I'm getting random reboots--what causes these? Help!

[pongrules]

My build is in my sig below, I'm not overclocking or doing anything weird with my computer yet. I wanted to just use it for normal stuff first (gaming, mostly) and see how it performs. This random reboot has been happening ever since I built this machine--it's been more of an annoyance than anything else since it can sometimes happen 3 x in an hour, be OK for almost a week and maybe do it once...it's not consistant.

I've been reading the forums and it looks like a possible power supply issue since it doesn't happen when the system is idle but only when I'm playing games. My power supply is a good PSU, but as we all know, shiznit happens. I'm wondering how I can isolate what the problem is.

P.S. - CPU temp never reads above 45c (according to CoreTemp and TAT)even after a 10-hour gaming marathon, so I don't think it's an overheating issue.

EDIT: Memory is testing fine and running at the speeds and latencies it's supposed to.

 

[tool_462]

How are GPU temps? You say it works for 10 hours+ so I don't think that's it. Do you have the latest drivers from Nvidia?

You have two PCI-e power connectors plugged in to your card? All updated chipset/raid/etc drivers?

 

[pongrules]

GPU temps I haven't been monitoring. Do you have to install Ntune for that? I do have the latest drivers from Nvidia, I don't use RAID so I didn't install those drivers. Both PCI-e power connectors are connected, and drivers are all up to date. I just didn't want to install Ntune because it looked like there were some patterns of people's 680i boards not working well and having installed Ntune. But maybe that's just because they use Ntune to OC instead of the BIOS.

Two things I'm going to check once I get home tonight though that stuck out while I was researching this. First, I'm running those games on 1600 x 1200 on my Viewsonic A90f CRT, but I'm forcing 75 hertz. When I looked at the specs for the monitor today, I see it's supposed to do 1600 x 1200 in 66 hertz. Maybe there's something there.

The other thing I can look at is flashing the MB to the latest BIOS. I've been hesitant to do that because other than occasional random reboots, it's been working fine and I've heard horror stories from people flashing to the lates BIOS and getting dead boards they have to RMA (eVGA 680i). But, those are people who have problems, so maybe most people who've flashed to the latest BIOS are doing just fine.

 

[ZOldDude]

Thermaltake Toughpower 700W

Why?
So many people just look at raw WATTS vrs price.
Most (not all) restarts while everything seems to be running well are the PSU....and over time result in the system dieing.
You have high end parts so why skimp on the most important part in the system?

Next time around spend the extra money and get a top shelf PSU...PC Power and Cooling.

 

[pongrules]

I've been considering that, actually, even though the TT Toughpower had good reviews on a number of different sites.

If I do replace the PSU, however, I will spend the $$ and get a tier-one PSU.

 

[maltaguy]

i Have a similar system, our board came out with quite a few problems including random reboots which also were happening to me aswell. i flashed to the latest bios (p25) and all was fine. only get a few bsods when overclocking now but really... make sure u get the latest bios it helps system stability ALOT

 

[pongrules]

Yeah, definitely going to go ahead, bite the bullet and flash the motherboard--hoping it doesn't turn me in for indecent exposure.

 

[pongrules]

Well, good news. I flashed to P26 and everything's checking out marvy for the time being.