Multiple Restarts, PSU Problem?

SFG99

New Member
Ok I thought it was an OS problem, but now much more frequently my computer is suddenly restarting. This time however, I was able to witness the whole debacle, and suffice to say, it was right when the DVD writer started spinning. Then I take out the disks in my CDRW and DVDRW and now I can use my computer. Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
it's a pretty good chance it's your PSU, does it have good voltage ratings? but it still could be alot of other things
 
try running prime95 and 3dmark06 at the same time. that should stress the power supply a ton... since cpu + graphics cards use the most amount of power. if this restarts/ instantly shuts off your computer, then the psu is a potential culprit.
try testing it with another psu if you've got one. if you have a link to the psu that would be good as well.
if the system simply freezes during the prime95/3dmark06 then try running just one at a time. if 3dmark06 freezes but prime95 doesnt, then it could be video card. if neither do individually then i suggest you run memtest86 to test the memory.
480watts sounds like it should be enough, but it could be like 10A or something low like that.
i know mines a 580watt which should run my 7900gtx amazing but its 24A and the minimum is like 450watts i think with a 22A 12V rail... and that minimum is JUST below my 24A rail, and i have a dual core and 2 high powered dimms running, not to mention i overclocked... and it was way unstable! lol so i put everything back to default settings and im gonna re-overclock once i get a new psu. or maybe ill just replace the psu and sell my rig! :D
 
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It doesn't always have to be the supply. On occasion especially with some newer model Asus boards you may want to go and grab a bios update for the board itself if it turns out to be more then... a simple battery. On a much newer board then the 2 1/2yr. old battery that went here a few days ago you may want to check to see if you have a hardware monitor or install the temp monitoring utility that came with the motherboard cd. That will use the board's own sensors to see if you have an overheating problem to look into. P4s run hotter then AMD64s while both brands still need adequate cooling. If the stock HSF isn't working that would cause problems right there.
 
Thanks for the quick responses, I will have to try those tests just to make sure. About the mobo monitor, I use AsusProbe, and as long as I have had this machine up and running, the cpu/mobo temps stay around 47C/40C repectively. Also, I have never updated the BIOS, my reasons behind this, if it aint broke dont fix it. So should i just use the bios update from Asus' website? Guess, after I run those tests, next step is to open this bad boy up and check how many Amps on the 12v rail. Hopefully it is just the psu.....
 
Alright, I just ran prime95 and Pc Pitstop. Plus I have 3dmark06 downloading as I speak. Prime95 ran on torture mode for 26 min with 0 errors. The CPU temp got to 58C, is this too hot? Also, PC Pitstop said everything was ship shape, so that utility can go hang itself...
 
58C isn't the favored by any means for a load on cpu. The max on the newer line of AMDs is 70C. Keeping below that with a good load of course would be the ideal. AMDs as stated before generally cooler then Intel models. Are you running a stock sink/fan combo? That would be about normal when fully loaded. The psu could be better even with an Antec True Power II 480w model if not going to the TP II 550w model or another make like Enermax to insure a good name supply was used with adequate power.

Memory faults can also be a problem if something is there to be found. A matched pair of Corsair xms series dimms developed faults where they can run perfect apart from each other. But when used together system restarts and other problems come up. Keeping the bios up to date can often help if Asus or another name includes a new fix when any fault in a board's design is found. The three things that come to mind besides believe it or not a CR2032 battery for a board that's been in use for a year or more is the psu, memory, and of course any problems with the bios or bios programming. When I mentioned the 2 1/2yr. old battery that has to do with manufacturer's date and not actual use. The current case was assembled in late 2004 making it just over 1 1/2yrs. of actual use. Yet some claim batteries are always good for 5 years? It never hurts to have a $3- pair of batteries around if needed.
 
Well, I ran the 3dmark test yesterday and today (3dmark05 yeaterday, 3dmark03 today). The 3dmark05 test ran horribly slow (2FPS) and then the computer froze during the 3rd test. The 3dmark03 test started off with a bang, running at 115 FPS, then it all went downhill. The second test ran at about 6 FPS and the third test froze up the machine again. Specifically, the screen freezes on one frame and locks up (no use of win button, no alt-tab, no alt-f4, no ctrl-alt-del). Also, I checked my PSU's ratings and it has 18A on the 12V rail. I think I am going to reinstall windows before I do any hardware adjustments. As for the BIOS update, is there any good threads on a step by step how to for flashing the BIOS?
 
When going to flash the system bios the first thing to do is go right directly to the board manufacturer's support site to not only read through the necessary steps but to also verify that the correct update is downloaded. Going on a thread is simply too vague and certainly not reliable since each brand has "their own" specific update tool.
On many new model boards you have the advantage of EZ-Bios or something similat where you simply download the correct update directly to the drive itself and choose the option upon first starting up or restarting the system to have that done by a more reliable and easier to use process. For Asus boards you would go to http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us
Once you are at their support site you would simply choose the product(MB), model number, and the type of download needed while they do separate their downloads into different catagories by tabs at the support site there. Make sure to read through the steps given in the text file that comes with the update or at least the online PDF file manual to follow that closely. You may also want to first make a backup copy of the current bios in case of either an incomplete download or bad flash. This is often done to keep you up and running with a simple restoration until a good copy is then downloaded or a good complete flash is seen. Let's hear a good report! Follow the steps carefully even if you have to rehearse them first. ok?
 
Thanks, I think I have found the problem (hopefully is the ONLY problem). All signs are pointing towards my videocard. Last night was no exception when windows recovered from a serious error due to the videocard. I was told to tone down the hardware acceleration but it runs horribly. I am thinking of reformatting the HD and then working from scratch to find the problem. No biggie anyways, got all my media files on a seperate drive. I let you all know the outcome of the clean sweep and if the problem persists. Thanks for the help, seriously.
 
Before rushing to reformat the drive if you haven't already done that try running the Disk Defragmenter to see if your drive is heavily fragmented. At this end when the drive was reformatted(every 6 months anyway) the new XP disk failed to even detect the drive when first used until the board's battery was replaced. But that is on a board used since late 2004. No big surprise to see a battery quit. But the new drive bought along with the battery had some fun even getting to Windows until it was brought down from 26% fragmentation to only "0%"! The tool found in System Tools in Accessories for XP also has an analysis report before starting and even after defragmenting a hard drive. Run that to see if your drive is seeing a high %? That can also cause problems along with running a higher then normal temp.

(Gee? the 58-60C cpu temp and 26% saw a sink/fan reseat twice as well as adding just a little more artic silver to the now firming up previous application and defragged hd down from 26% to 0% now seeing 49-50C cpu temp soon to drop even lower as AS5 starts settling ... [to be continued] not on your... :P )
 
Yea I defragged about a month ago, and my master HD has no media files ever going near it, so what is on there stays on there generally. I ran CCleaner and got my reg taken care of but the problem persists. Catch you on the flip side....
 
I hope to catch you there. With the new install with a new XP cd on a new drive and a total defrag and reduction of all startups just browsing a page let alone is seeing system locks along with those seen upon any forced restarts of the system wihen the locks occur. Keep an eye on those temps as well as what is in your startup group and try RegCleaner and see if something else is found.
 
Well, Im back with a fresh install of XP and only 4 programs installed. 3 of which are utilities, the other Absolute Poker. Well, the computer seems to be working fine, however, if I leave it turned off for say 4+ hours, then boot up, I still get the restart problem. The computer will restart, then everything will run fine again. I am baffled, but since I reinstalled the OS, does that mean it is most likely a hardware issue?
 
The problem points at first startup rather then restarting after a period of time suggesting "something" needs to first warm up a little to start seeing system stability. The bios chipset or even a weakening battery could also see this type of problem. When the battery went here a week ago it seemed like the whole system was going away. When adding a drive after hearing some clicking sounds and XP's installer not even seeing a new drive suddenly the effort after installing a new cpu cooler was to replace the battery. Suddenly XP went right on the new drive. But that battery saw 1 1/2yrs of use after sitting on a vendor's shelf for some time apparently. The clearing of the cmos and trying a fresh battery as well as any bios and board updates available would be the things to look at there. It does point at the hardware detection as the problem. With a new battery in and reseating the Zalman here the system is now running very stable without stalls and restarts at post and boot time.
 
Well, I tried one more experiment, to no avail. I noticed the computer would restart on boot right after welcome screen exactly when the optical drives were being accessed for the first time. So I unplugged the power cables to each and then booted up (after the computer had been down for a few hours.) It restarted as usual. After I try a new battery I will repost. Thanks.
 
The system going through the post tests so you know the board is good and not overheating as a cause there with a cold start seeing it as well. Having a fresh battery even if found wasn't the full story won't hurt as a low cost item. Running a memory tester would be a thought if the battery alone wasn't the full story. But let's see if the new battery corrects this first.
 
Well, I took out the old battery, tested it, got a 3.23 voltage, then put it back in the board. So far no restarts, but I will report back once I run a mem tester.
 
After swapping a battery out here when suddenly Windows refused to load a few weeks back the XP installer suddenly was able to detect and installed to a new drive added(suspecting old hd about to crash). During the next several days the system would start up normally at the 200mhz bios setting to see the full use of the 2.2ghz cpu. Later in the day the restart of the system for any reason also saw high temps. The system would stall and reboot, stall and reboot, stall and..... until the memory timings were reduced to 166mhz.

The bios apparently no longer reads memory stablely with 573 errors seen on the run of memtest. After an overnight shutdown memtest on the next run found no errors. A friend stated your cpu is toast! Wrong with the cpu running normal and 42C idle. The attempt to reflash the last update for the bios was useless when that would stall. Your removal of the battery and reset of the bios may have helped initially. But if you start seeing anything like what is described here you may see a ton of errors reported on good memory. Memtest will be run on a new board coming in this week to see if any are found then. Have you updated the bios? If you haven't that would be one idea to look into at this point. On a good board with a glitch in the nvram that can see a few headaches. Don't panic right off with any memory errors found if you haven't updated the bios yet. Simply run memtest a second time to see any are seen then.
 
Actually, I held out on the memtest, (my machine doesnt have a floppy drive). A friend in the IT field suggested my mobo was faulty when I mentioned the symptoms so I called Asus. I found out there is a 3 year warranty on my board (yes!) but before we moved to replacing the board, the tech support guy told me to test each of my memory modules separately. I took out the old one first, and am running the 512 MB chip I got for xmas. So far so good. I immediately attempted to run a game which requires a decent amount of processing power, and the game ran fine for over an hour with out any stalls. Next, I am going to leave the computer off for a few hours and see if it boots properly. If this was the case, I wanna thank you guys ('spcially eye) for all the support. :)
 
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