random reboots... please help

celeritas

Senior member
Oct 13, 1999
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My new system is doing weird things. Namely, locking up in the middle of applications and rebooting. In your experience(s), is this usually due to CPU heat problems, bad RAM, mobos, HDD, or power supply? I know that issues with any of the above could cause similar problems, but I was wondering what people see most often. What tests do you propose I perform to determine which is the culprit? Here are some specs for you:

1.2@1.4 (10x140) AXIA Athlon
Taisol heatsink/fan + 2 Sunon case fans
Epox EP-8K7A mainboard
512MB Crucial DDR PC2100 RAM
60GB Maxtor 7200RPM ATA100 HDD
56x generic CD-ROM drive
10x/4x/32x HP CD-RW
FA312 Netgear NIC
Diamond MX300 sound card
Diamond Viper V550 video card (soon to be replaced by GF3)
Windows 2000 Pro NTFS

Everything is new except for the sound/video card. I've reinstalled Windows+SP2 three times, ran multiple repair processes, and applied the AMD AGP miniport, VIA 4in1's, etc. I've removed everything but the CPU, RAM, HDD, and video card, and a completely fresh install of Win2k still crashed intermittently.

My BIOS says my CPU temp is 100F-110F @ the default 1.77v vCore; if I bump it up to 1.87v (the next possible setting), then it goes up to ~116F and is even less stable. I've read that some people have bumped up their DDR RAM voltage from 2.5v to 2.9v or so. Does this help with stability or just overclockability? How much hotter do things get? Can someone please post a link to a good BIOS optimization guide, and/or post his/her 8K7A settings? Thanks.

Edit: I forgot to add that my PC refuses to restart. It does this when I choose restart in Windows, and when I exit my BIOS... The video goes out and doesn't come back up... My PC remains on, and I don't see any HDD activity. I have to hit the reset button. Shutdown works fine. Ideas? TIA.

Edit #2: I'm running Detonator 12.40... I also have a brand new Enlight 7237 case with an AMD-approved 340W power supply. 3DMark2001 (even at 1024x768 @ 16bit) either crashes after the first couple tests, or causes my PC to reset. :(
 

celeritas

Senior member
Oct 13, 1999
935
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I haven't tried that yet. ;)

It was a warm today, and my BIOS now says my CPU is 50C/122F @ 1.77v. :(
 

celeritas

Senior member
Oct 13, 1999
935
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0
Update: I upped my vCore .1v, increased my DDR RAM voltage to 2.7v, and added some high-power fans. Life is good. :D