My friend bought various parts and started assembling a computer but he had some problems so he asked me to help him.
Here's a quick description of the build :
Intel D945GTPLR
Pentium D805
Kingwin Cyclone (cpu heatsink+fan) http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1563200&CatId=1588
2 DVD drives he had on his last computer
2x512mb Corsair Value Select DDR2 RAM
XFX Geforce 7300GS
and this case/psu : http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1366574&Sku=D15-1042
Sata 80Gb Western Digital Hard drive
3 80mm case fans
He wanted to keep his budget under 700 CDN
Here's the problem :
The computer resets itself VERY often.
When the video card is used (it also has onboard video), the computer rarely has the time to get into windows before rebooting. (<10 seconds)
Using the onboard video was stable enough, I managed to install windows and configure it a bit (around 45 minutes - 1 hour)
Here's what we tried :
As mentionned above we removed the video card and noticed increased stability.
I reseated the cpu 3 times (first 2 using Artic Silver Ceramique and the last time using Artic Silver 5). All 3 times, the layer of thermal compound seemed near-perfect (thin layer covering all the zone where the heatsink is in contact with the cpu)
We tried using only 1 slot of RAM, we also tried different slots.
Note : the CPU is VERY HOT (like 55C idle, I've seen it reach 62C on minor load like windows update), I don't think that should be happening with 3 case fans and that cpu fan. BTW, I noticed the CPU fan doesn't spin very fast unless he's installing something (around 500 rpm), I'm gonna try to connect the cpu fan directly to the psu bypassing the mobo's speed control.
Here's what I think could be the problem :
Bad PSU, wouldn't be surprised considering its price and the fact that inserting a video card reduces the stability (increased power consumption)
Bad video card, it reduced the stability but that can't be the whole problem because the computer reboots even when using the onboard video.
Regards,
Kerdal
Here's a quick description of the build :
Intel D945GTPLR
Pentium D805
Kingwin Cyclone (cpu heatsink+fan) http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1563200&CatId=1588
2 DVD drives he had on his last computer
2x512mb Corsair Value Select DDR2 RAM
XFX Geforce 7300GS
and this case/psu : http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1366574&Sku=D15-1042
Sata 80Gb Western Digital Hard drive
3 80mm case fans
He wanted to keep his budget under 700 CDN
Here's the problem :
The computer resets itself VERY often.
When the video card is used (it also has onboard video), the computer rarely has the time to get into windows before rebooting. (<10 seconds)
Using the onboard video was stable enough, I managed to install windows and configure it a bit (around 45 minutes - 1 hour)
Here's what we tried :
As mentionned above we removed the video card and noticed increased stability.
I reseated the cpu 3 times (first 2 using Artic Silver Ceramique and the last time using Artic Silver 5). All 3 times, the layer of thermal compound seemed near-perfect (thin layer covering all the zone where the heatsink is in contact with the cpu)
We tried using only 1 slot of RAM, we also tried different slots.
Note : the CPU is VERY HOT (like 55C idle, I've seen it reach 62C on minor load like windows update), I don't think that should be happening with 3 case fans and that cpu fan. BTW, I noticed the CPU fan doesn't spin very fast unless he's installing something (around 500 rpm), I'm gonna try to connect the cpu fan directly to the psu bypassing the mobo's speed control.
Here's what I think could be the problem :
Bad PSU, wouldn't be surprised considering its price and the fact that inserting a video card reduces the stability (increased power consumption)
Bad video card, it reduced the stability but that can't be the whole problem because the computer reboots even when using the onboard video.
Regards,
Kerdal