Soft reset turns PC off for few seconds

[swiftytom]

Yesterday I tried overclocking my C2D for the first time, following a guide from one forum. The actual overclock seems to be working fine, no errors, lockups or overheating. But after I changed the settings in BIOS, the computer now soft resets by turning itself off for a few seconds, then it comes back up. Also the Hibernate option suddenly popped up in my Vista shutdown dialog. I only touched the BIOS settings in the CPU configuration a Jumper free configuration (the frequencies). What could be causing this?

 

[randomizer]

Motherboard model?

 

[swiftytom]

It's ASUS P5B-E, the overclock was from E6600 default 2.4GHz to 2.88GHz, lowered mem ratio for RAM to stay at 800MHz, forced PCIE to 100 and PCI to 33.3.

 

[randomizer]

Does the mobo soft reset only when you change the BIOS, or all the time?

 

[randomizer]

In case that was ambiguous: What I mean is, does it only happen each time you save changes to the BIOS (straight after you save and exit), or whenever you restart or what?

 

[swiftytom]

Yeah this happens all the time when the CPU is overclocked. When I put it back to default, it resets as usual.

 

[randomizer]

Interesting. My dads AB9 pro soft resets whenever changes are made to the BIOS, doesn't matter what they are. It works normally after it does it once though. I had a feeling that this could be the problem, but that doesn't seem to be the case, so I'm not sure. Have you tried disabling C1E and Speedstep (EIST)? I don't think they would be doing anything, but it's possible.

 

[swiftytom]

I tried turning off C1E, but not Speedstep, so I'll give it a try, thanks for the tip.

 

[Ibanezrg570]

I'm pretty sure that is somewhat normal for the P5B series of Asus MBs. I know my P5B used to do it when I oc'ed it with an FSB of 333. What is strange though, is that it did stop doing that when I oc'd it with an FSB of 375 (or 3.0 GHZ effective on my E6420). In the end, I don't think it is something to be worried about. I know others with the P5B which act in the same way.

 

[Andrius]

The same thing happens on a GA-P35-DS3P after changes to the (M)otherboard (I)ntelligent (T)weaker.
Works normally after reboot.

Mostly after changing RAM:FSB ratio, all voltages, certain ram timings. Not so often when changing FSB.
EDIT : (my strange english)

 

[swiftytom]

OK, thanks for the heads up guys, seems no matter what I do it will reset like that, so I will leave it. Only thing I'm worried about is if this sort of resetting doesn't hurt the hardware.... but then again, the pause is about 4s, I don't know how long it takes for the harddrives to stop spinning, but I hope it won't hurt them.

 

[jsc]

OK. Let's see if I have this straight. The PC does a reset/reboot after every BIOS change? You get some sort of "Press <this key> (usually F10) to save your changes, then it reboots? After that, it works fine?

If I understand the question, that is normal. The PC has to reboot before it can read any configuration data stored in the CMOS memory.

Now, if the PC is up and running, and it randomly reboots, especially under a heavy CPU or graphic load, that is a sign of an inadequate PSU.

 

[WazzaUK]

jsc: power supplys again lol..... why just have power supplies that only just manage when for a bit more $$$ can get 600-700+Watts, no worries then..... Even if a power supply is rated 350W im betting the actual output is nowhere near - depends on the PSU i suppose... At the end of the day you pay for what you get... Everyone should be buying at least 500W PSU's now, especially since most multi-core cpu's hog 100W odd...

 

[jsc]

Wazza:
I don't want to get off too far off topic, but if the OP is suffering random reboots after he is up and running, the subject of PSU's is relevant.

"why just have power supplies that only just manage ..." Because sometimes people are cheap, or on a tight budget, or just don't know any better. Everyone should be buying at least 500W good PSU's now.

My 650 watt Antec (3rd tier by the wiki and bought on sale for about 30% off) is rated for full power at 50 deg. C. The air coming out the back probably isn't more than 5 deg. C. above ambient air with my present load. I figure that I have enough reserve capacity to run a Raid 5 array and a second graphics card in SLI.

 

[WazzaUK]

Of course the subject of PSU's is relevant, i didnt say it wasnt. But i think most builders would agree having a beefier PSU is a must - afterall it powers everything, and it pretty much does away with alot of the early build probs that can occur.

So really ya havent gone off topic. I dont think the majority of folkz who are gonna build pc's realise how important having a decent PSU is. I suppose the average person doesnt even consider it. Its a power supply lol - has all the right connectors etc.

 

[Ibanezrg570]

WHat the poster is reffering too is, after an OC of his CPU in the Bios, his PC will not just simply RESET normally when he asks his computer to RESTART. The computer will actually power down completely for 3-4 seconds, and then reboot up. They are not random. I've had the same thing happen to my P5B and i've had others tell me the same as well when using P5Bs so, I believe it is just the MB.

 

[randomizer]

And as I said earlier, it also happens on the AB9 pro (and probably non-pro too). It forces all hardware to be reinitialised unlike a normal restart.