here are my specs.

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R
CORE 2 DUO E4300 1.80GHZ
JETRAM DDR2 2GB PC2-5300 DUAL CHANNEL
BARRACUDA 7200.10 320GB
BARRACUDA 80GB
ATI RADEON X1950 PRO
Lian Li PC-7B Plus II (OEM) ATX Mid Tower Case, 500W PSU, Black
Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme, 120mm Fan, (Intel LGA 775, AMD AM2), CPU Cooler

I don't think the temperature is the problem as the cpu core is below 20 degrees and the system temp is around 30 degree.

If anyone can help, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[QueBert]

clicking sounds like a hard drive to me, put your head by where the HD is and if the clicking is louder and you can hear the drive trying to spin up afterwards that's it. Not sure what else could cause a clicking.

 

[imported_LouHead]

I had a PC with similar problem.

I know your temps look good, but try re-seating your heatsink. Use a good thermal compound - I picked up a tube of artic silver cermique(?) at Radio Shack for a few bucks.

Just scrape off all of the old thermal compound, clean the contact surface (I used Alcohol), and use a very small amount of compound.

It's worth a try.

 

[tracerbullet]

Originally posted by: QueBert
clicking sounds like a hard drive to me

Totally agreed, I recently fought Newegg on a new drive that had the same issue - it would run a few hours, start clicking, then the whole thing would stop. It was definitely the drive, and you could hear the drive very clearly clicking before the freeze. New drive solved it.

Although... that was a freeze-up. Would a reboot be a different issue (something related to heat or power)???

 

[drSTRIFE]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Right now, I am suspecting its the PSU that's acting up, The PC is not freezing up or something, its just restarting randomly. The clicking sound sounds like something is switching off before it restarts. I have done the memory test from windows, so I don't think the memory is causing the problem either.

 

[tracerbullet]

Ahhh. When my drive went out, it would do "lots of clicking", and keep on doing it until everything eventually froze.

If you just have a single click or two immediately before a restart, then it does sound like a power or a similar issue. Basically like what would happen if you hit / held in the power button to turn the machine off. It sounds like the click you're hearing is normal for drives when a PC shuts down.

If it going off on it's own sounds = like what it does when you turn it off intentionally, then it's not likely to be the drive itself. I'd lean towards a power supply as well.

It's such black magic though, it's hard to truly say

 

[RadiclDreamer]

A click noise is very indicative of a failing disk, you should run the manufacturers diagnostic tools to ensure that the drive is in fact bad. Also, can you get into the bios to check your voltages in an effort to rule out a power supply problem?

 

[tracerbullet]

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
A click noise is very indicative of a failing disk

Agreed if you're talking about repeated clicking. Disagreed if you're talking about a single click at the exact moment of (an intentional) PC shut down.

My Raptor's make a distinct (single) click noise when they turn off, always have, and they are fine. The WD in my file storage rig does the same thing, just a single click whenever I turn it off.

Just my experience / opinion...

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: tracerbullet

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
A click noise is very indicative of a failing disk

Agreed if you're talking about repeated clicking. Disagreed if you're talking about a single click at the exact moment of (an intentional) PC shut down.

My Raptor's make a distinct (single) click noise when they turn off, always have, and they are fine. The WD in my file storage rig does the same thing, just a single click whenever I turn it off.

Just my experience / opinion...

Ah, I misunderstood then (damn you skim reading!!!)

Yes, the single click is usually the drive parking its head