Random Restarts on New Built Please Help!

[kishle]

My homebuilt system (specs below) had ran fine for 2 weeks after the initial build. It passed a day on Prime95+, and memtest86 with 10 passes. Until recently, it started restarting randomly. This happens in Windows XP (doesn't matter if its idle or busy), and it would restart even at the BIOS screens.

RAM : OCZ2G8004GK 4GB
CPU : Q6600 (2.4 Ghz) Stock HSF, no overclocking
Motherboard : ASUS P5Q Pro
Video card : ATI AIW X1900
Power Supply : Antec Earthwatt 600w
OS: Windows XP

Here are the things I have tried so far, but still hasn't got it to stop randomly restarting:

1) Ram: Pulled the ram out and tried each individually in different dimms, paired up in slot b = still random restarts, borrowed crosair ram from a friend - still no good

2) Motherboard: Initially thought this was the cause of the problem, so I RMA'd the motherboard; on motherboard #2 now...still same thing

3) Video Card: Bought another one to try Geforce 9600GT; no luck

4) Power Supply: Tried another one no luck either.

5) Hard Drive & DVD-RW: Pulled them both out and tried in a different computer...both works fine.

6) Cooling: Took the side panels off and have a house fan blowing into it..and it still restarts

Now, I am really stumped as to resolving this problem as I have pretty much exhausted all the typical options. The only 2 things I haven't tried changing yet...Could it actually be the CPU that's busted?? How do I go about trying this without having to buy another one?? Also, could a short or something inside the case be causing these random restarts? I have just checked there are no weird medal contacting parts between the motherboard and the case, other than the 9 screws holding it in. Any help would really be appreciated!

Kishle

 

[Proximon]

Did you try resetting the BIOS?

Did you try flashing the BIOS to the latest? (If you do this, use the boot disk method and NOT the windows method.)

Finally,take the board out of the case and test it on a flat, non-conductive surface such as a cardboard box.

It's possible you fried the CPU if the push pins were not fully seated, but not likely.

 

[jitpublisher]

A short in the case can very well cause this, since you have tried about everything else. This does not sound like a CPU problem. CPU's very, very rarely go bad, and when they do, most of the time then, they simply won't work, nothing happens at all. Take the board out of the case, lay it on a piece of cardboard, hook everything up and see if you still have the problem outside the case would be my first suggestion.

 

[kishle]

A short in the case can very well cause this, since you have tried about everything else. This does not sound like a CPU problem. CPU's very, very rarely go bad, and when they do, most of the time then, they simply won't work, nothing happens at all. Take the board out of the case, lay it on a piece of cardboard, hook everything up and see if you still have the problem outside the case would be my first suggestion.

I have just tried to take the board and everything outside the case. It still does random restarts at different points of the boot up, got to Windows a few times and still does the same thing. As to updating the BIOS, I'm a little reluctant to update it right now..just because it restarts so randomly..I think its unsafe and it might screw up the update half way through. I don't know what to do anymore...would it be some sort of compatible issue? I mean the machine did work fine for 2 weeks before any of these weirdness started happening.

 

[kishle]

Anyone with any ideas?? Bump!

 

[Proximon]

Could the power from your wall be bad?

 

[kishle]

Could the power from your wall be bad?

I am certain that its not..as I have tried to run it at a different room and it still wouldn't work.

 

[Proximon]

Although what jitpublisher says about the CPU is true, you seem to have eliminated anything else.

 

[kishle]

Although what jitpublisher says about the CPU is true, you seem to have eliminated anything else.

That really sucks...I have never ran into so much trouble building a computer before...guess i'm out of luck this time. Hopefully the cpu is the actual problem. How do I go about RMA'ing this cpu? I tried to find some sort of link on the Intel website but no luck. I have never had to rma anything before...so I don't know the necessary procedures to do this.

Kishle

 

[kishle]

Gonna give this a bump!

 

[Proximon]

You should contact the vendor of the CPU

 

[kishle]

Another update....I manage to get my hands on a P4 530 3.0ghz 775 processor. Threw the sucker in and gave it a try. The random restarts reduced a lot. Now, I am only getting it every now and then. I ran in on Prime95 for the past day, it restarted after about 20 hrs. Then I tried to test one piece of ram again...using memtest. it lasted about 1 hr before it restarted... Now I'm testing a second piece to see if it does the same thing.

Are there anything else that I should try? I thought it was bingo when the processor ran for more than 12 hrs. But I guess now I'm back in square 1 again ...so stumped...never ran into something like this building computers.

 

[montyuk]

when you get into windows - right click my computer, select properties, select advanced, startup & recovery - select settings, untick automatically restart, click ok

see if you can get some bsod details.

 

[kishle]

when you get into windows - right click my computer, select properties, select advanced, startup & recovery - select settings, untick automatically restart, click ok

see if you can get some bsod details.

Yep..did that already... that didn't help nothing would come up even after a restart and that I get into Windows. Not even a "Windows have recovered from blah blah".

 

[kishle]

bump?

 

[DevilDog016]

You could check if your HDD is properly connected and that the connector isn't loose, that might be a problem - it gave me some headaches about one month ago, my PC randomly failing to recognise my HDD, with all sorts of BSoD's and boot failures. Turned out the SATA connector on the cord that leads from the HDD to the mobo was loose. Other than that, there's only the really unsafe BIOS reset method, which I don't recommend. You could try reformatting the HDD, maybe your OS got damaged by an app or a virus...

 

[3lvis]

Did you try reseating the CPU heatsink? What kind of temps are you getting before the system restarts? I suggest trying different cables, sometime you will get one that works intermittently.

 

[kishle]

Thanks for the replies...i have tried different cables and plugs... pretty much rebuilt the computer about 5-6 times now. I have read on a lot on this type of issues on the internet regarding this motherboard. Could it be that this motherboard be that painful to configure (timings and such with the memory and voltages)? I mean I get the proper beep sound as it posted fine, then god knows when it'll restart again.

From that I am kinda thinking that it maybe some sort of configuration problem? I don't know a whole lot about configuring memory and such as I have been out of pc building for a little while. How would I go about trying to configure stuff manually?

Kishle

 

[Europe]

I currently have the same problem!
If anyone could read my thread it'd be awesome!!!!!!!