Need help

[smithinator101]

I have a PC with a pentium4 3.2GHZ CPU an an asus P5AD2-E proactive AI motherboard, lately when ever i turn the PC it comes up with a message saying " system failure CPU test " so i turn the PC of and try a few more times eventually ( after a few tries ) the system boots up like normal with no issues. My question is what could be causing this issue and what do you recommend i do to remedy the situation?

Thanks in advance.

P.s i brought the PC second hand so i cant return it to the store, also when i first brought it it started every time then one day it just stopped

 

[masterjaw]

Check if your CPU and HSF is properly installed. If you notice some irregularities, reinstall it.

 

[stevensl2]

This might be totally irrelevant but maybe the person you bought the PC from also had the problem, and that's why he returned it xD

I suggest taking out the CPU and reinstalling it.

 

[smithinator101]

i don't believe so cos when i got it it worked fine for around a month before it started doing this, sorry i don't know what an HSF is.

 

[masterjaw]

HSF = heat sink fan = cpu cooler

 

[smithinator101]

thanks, i heard somewhere it might be that the psu is insufficient to supply the power needed what do you think? is there anything else i can try?

 

[masterjaw]

thanks, i heard somewhere it might be that the psu is insufficient to supply the power needed what do you think? is there anything else i can try?

PSU issues usually come up when you add up video card to the equation. I haven't encounter a PSU issue that would give you that kind of error. Most likely, the problem lies with the CPU and/or hsf.

 

[smithinator101]

What about the mobo? could it be causing the issues? what should i look for on the cpu/socket to see if anything is wrong?

 

[masterjaw]

Reinstall the cpu and hsf. make sure you clean up the mess first before applying the thermal compound.

 

[smithinator101]

ill try it and let you know how it goes, thanks for all the help. If anyone has anything to add feel free it all helps, thanks again.

 

[smithinator101]

what would cause it not to work one minute and then work fine the next?

 

[jsc]

Unfortunately, many things. Intermittent electronics problems can be a real bitch to repair.