Fuzzi Bear

Hi all,

Please forgive if this is the wrong thread (could not see one on general hardware help)

I wonder if you can help with with an issue i've been having with a newly built machine of mine.

The machine im using (spec below) has been fine recently, until i started to run something like Half-life 2 game, which i appreciate is demanding from a graphics point of view. Issue i've had, is that my machine has reset itself. Note, not shut itself down, but actually reset itself, as though someone manually pressed the hard-reset switch.

I run ASUS Probe also, to register CPU / MB temperature etc. When my machine is idle, the temperature averages between 42c-48c of the CPU, and 45c-51c for the motherboard. When running a heavy graphics task, the CPU averages between 58c-63c and about 58c for the motherboard. I've learned that Intel P4s do run hot anyway, so am not too sure about being concerned with the tempratures, unless anyone disagrees with that? Im not sure if the resetting of the machine is due to over heating. Bear in mind that these temperatures are also the same if i open my case, and blow a desk fan onto the whole thing to cool the whole thing down (as a test).

The interesting thing is that whilst playing half-life2, the ASUS probe warning came on, but for the +12V monitoring... the reading was still 11.something, so i was not sure what was wrong. I have a 400w power supp, and have used several websites where you calculate your total power consumption (+30%) which still comes to less than 400w. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

My system's main specs:
Processor:
Pentium 4 - Socket 775
(max speed 4000MHz - current speed 3000MHz)
Board:
ASUS P5GPL Rev 1.xx
Graphics:
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT
+ 2 optical drives, 1 SATA HDD, 1 TV tuner card.

Voltage readings:
+12V = 11.774
+5V = 4.992
+3.3V = 3.232
VCore = 1.408

Archangel

for random restarts, check http://www.computerforum.com/showthread.php?t=10764

at least,.. i think your psu is to weak to handle the system. what powersupply have you got? (name/brand)

so you'll have to check the table showed on the PSU, what amperage you have on the +12V rail

__________________
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Newton is dead, Einstein is dead, I don't feel very well either

Xfire - Mirrari
Intel Q6600 ( @3.6GHz)
Asus Triton 79 Amazing 549/3200
4x 1Gb Corsair XMS2 DDR800 ( @ 960MHz )
Asus Maximus Formula
Asus & Sapphire HD3870 512Mb
Logitech MX Revolution mouse, G-15 keyboard, Saitek X-45 AeroEngine II case
Corsair HX620W PSU

Fuzzi Bear

Arcangel,

Thanks. The PSU is a 'free with teh case' brand, so is most likely not the best in the world. I DID calculate the total power consumption which came to less that what the PSU is. My PSU is a 400w model, but i havent looked at the +12V chanel to see amps etc. Do you think that this might be the cause then?.. is there any way to test without having to buy a new PSU first?

As a side point then, is there a PSU around 400-450 that you'd recommend if it does turn out to be the PSU?

thanks again for your help.

Lax

Read PSU 101 it will help you with your problem.

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He who controls the present controls the past.
He who controls the past, controls the future.

Archangel

how do you do that?.... i mean only showing PSU101 as link :S
and, usually there's a table pasted on the PSU, where you cn look what amperage on the +12v rail youve got. what does it say?

__________________
God's busy, can I hellp you?


Newton is dead, Einstein is dead, I don't feel very well either

Xfire - Mirrari
Intel Q6600 ( @3.6GHz)
Asus Triton 79 Amazing 549/3200
4x 1Gb Corsair XMS2 DDR800 ( @ 960MHz )
Asus Maximus Formula
Asus & Sapphire HD3870 512Mb
Logitech MX Revolution mouse, G-15 keyboard, Saitek X-45 AeroEngine II case
Corsair HX620W PSU

Lax

Magic

Not usually, it should be on ALL PSU's, either online or directly on the PSU.

__________________
He who controls the present controls the past.
He who controls the past, controls the future.

Fuzzi Bear

Guys,

Appreciate the continued support. I've managed to take a dig photo of my PSU in the hope that it makes more sense to you than it does me.



Look forward to comments.

TheChef

Thats a pretty crappy PSU for that system. Definetly recommend an upgrade and that will probably help your problem.

__________________

Fuzzi Bear

yeah, i mean i have a NVIDIA 6600GT + its own fan, which most likely needs a lot of juice. So it could be the PSU after all. Its also a 20 pin, and the motherboard is a 24 pin. it still fits, but i guess a 24 pin one would be even more suitable, or is not not a factor in addition to the spec of the actual PSU?

thanks.

Fuzzi Bear

Guys,

I think i've now hit the nail right on the head with looking into the fact that my 20 pin PSU is plugged into my 24 Pin mobo connector.

I've been reading up on 20 pin vs 24 pin, and most literature refers specifically to +12V load sharing... which is exactly the warning that came on my ASUS probe (+12V was flashing). the edivence now all points to this, as even though the CPU temp ran high, the system just simply reset, as though a sudden loss of power, then the load disapeared due to this, and the power was 're-fed' to the machine. I've convinced myself now of the PSU being the culprit.

Im a bit miffed that the people who built my machine did so with a 20 pin PSU, but they probably buy a job-lot of these, and the spec of my machine was something i specifically ordered, so they probably just made do with whatever PSU's they normally use.

So, im now to buy a new PSU for my baby, the question is: which one?

I've been advised to buy something that is a v.2 so that its compatible with future builds, but i want to be extra sure that whatever i get is beefy enough to cope with the load.

Any advice here?

thanks.