My PC suffered a BSOD yesterday, with an error message containing a "Bad Pool Header".
A hard reset was necessary, afterwhich it would not boot to the POST screen. On switching the PC on, all the fans spin as normal for 2-3 seconds, speed up for a fraction of a second, then the machine resets. A few seconds later the PC reboots itself, and the process repeats - until the power is switched off completely.
I stripped down the PC, removing all unnecessary hardware, testing different memory sticks etc. In every configuration the same problem exists - the PC won't boot to POST - the fans spin as normal, speed up, then resets itself.
Anyone have an idea what is wrong with my machine? Does this sound like a problem with the motherboard, or psu?
System specs:
Mobo - Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L
Processor - E6600
RAM - Corsair Dominator
PSU - Arctic 700W
Sounds like PSU to me, but thats just an educated guess. How old is the PSU and what is the brand name of the PSU. I see Arctic above, and if that is a brand name, I'm not familiar with it's quality, as Ive never heard of it. If it is a model name, please post the brand name, so the quality of the PSU may be determined. (ie. there are a bundle of disreputable PSU manufacturers floating around to the point that if you buy one of their PSU's, you are not only probably going to have problems, but literally guaranteed problems. *cough* Logisys *cough*.) Myself, I have learned my lesson the hard way and will NOT buy a PSU but from a few manufacturers such as OCZ, Corsair, Antec, Tagan, Silverstone and a few others.
Okay, I just did a search and found a PSU called Arctic Power 700, which I assume is what you own, and let me tell you, I am not very impressed, just by looking at its specs. First off, it's peak effeciency is only 75%, meaning the remaining 25% is being dispersed as heat and we all know when it comes to PCs, heat = bad. Secondly, it only supplies 22 Amps on the 12 volt rail, which, even for my 9800GTX+, is insufficient amperage, as it requires at least 24 Amps on the 12 volt rail. If you have a modern graphics card, I would seriously look into getting a more efficient power supply. Not only will it lower your power costs by about 5-10%, it will also provide a more stable, cooler operating environment. With your current PSU, for every $1 you spend operating your computer, you are only getting 75 cents performance worth, at that is when the PSU is operating at peak efficiency, which is probably very rare. Another thing I don't like about the specs is the fact that they only list the combined power, which is 700W of course, but no mention of the consistent power, which suggests to me, they are trying to hide something. I once bought a PSU that boasted to be 575W, when in fact, that was combined power. The actually consistent power was barely 400W. To make a long story short (I know, too late ), I would seriously look at the power supply as to be the culprit for the simple fact that, even if you get a better one and it ISN'T the culprit, you still can rest at night knowing that you didn't waste your money.
Message edited by MundoDragon on 07-01-2009 at 01:19:37 PM