Newbee problem: Build suddenly clicks off

[pinX]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

System: Asus A7N8X, AMD XP2700, 3 x 512 Crucial PC2700 RAM, ATI 9600
graphics card, Codegen 550w PSU. 2 Western Digital 120g harddrives.
CDRW, DVD,FDD. WinXP pro.

New to building, I've put together successful boxes before and this is
my first real problem.
The computer frequently clicks off suddenly for no apparent reason --
sometimes if I'm running an app, sometimes if the box is just sitting
idle, sometimes when I'm powering up.
With some experimenting, I've found the problem usually, but not
always, goes away if I underclock the CPU. I've disassembled and
reassembled the box twice, always with the same problem.
My first guesses are a bad PSU or CPU.
Thank you for any theories from those who know more than I do about
this stuff.


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[Hackworth]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"Pinx" <anon@anon.com> wrote in message
news:6892219s9514v98rkmgbabcv1m9vg8saqg@4ax.com...
> System: Asus A7N8X, AMD XP2700, 3 x 512 Crucial PC2700 RAM, ATI 9600
> graphics card, Codegen 550w PSU. 2 Western Digital 120g harddrives.
> CDRW, DVD,FDD. WinXP pro.
>
> New to building, I've put together successful boxes before and this is
> my first real problem.
> The computer frequently clicks off suddenly for no apparent reason --
> sometimes if I'm running an app, sometimes if the box is just sitting
> idle, sometimes when I'm powering up.
> With some experimenting, I've found the problem usually, but not
> always, goes away if I underclock the CPU. I've disassembled and
> reassembled the box twice, always with the same problem.
> My first guesses are a bad PSU or CPU.

More than likely, it's the power supply. If you have a spare lying around,
swap it out and try it. With today's power-hungry systems, it's getting more
and more important to invest in a decent PSU. IMHO, the best bang for the
buck (quality vs. price) is Antec. The generic ones that ship with many
cases are often just too junky to trust your other more valuable components
to.

 

[JohnS]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

I double that. I'm becoming an Antec convert bigtime.
I see the improvement in performance on systems that
all I did was change the case / powersupply. I can buy
the SLK1650 with 350 watt ps for about what I use
to pay for a new ps alone ... $55 to $58.

johns

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Pinx wrote:

> System: Asus A7N8X, AMD XP2700, 3 x 512 Crucial PC2700 RAM, ATI 9600
> graphics card, Codegen 550w PSU. 2 Western Digital 120g harddrives.
> CDRW, DVD,FDD. WinXP pro.
>
> New to building, I've put together successful boxes before and this is
> my first real problem.
> The computer frequently clicks off suddenly for no apparent reason --
> sometimes if I'm running an app, sometimes if the box is just sitting
> idle, sometimes when I'm powering up.
> With some experimenting, I've found the problem usually, but not
> always, goes away if I underclock the CPU. I've disassembled and
> reassembled the box twice, always with the same problem.
> My first guesses are a bad PSU or CPU.
> Thank you for any theories from those who know more than I do about
> this stuff.

Sounds like the motherboard is shutting the system down to prevent damage
from overheating. The likely cause is the heatsink isn't properly seated,
or you forgot thermal paste/pad between the CPU and heatsink.


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Registered Linux user #378193