random restart

[frgpugs]

Hey guys
I just built a new box and am having problems with it up and restarting for no reason. I have a feeling its heat but now im not so sure. It does mostly happen when im on games. Ill post my specs below.


Thermaltake V7000 case with 3 case fans, a top fan, and HD fan
Albatron PX915P pro mobo
Prescott P4 3.2 Ghz
Antec Purepower 430 watt PSU
2 Gigs (4 x 512 ) Kingston PC3200 Ram
Saphire ATI Radeon 9200se 128 MB
30 GB Western Digital HD
120 GB Seagate Baracuda HD
( HD's on RAID set as normal IDE )
CD-rom and CD-rw on IDE
Dell 1.44 floppy drive
Thermaltake ( big bad-ass ) copper piped heatsink w/fan
Arctic Silver 5 thermal grease on heatsink


So my case temp and mainboard temp has always been fine. With the stock intel heatsink and fan the CPU idle'd at 64C. I just installed the new Thermaltake heatsink and grease and its dropped to 55C but I still get the restarts. I know I need to put the heatsink and grease through a few thermal cycles before it gets the best cooling but I dont think its going to stop my restarts. I really dont know what to do and im going to have more heat soon when I upgrade the Video Card. Everything is brand new except for the HD's which worked fine in my old box. I can run Sandra and do all the benchmarking tests fine, I can run movies and music and internet fine, but it seems like it does it more when im gaming. Any help is appreciated.

 

[jinexile]

55C is still pretty high for a cpu (althought shouldn't be bad), I was under the understanding that p4s generally ran cooler than AMDs but had a lower tolerance for heat...

Also, try re-seating your video card and if possible monitor it's heat as well.

 

[uzi9mm]

55c is alot for idle. My prescott is running at 40c at idle and 58 full load. I am using the stock HSF with the thermal tape. Heat would cause restarts but lets not rule out other factors.

Those random restarts could be conflicts with video card drivers. try to un-install the video drivers, and do a re-install. Also go into START> ACCESSORIES> SYSTEM TOOLS> SYSTEM INFORMATION> Hardware Resources> Conflicts and Sharing. *just take a look and see if there is any resources being shared or involved in a conflict*

You could also have a problem with your power supply. If you have a multimeter you can check the voltages on the mobo connector. Or if you have or know somebody who has a PSU test module, take a look at that.

Worst case scenario is to pull each PCI card out one at a time, and see if your computer still reboots, see if that to do if that has anything to do with it. try to pinpoint the problem card.

And you never know, your ram could be causing the problem too!
Run memtest86 on it.

If all of the steps listed above do not work, than I do not know what it is. I would invest in a PCI Post card to dig deeper into the problem.

 

[frgpugs]

I ran memtest and let it go through twice with a pass each time. It took just over an hour and no restarts. I only have 1 PCI card which is my video card. I cant really take it out as theres no onboard video. I have a 4 port USB thing in an empty PCI slot but it has its connections on the mobo. Heres the other things you said to check. I dont know what it means.

Resource Device

I/O Port 0x00000000-0x00000CF7 PCI bus
I/O Port 0x00000000-0x00000CF7 Direct memory access controller

IRQ 23 Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller
IRQ 23 Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
IRQ 23 Radeon 9200 SERIES

IRQ 16 Microsoft UAA Bus Driver for High Definition Audio
IRQ 16 Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller

Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF PCI bus
Memory Address 0xA0000-OxBFFFF Radeon 9200 SERIES


Voltages

+5V +5.03V Core +2.13V Aux +3.18V I/O +3.34V

 

[uzi9mm]

Everything looks ok. Those resources that are being used look normal.
My suggestion is to go to a computer repair shop and ask them for just a diagnosis of the problem, it will run you like $20. Maybe you can do the repairs yourself. If what I listed above does not work, you need somebody to check it physically in person for you.

 

[emeraldice]

PSU? for the system you've got...a 450 watt sounds a little....humble.
But what do i know?

 

[uzi9mm]

Yeah, it could be your PSU not powerful enough.
But I dont have a problem and I have like 5 case fans and 4 cold cathodes. 2 hds and 2 optical drives.
350watt no-name brand PSU.

 

[frgpugs]

I dunno, I noticed my heatsink had slipped about a quarter of an inch. Its a massive heatsink and i bet its not secured properly. I placed my box on its side and its been ok but I havent tried to play anything on it yet and im at work now. When I get home Im going to give it a good testing and see. If its still bad ill take it to a tech. I feel pretty worthless here, im a spyware expert and A+ certified and I own my own "Pc Tech" company. I really hate not being able to fix it myself.

 

[uzi9mm]

Hey I got a question... Is the A+ exam really filled with questions about old technology like stuff about ISA and other old stuff?

 

[frgpugs]

Theres a bit of outdated information that I went what the hell do they want me to know this for, but its not all that bad. Check out this link it will tell you everything you could want to know

http://www.comptia.org/certification/a/prepare.aspx