Can a motherboard cause restarts?

computerhakk

computerhakk

VIP Member
I recently made a build. Everything didn't go too well at first, but eventually everything worked out well.

It is a 965p DS3 v3.3.

During installation, the e6300 heatsink/fan was problematic for me to put in because of screwless plastic pin design where you just push into the board. With many attempts, I did hear some crackle.. like when your trying to break in something that is stiff. I did hear a loud crack once, but nothing seems broken.

To add to that, during booting; the motherboard was grounded for many attempts as I tried starting it up. So, it wasn't starting at all.

Now, after all that was fixed, everything installed and worked smoothly. However, I keep getting constant reboots. It isn't during the bootup process or anything. The problem starts when it get's into Windows.

It would happen occasionally 2-4 times in a row right before I get to the login screen. If I keep at it, it eventually starts, then everything works fine; it'll run for hours. Then then next time I may boot it up, it might happen again. 60/40 chance of it happening.

Could it be the motherboard? RAM tested fine; 6 passes with memtest1.7. 13 passes with memtest3.3. It wasn't the drives. The only thing else in there is the video card and that's working fine. PSU is working accordingly. Hard drive? I believed it's working fine also.

Did 3 different installs just to test with XP. Then, did another install with an older version of XP; one more with XP +SP2. Then, did another install of Vista. All were giving the same problem.
 
I don't know if this helps much but I remember that our old motherboard prevented our family pc from booting, for some odd reason banging the computer
helped it to boot but it would come up with the blue screen of death randomly when we where using it. When we changed the motherboard we never had the same problem.
 
at a first glance, I thought your heatsink might not be seated properly and hence your comp restarts whenever it gets too hot... but after reading it again, you said that after a few restarts your comp would be normal and running long hours... i guess comp over-heating is out of the question...

Have you updated the BIOS? maybe it need that... im not sure though...
or maybe your GPU driver need updating...
just listing some possibility... not even sure what the problem is...

it could not be a bad install since you said you have installed many times...
and i don't think its your mobo either... because if you push it so hard that there is a crack in your mobo, wouldn't the connections running all over the mobo get disconnected as well? Based on that, I get the impression that when you cracked your mobo you won't even be able to start your comp and you are better off buying a new mobo... Hence I say that your mobo should be fine... someone correct me if im wrong...
 
Yes, I didn't want to bore anyone starting with every single detail. However, I've done almost everything...

All drivers are updated to the latest. GPU, BIOS, SOUND, ETHERNET, all available windows updates were downloaded and installed. Ran the system with nothing but keyboard and mouse. Overheating isn't an issue. CPU temp stays around 36C and GPU stays around 49C. I ran the GPU through a couple games; ran 3dmark06; played some movies. Ran multiple programs to make my ram and usage work constantly for an extended period of time, but nothing seems to be wrong.

I have thought that if it was the motherboard, it shouldn't be running at all; but I'm thinking maybe grounding it that couple times may of caused something. I am out of ideas. Do you guys know any utilities to test the motherboard and hard drive? Like memtest, but for the other hardwares.
 
I know it's simple, but how many brass stand-offs did you put in the case. If you've put too many in it may be the problem, causing it to short out. I had too many in when I build my comp and it wouldn't even turn on, I tried it out of the case and it worked, worth a check.
 
maybe your PSU isnt sufficient? are any capacitors blown? I had a mobo with a blow capacitors and it restarted alot... ended up somewhere in the junkyard
 
A motherboard can cause restarts but most likely it would be the memory RAM. Double check the memory ram and makae sure it's in the sockets snuggly.
 
Yeah, memory is fine. Ran through many many more passes after posting this. I ended up RMA-ing the motherboard for now. Will wait and see.

My psu is sufficient. I'm not running anything demanding. Xclio Goodpower 500w.
 
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