pc tech support assistance

[CHDA80]

alright this one is not an quick/easy fix, since its been about 2 months now ive been living with this problem. it all started about a week after i did my usual every 6-8 month XP format and reinstall to keep everything running nice. so here is the issue.

i will be using the computer, high load, no load, idle, general use (doesnt matter what im doing). then it will just randomly shut off! no blue screen, no warning messages.. just OFF! i could tell from the lack of screen notifications/nothing in the event manager its a hardware issue that is causing it to not even allow windows to write to the screen/event logs.

so far ive tried a few things to no avail (listed below). maybe someone here can suggest some more options that i may not have thought to try yet.

1. swapped out the PSU (didnt work so i put the old one back in)
2. took out my A8N-SLI and replaced it with an A8N-E (RMA'd the old one and they gave me a new one)
3. flipped the ram (move ram from slot 1A to 2A and 2A to 1A)
4. ran memtest+ for hours (no errors)
5. ran system with only one ram stick (still doing it)
6. underclocked my CPU in the bios (still doing it)
7. boosted voltage settings in bios (you guessed it, still doing it)
8. swapped my BFG 7800GTX with a XFX 8600GT (still doing it but not as much)

ive order a new CPU from newegg that im going to try it with and see what happens. if that is the case im going to RMA my current CPU since its better then the one i ordered and put it back in when i get it back.

if anyone has any advise i will gladly try it. i dont want to throw anymore cash into this system if i dont have to. id much rather use that money to save for a quad core system once the market on them relaxes and the hardware bugs get ironed out!

EDIT1:
woops i forgot to mention i swapped out the motherboard, hehe. i was using this cpu fan, but i put the stock on from amd on. i didnt really start watching the heat of my system too much before the problems started since it was running fine for over a year fine. there are 6 case fans in my system, not including the GPU/CPU/PSU fans (4 more for them)

EDIT2:
ive also done a fresh windows xp pro install a few days ago which did not help

 

[robisbell]

goto http://housecall.trendmicro.com and have fully scan all files and folders, report back the results.

 

[CHDA80]

i just did a format 4-5 days ago so i doubt it will find much, but ill post results when it finishes

 

[daveybrat]

Originally posted by: robisbell
goto http://housecall.trendmicro.com and have fully scan all files and folders, report back the results.

I doubt software would cause a machine to just shut down completely without writing a log. Sounds like either the power supply or the motherboard as those are really the only things regulating power. Since you've already tried a new power supply and that has not alleviated the problem, it sounds like your motherboard may be going south.

 

[Cutthroat]

Could also be a bad surge protector/wall outlet. Try plugging it directly into a different circuit in the house.

 

[Slammy1]

Have you turned off the restart on errors option? It might give additional evidence of catastrophic equipment failure. Are you watching temperatures and monitoring voltages? Probably, just throwing it out there. You might verify Prime95 stability as well, but you're already swapping the CPU so I guess it's mot necessary. I'd run a scan disk on your HDD, turn off system restore, and rebuild the swap file as well though, as mentioned, it's probably not software related. It just reduces one variable and you can generate errors when Windows abnormally terminates. Random reboots are a PITA is research when you don't just have a bunch of parts to swap out.

 

[CHDA80]

woops i forgot to mention i swapped out the motherboard, hehe. i was using this cpu fan, but i put the stock on from amd on. i didnt really start watching the heat of my system too much before the problems started since it was running fine for over a year fine. there are 6 case fans in my system, not including the GPU/CPU/PSU fans (4 more for them)

 

[Slammy1]

How does your PSU spec? It might be worthwhile watching Prime95 or 3dMark with a multimeter. Have you tried a minimum (or even external) boot? It's good to take out everything but what you need (mobo, CPU, video, RAM) then add other components in one at a time. I'm thinking you have a bad (core) component. An external boot would make sure it's not the case causing the problem. A different outlet (or circuit), as mentioned, would rule out a bad ground. I went round and round with my board and random reboots for a while. It was mainly a conflict with addressing sound from my video card to my sound card, replacing either did nothing it was only fixed after replacing both. Good luck.

 

[CHDA80]

ran prime when i went to work, when i came back the pc was off so idk how that turned out.