Random System Reboot

[Shaggymonkey]

My computer is randomly rebooting. This is not the first time I have had the problem. The first time after replacing everything in my PC I found out it was the PSU, so logically i replaced the PSU. However the problem is still persisting. There is no evidence of over heating, cables are firmly secured and I have checked the RAM.

Here's my system:

Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz (800 FSB)
Asus P4 C800 Deluxe Motherboard
1 Gb Geil Value RAM
Geforce 6800 GT with arctiic cooling VGA silencer (NV5)
Soundblaster Audigy 2 Platinum Ex
DVD ROM drive
DVD RW drive
Zalman fan controller (ZM-MFC1) controlling 6 fans including the arctic cooling silencer on the graphics card
550 Watt Colors-it Power supply (previously Zalman 400 Watt and recently tested Antec true power 400 watt)
D-Link Usb network adapter (DWL-120)

Software Running at startup:

Windows XP Media Centre Edition 2005
Norton Internet Security 2005
Creative mixer
MSN messenger 7.5

I am thankful for any advice you can give me

 

[apache_lives]

Try one stick of ram at a time in a random slot

Also replace the thermal compound between the cpu and the hsf

Eliminate the mobo, cpu and ram by running prime95.

My computer is randomly rebooting. This is not the first time I have had the problem. The first time after replacing everything in my PC I found out it was the PSU, so logically i replaced the PSU. However the problem is still persisting. There is no evidence of over heating, cables are firmly secured and I have checked the RAM.

Here's my system:

Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz (800 FSB)
Asus P4 C800 Deluxe Motherboard
1 Gb Geil Value RAM
Geforce 6800 GT with arctiic cooling VGA silencer (NV5)
Soundblaster Audigy 2 Platinum Ex
DVD ROM drive
DVD RW drive
Zalman fan controller (ZM-MFC1) controlling 6 fans including the arctic cooling silencer on the graphics card
550 Watt Colors-it Power supply (previously Zalman 400 Watt and recently tested Antec true power 400 watt)
D-Link Usb network adapter (DWL-120)

Software Running at startup:

Windows XP Media Centre Edition 2005
Norton Internet Security 2005
Creative mixer
MSN messenger 7.5

I am thankful for any advice you can give me

 

[Shaggymonkey]

Right, i applied more thermal paste to the CPU and replaced heatsink and no difference. I have tried one stick of ram along with another piece and still it did not work. I tried running the program you suggested and my pc restarted itself.

However, i have changed the cpu heatsink over. Why you might ask? Well i noticed that the fan was spinning at alternating rpm and i mean almost stopping to top speed over and over. Computer restarted and because my bios goes so quickly i never noticed before, but i get a message saying 'CPU Fan Error!'.

Now could something as simple as a cpu fan not drawing the correct current or giving resulting feedback be the problem?

 

[SciPunk]

If the CPU fan was spinning slower than it should, then it's likely that your CPU was hotter than it should be.

That's very consistent w/ the symptoms you discribed.

 

[FITCamaro]

You say you applied more CPU Paste?

You want just a very thin layer of it over the CPU. Best way is to use a business card to scrape off all but a very thin layer over the core.

If you use too much then your CPU will overheat. Sounds like that might be happening.

 

[MadModMike]

My computer is randomly rebooting. This is not the first time I have had the problem. The first time after replacing everything in my PC I found out it was the PSU, so logically i replaced the PSU. However the problem is still persisting. There is no evidence of over heating, cables are firmly secured and I have checked the RAM.

Here's my system:

Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz (800 FSB)
Asus P4 C800 Deluxe Motherboard
1 Gb Geil Value RAM
Geforce 6800 GT with arctiic cooling VGA silencer (NV5)
Soundblaster Audigy 2 Platinum Ex
DVD ROM drive
DVD RW drive
Zalman fan controller (ZM-MFC1) controlling 6 fans including the arctic cooling silencer on the graphics card
550 Watt Colors-it Power supply (previously Zalman 400 Watt and recently tested Antec true power 400 watt)
D-Link Usb network adapter (DWL-120)

Software Running at startup:

Windows XP Media Centre Edition 2005
Norton Internet Security 2005
Creative mixer
MSN messenger 7.5

I am thankful for any advice you can give me

Boot the computer into Safe Mode and see what happens, try and run Prime95 again or another application (Non-3D) and see if it runs without rebooting. As Camaro said, make sure to have a THIN layer of paste between the CPU and HeatSink, so you can almost see through it. Try running Check Disk on the drive, that might fix HDD errors that can cause this. Download SpeedFan (google it) and see if your comp crashes when you run it, if it runs the program, than check your temperatures.

Also check to make sure you have the latest BIOS for your Motherboard and the latest ChipSet drivers, I've run into HUNDREDS of system BSOD's and Reboots due to driver's. Check ALL Drivers, hundreds of problems can happen if there are driver conflicts with ANY piece of Hardware (your D-Link Network Adaptor makes me think it's causing something), make sure to try ALL drivers for GPU, Chipset, BIOS, Expansion Cards, Sound Card, etc.

Lastly, try and run ASUS PC PROBE, it will tell you the +12v RAIL Voltage, if you can run the program, check the voltages for that, as well as +5v and +3.3v, if those voltages are below 10% of their range, that can cause the problems as well. Also make sure all cords and cables are firmly connected, I had a server with a loose SATA cable that caused random data losses and reboots, so check all those. Also check to see if the Fans are running properly, this ties in with temperatures.

EDIT: Can you explain what you're doing when the computer crashes? Such as when you game, run for awhile, after a few seconds, when you start an application, etc.

~~Mad Mod Mike, fixin' the world 1 rig at a time

 

[Shaggymonkey]

Ok, i'm not a novice at building pc's and know how to apply thermal paste. I was just doing what the first reply suggested and re-applying it. All drivers, bios and windows updates are accounted for and i have no beta drivers running. System temperature is very low. My northbridge is normally around 26-28 and CPU ranges from 32 - 39.

When my pc crashes i am just doing normal stuff like chatting on msn and browsing the internet. The restarts are completely random, but since changing the cpu cooler fan the stability has increased.

I have Asus probe running and voltages are all slightly above the reference. I have unplugged the D-link card and still i experience system crashes, i have a feeling it is a bad psu or motherboard, and since i replaced the psu already it seems like the motherboard ; ;

Currently downloading speedfan to try that out, will update soon

EDIT: Ok, speedfan running and my +1.5 V is at 1.02 - what does this mean?

 

[MadModMike]

Ok, i'm not a novice at building pc's and know how to apply thermal paste. I was just doing what the first reply suggested and re-applying it. All drivers, bios and windows updates are accounted for and i have no beta drivers running. System temperature is very low. My northbridge is normally around 26-28 and CPU ranges from 32 - 39.

When my pc crashes i am just doing normal stuff like chatting on msn and browsing the internet. The restarts are completely random, but since changing the cpu cooler fan the stability has increased.

I have Asus probe running and voltages are all slightly above the reference. I have unplugged the D-link card and still i experience system crashes, i have a feeling it is a bad psu or motherboard, and since i replaced the psu already it seems like the motherboard ; ;

Currently downloading speedfan to try that out, will update soon

EDIT: Ok, speedfan running and my +1.5 V is at 1.02 - what does this mean?

I have not used SpeedFan in awhile (I use Everest, alot better) so refresh my memory, what is next to that 1.5v? Such as CPU: or RAM: or Something:, but w/e it is, it is 33% BELOW it's rated voltage, which might be a cause.

~~Mad Mod Mike, fixin' the world 1 rig at a time

 

[alfack]

Usually reboots are not random, though they may appear that wat. They are usually caused by a bugcheck. Can you set your system up to create a memory dump? That might explain the cause of the bugcheck.

Allen

 

[Shaggymonkey]

I'll just post a pic instead, i dont know too much about all this sorry:

EDIT: my pc is setup with a memory dump

 

[MadModMike]

That 2.5v is your RAM I believe, and it appears to be @ 2.1v, and that board uses DDR1 Memory, so that is VERY low and could cause problems, though it might not be the RAM but 2.5v is the average for DDR1 Voltage. I still can't decipher what that 1.5v is, maybe chipset as chipsets run @ 1.5v typically.

~~Mad Mod Mike, fixin' the world 1 rig at a time

 

[Shaggymonkey]

Hmm i did a google and 1.5 seems to apply to the vga.

 

[Shaggymonkey]

Ok so i have tested everything and it has to be either the PSU or the Motherboard. Now i think the mobo because i have tested 2 brand new psu's on my system and still get the same problem. Can anyone else advise? Could i get 2 dodgy psu's in a row?

 

[yabstrd77]

I have had similar problems with the ASUS board that I have (the only diffrence is that I am running an AMD processor not an Intel). Couple of questions for you who makes your northbridge (nvidia or via)? are you running a tv tuner card?

From what I heard VIA builds are buggy if you don't update the software, and TV tuner cards have issues as well.

You can RMA it with ASUS if the board is less then 3 yrs old, but I wouldn't count on their tech support ever getting back to you.

PM me and let me know if you get resolution to this issue because mine is still doing this as well

 

[Shaggymonkey]

The northbridge is via >< and i'm not using a tv tuner card, and my northbridge was getting quite hot before I stuck a fan on it...

 

[Shaggymonkey]

I took a screen of voltages spiking, however this did not make my pc restart. Any ideas?