Random Reboots

[Sevrin]

Last week I build a new machine. And it purrs like a kitten until it decides to go and spontaneously reboot. I have run Memtest86+ for several hours and SP2004 Orthos for 8 hours and gotten no errors.

According to Speedfan my idle temps are as followed: system 39C, CPU 41C. Under load: system 41-42C, CPU 56 to 58C. I don?t know whether to take it with a grain of salt or not about the temps since it also reports the 2 cores as running about 6 to 10 degrees cooler both idle and under load than the CPU temp.

There has been no rhyme or reason to the reboots. It happens mostly in games. Though it has also happened once while just browsing the web and once on the desktop while updating acrobat and moving files around.

I have disabled the onboard onboard audio and replaced it with my old sound blaster Audigy, still does it. I have removed the new XFX video card and replaced it with my old X700 Pro, and it still does it. Also I have disabled the the JMicron controller.

With the exception of these random reboots the machine seems perfect. All devices appear to be in operation. So I am looking for any additional thoughts and ideas where to look.

Any help would be appreciated.


Here is the build...

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
Motherboard: ASUS P5B Deluxe
Memory: CORSAIR TWIN2X2048-6400C4 Memory
Power: ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W Power Supply
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA
Optical Drive: SAMSUNG Model SH-S183L SATA
Video: XFX PVT84GUDD3 GeForce 8600GTS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16
Sound: Sound Blaster Audigy SB0090
OS: Windows XP with SP2
Cooling: 2 120mm case fans, Thermaltake Blueorb 2 with artic silver

 

[Harvey]

500 watts should be enough for your setup. My first guesses would be that it has a problem, or your line voltage is low or getting spikes, possibly from something else on the same line, such as a refrigerator.

If you have an AC voltmeter, you can measure your line voltage, which should nominally be 117 volts. A good spike suppressor may work. If the problem is bad enough, you may need a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply).

You may be able to do a quick test by plugging your machine into a socket in another room or taking it to a friend's house to see if the problem continues.

If all that doesn't do it, suspect your power supply or possibly faulty capacitors on your new motherboard.

Good luck.

 

[Sevrin]

I appreciate your response, Harvy.

Actually I have a UPS already, an APC BACK-UPS ES 750. So the power comming in should be clean.

An idea how best to look for problems concerning the power supply or motherboard?

Thanks again!

 

[Butterbean]

I had a CyberPower surge protector/UPS and it was making my PC crash. It took me 2 days to figure thats what the problem was. I went through all the components and then finally hooked up another working PC to the CyberPower and it crashed. When I ditched it all was well. I won't mess with those things again.

 

[Sdiver2489]

Turn off windows autorestart and see if it is giving a BSOD

 

[Sevrin]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Just to be clear I am doing no overclocking with this machine.

The UPS was previously hooked up to my old machine and it never gave me any trouble. Though I will take it out of the loop and see what happens.

And when I say reboots.. I dont mean a BSOD or it does a normal shutdown and comes back up. I mean the screen goes black suddenly and its goes thru a standard boot from there, loosing whatever I happen to be doing, without warning.

 

[Sdiver2489]

Originally posted by: Sevrin
Thanks for the replies so far.

Just to be clear I am doing no overclocking with this machine.

The UPS was previously hooked up to my old machine and it never gave me any trouble. Though I will take it out of the loop and see what happens.

And when I say reboots.. I dont mean a BSOD or it does a normal shutdown and comes back up. I mean the screen goes black suddenly and its goes thru a standard boot from there, loosing whatever I happen to be doing, without warning.

Yes but that can be windows autoshutdown...it will restart your computer without warning immediately...Like I said, try turning off the auto-restart feature in your control panel->system->advanced

 

[Sevrin]

Thank you, Sdiver. I went in and turned that off. Will have to see it it makes it behave.

Definitly one of the most fustrating things having a problem like this is the intermitent nature of it. Hard to tell when/if it will happen. Only time will tell.

 

[spitz10]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=37&threadid=2000936&enterthread=y

I am having basically the same exact problem as you, so I am in this with you if we can figure it out. But I would recommend reading through my thread for suggestions - who knows, might fix it for ya.

How generally often are the reboots?

 

[Sevrin]

Its happening regularly enough to be annoying, Spitz On average once every 4 to 6 hours I would say.

I looked thru that thread.. I might have a PSU around here I can try it with temporarily.... probably my next try. Turning off the autoshutdown didnt help.

 

[spitz10]

ok yea, my restarts are obviosuly less frequent, but still annoying none the less.

My guess would be power supply, so I would definitely try a different one out if i were you.

 

[Butterbean]

My first guess was that it was memory or heat if not the PSU. Even though your memory checks out ok with memtest your voltage could still be off if you havn't checked it (especially if you have it on Auto). You could try single memory sticks in different slots too.

 

[Sevrin]

I have had the memory at 1.8v 1.9v and 2.1v. Set to 667 and 800. Along with auto of course. Though I havnt tried just 1 module at a time i have swaped them and moved them to the other open slots. Nada.

Suprisingly so far, fingers crossed, taking the UPS out of the equation has lasted the longest.

 

[Sevrin]

Well taking the UPS out didnt help. I guess I was just lucky in it lasting about 18 hours before it finnally did a sponsaneous reboot.

At this point I am thinking of returning the PSU and Motherboard.

 

[spitz10]

yea, right now in my situation, I am pretty much left with the motherboard as the problem.

i still say try a different PSU if u have one, but if not, just go ahead and return them

 

[Sevrin]

I put in a cheaper thermaltake 450w PSU, from an other machine, and I am still having trouble. Which at least, on the upside, probably rules out the PSU.

Question ends up becomming do I return it for the same type of MB or try something different.

 

[Sevrin]

Well the saga continues.

After waiting over two weeks for the motherboard replacement it arrived yesterday. Regretably when I installed it my old copy of WinXp Pro OEM had finnally given up the ghost and wouldnt reactivate. So I went and bought a copy of Vista (Didnt want to but I knew sooner or later I was going to have to upgrade) and installed it.

On the upside I am not seeming to get random reboots anymore. Now I get out and out BSODs constantly. The following is an example of the info it gives me when I get back to desktop.

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 124
BCP1: 00000000
BCP2: 838B4028
BCP3: B2200005
BCP4: 00080A01
OS Version: 6_0_6000
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 768_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\Mini052307-02.dmp
C:\Users\Torin\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-82524-0.sysdata.xml
C:\Users\Torin\AppData\Local\Temp\WER5446.tmp.version.txt


Previously I had ran memtest 86 and never found errors (on the previous motherboard). This time I tried Windows Memory Diagnostic. It ran overnight, extented testing, for 7 passes and never found an error.

I have removed the soundblaster card, and disabled the onboard audio, one of the lan ports, the serial port, JMicron controller. Goggled for solutions and tried them.

I am about at my wits end on this. Any new ideas?

 

[Modular]

Try running checkdisk on your hard drive maybe..? I'm not sure where to tell you to turn. I'm guessing maybe bad HDD sectors. All signs are pointing to a ghost on this one.

 

[Sevrin]

Well the 5 week saga comes to an end. After returning the motherboard yet again, and the cpu and memory the new parts work like a charm. Though I went from a P5B Deluxe to a 680i board.

After reading Firing Squad's "Troubleshooting Vista x64 Installations Over 4 Different Systems" article I really feel the culplrit was the memory. Even though Memtest and Windows Memory Diagnostic never reported any errors, even after 8 hours of testing. The writer from FS ran into the same problem and never corrected it until changing out the memory.

Is it definitive.. no. But then agian I am just glad the new computer is working finnally.

Thank you everyone who gave me help and advice.

- Sevrin