Ongoing intermittent crash

Hi all,

Been fighting this problem for about a year on and off, my system will simply shut down and reboot from time to time almost always when running full screen graphics (FSX, Movies etc.)

Spec is as follows:

Intel DX48BT2 Motherboard
4GB DDR3 Corsair Ram (Dual, Symmetric)
Intel E8600 Core 2 Duo
NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT w/ 1024MBytes
Dual Monitors DELL E248WFP (Digital) 1920x1024 and Acer G195HQ (Analog) (extended mode)
Earthwatt 650W PSU
Operating System Windows7 64bit
Two Harddrives Western Digital SATA 500GB and 250GB

I have all the latest BIOS, video and chipset drivers (I think)
My first thought was the graphics card, swapped that out - no change
Turning off the second monitor makes no difference.
I recently "borrowed" another CPU from work - no change.

I am not an overclocker, BIOS settings are "optimal defaults" when its working it runs fast enough running FSX.
I have run several diagnostics including the Intel Desktop Control center temps and voltages appear OK.

I am testing with OCCT but nothing conclusive so far.

Is it likely there's a problem with the motherboard? The Intel CPU heatsink is the older type (push/turn) and was I suspicious that it wasn't making good contact - it definitely is now but the problem persists.

My other thought was the Power Supply but I think the Earthwatt 650 should be OK?

If anybody has any thoughts I would be grateful!

Thanks

Geoff

What are your temps? Check with Core-temps and GPU-Z.

Though it could be PSU, if your having problems ever since a year ago, you might have got a faulty unit.

Try also running Memtest and see if its a RAM issue. (unlikely)

usually its the motherboard when it does these wierd reboots or shudowns during games etc. Also try reseating the ram sometimes that can help good luck.

Have you reset/cleared your CMOS sometimes it can become corrupted over time.

Hmm - I haven't done that from the link on the motherboard, will give it a try - thanks!

RAM, video card, psu or motherboard; start troubleshooting in that order.
- you said you tried just one stick, try a different set.
same with the video card, the 9600GT is cool, but a nice little upgrade like the GT240.
if that doesn't work, on to the more technical like the psu and board.
Goodluck.

tell me more about your RAM.
how much and how many sticks.? are they matching sets.?
I think I have and idea that will hopefully point you in the right direction if not fix.

next time you boot it up, run the RAM diagnostic before you get to the OS.
just to make sure Windows doesn't see anything as well.
looking at your above print-out and looking into voltage and timing.

Well now,

The main hard-drive just failed - I had noticed that things were getting a little slow, looking back in the event viewer there had been occasional "Bad Block" messages going back several months until the other night when I suddenly realized things were getting really bad, rushed out bought a replacement, cloned it (with a few errors) and am now back running again.

Credit to Windows7 to live with the problem for so long and to keep going albeit very slowly, also the very good software that came with the Seagate replacement - very easy to use, ran a full disc repair and so far everything is cool, and surprisingly fast!

But you have to wonder if some slightly more obvious message would be a good idea? I mean if the drive is failing its unlikely to get better all by itself I think a warning like "Your drive is failing replace it soon" would have gotten my attention sooner.

The question is - could this be the cause of the original problem?

Watch this space...

Geoff

Its been OK for over a week, then yesterday watching a movie (after about 45mins!) same thing...

So - its not:

The harddrive, the graphics card or the CPU, (have exchanged each of those and at some point had the same problem)

Which leaves the memory or the mother board I guess. Next thing is to remove one of the 2GB memory sticks.

Unless someone has any other ideas?

Wierd...

Geoff