I'm new here so please bear with me. i recently got a sony vgc-ra820g off of ebay in an 'as-is' auction. The problem is that it reboots randomly. No warning or shutdown screens, just black screen then computer rebooting. I'm guessing it's the psu but not sure. Any other ideas and if it is the psu then what kind do i need to get? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
pc rebooting randomly?
- Thread starter zorro69
- Start date
If you are running anything like a game at the time the restarts are seen you could be looking at something overheating or another problem with memory or the board itself. Memory problems are generally more proniunced seeing blue screens while a failing supply or bad cap on the board will simply see a rsudden estart or even complete shutdown.
A bad cap in the supply or on the board would see the system shutoff if not simply restart when a power drop was experienced. Besides any temp problem with a cpu or video card mainly seen during gaming/ocing a weak battery on a board will cause unexpected restarts when the cmos information can't be maintained but is somehow refreshed upon seeing the system restarted.
The first thing needed here however is what is going on when these are seen. Are you simply letting the system sit idle or running anything that places a good load on the cpu as well as memory, video, and sound? The last thought of course would be some type of Windows or software driver problem being realized where the Windows crash control is set to restart the system to avoid lockups.
A bad cap in the supply or on the board would see the system shutoff if not simply restart when a power drop was experienced. Besides any temp problem with a cpu or video card mainly seen during gaming/ocing a weak battery on a board will cause unexpected restarts when the cmos information can't be maintained but is somehow refreshed upon seeing the system restarted.
The first thing needed here however is what is going on when these are seen. Are you simply letting the system sit idle or running anything that places a good load on the cpu as well as memory, video, and sound? The last thought of course would be some type of Windows or software driver problem being realized where the Windows crash control is set to restart the system to avoid lockups.
It shut itself down last night. I had left this window open and other than that it was idle all night. My wife uses this computer and she says explorer has been the only thing running when it happens to her. I will open the case tonight after work and check for dust and dirt around the fans and cpu. Thanks, never thought of temp.
Just restarting at random times is more like a P/S or even just a bad driver. With a Sony unless its turned off in the bios you will get a drive you crazy beep tone if the CPU is over heating by default. With a bad video card or memory your more likley to get freezing or lockups. If you want to check your temps you can try these.
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php
http://www.sisoftware.net/index.html?dir=dload&location=sware_dl_3264
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php
http://www.sisoftware.net/index.html?dir=dload&location=sware_dl_3264
PC Wizard 2008 is generally good there while some may still see false readings at times due to it still being a software. If it goes on and runs ok that will provide cpu, board, and even the gpu temp for video card.
Supplies can overheat at times too not just the cpu or whatever else is on the board. A weak cap there will cause problems just as easily as one on the main board. The hardware monitor in the bios was reporting the cpu at about 50C the equivalent of 120-122F there showing a warm but not unexpected temp for a system running a stock hsf.
The 364.7w is above the very much standard 350w recommended for atx boards and a little more then seen on other prebuilds. Without warning an older build here saw the system restart without warning due to the board simply being hungry for batteries more than anything else! But a supply with a bad cap or transformer wimping out won't sound off any board alarms.
Supplies can overheat at times too not just the cpu or whatever else is on the board. A weak cap there will cause problems just as easily as one on the main board. The hardware monitor in the bios was reporting the cpu at about 50C the equivalent of 120-122F there showing a warm but not unexpected temp for a system running a stock hsf.
The 364.7w is above the very much standard 350w recommended for atx boards and a little more then seen on other prebuilds. Without warning an older build here saw the system restart without warning due to the board simply being hungry for batteries more than anything else! But a supply with a bad cap or transformer wimping out won't sound off any board alarms.
ok, noob question, how do I know what kind of power supply I need? PC Eye said it's an 'atx board. Anything else I need to look for in the specs? I'm hoping to run 3 hard drives when I'm done so would a 500watt woork. I'm in the middle of timbuktu southern illinois and not much help for this in the area. Probably do another ebay purchase.
cohen
New Member
Before simply rushing in on any link for a supply someone tosses at you you may want to review the sticky on supplies for the type of build you have in mind there. There's is also a good and bad list for various makes and models to avoid getting stiffed on buying the wrong thing from the start. http://www.computerforum.com/90118-useful-psu-case-guides.html
Here I was running two ide hard drives along with two sata models plus two optical drives(cd writer, dvd burner) on a 480w supply until upgrading later to a a 550w model still in use on the old build. I currently use a larger 700w model to allow for expansion while not fully used at the moment.
A larger supply will generally see the extra power connectors for adding additional drives and devices not seen on smaller models. If you are not intending on ocing and heavy gaming or running memory hungry power drawing applications a good 450+w will easily work by seeing a little leftover.
Here I was running two ide hard drives along with two sata models plus two optical drives(cd writer, dvd burner) on a 480w supply until upgrading later to a a 550w model still in use on the old build. I currently use a larger 700w model to allow for expansion while not fully used at the moment.
A larger supply will generally see the extra power connectors for adding additional drives and devices not seen on smaller models. If you are not intending on ocing and heavy gaming or running memory hungry power drawing applications a good 450+w will easily work by seeing a little leftover.
dznutz
New Member
hold on guys lets eliminate the possibility of cpu overheating before buying a bunch of stuff.
do this: turn off pc, turn off the switch in the back, open the case, use COMPRESSED AIR to blow on the fan/heatsink and other components being sure not to angle the can to spray out liquid, let it sit for 30 min, then turn on the pc.
do this: turn off pc, turn off the switch in the back, open the case, use COMPRESSED AIR to blow on the fan/heatsink and other components being sure not to angle the can to spray out liquid, let it sit for 30 min, then turn on the pc.
Are you kidding when a friend was having problems on a system I loaded an ide drive out for since he couldn't get XP on a sata model ordered with everything else. His habit of keeping the case on the floor proved disasterous temp wise. Ever see a mountain of dust?!
With a nice wool blanket covering the board I can imagine the drive temps soared a bit!
Just imagine what other problems would have been seen if that wasn't cleaned out before the sata was finally up and running by guess who?! The other drive was obviously cooked!
With a nice wool blanket covering the board I can imagine the drive temps soared a bit!
Just imagine what other problems would have been seen if that wasn't cleaned out before the sata was finally up and running by guess who?! The other drive was obviously cooked!
Hold off on that because you really dont know if its the P/S yet. Something as simple as a driver can make it restart.
ok stopped by a friends this afternoon and he let me borrow a 128mb nvidia graphics card finally installed it and blew out all the dust while i was at it waiting to see what is going to happen. I noticed this morning the picture froze for about half a second before rebooting. If it's the graphics all should be fine now right?
Video drivers will see blue screens and lockups not full restarts while a bad card can cause a number of problems. Generally when a card goes you will hear a long followed by two short beeps when first going to start a system up. An overheated card is a totally different matter where you would see restarts while gaming when it pulls the power down.
With a different card in you would first have to see all of the old drivers removed by way of an uninstall tool provided by the card manufacturer or a 3rd party driver remover. Tnen you install the fresh set for the substitute card now in.
The question now is the make of the first. If that was an ATI model and you had the Catalyst 7.9 installed that would be a problem version. The 7.10 cleaned up that mess!
With a different card in you would first have to see all of the old drivers removed by way of an uninstall tool provided by the card manufacturer or a 3rd party driver remover. Tnen you install the fresh set for the substitute card now in.
The question now is the make of the first. If that was an ATI model and you had the Catalyst 7.9 installed that would be a problem version. The 7.10 cleaned up that mess!
Candy
New Member
Are you kidding when a friend was having problems on a system I loaded an ide drive out for since he couldn't get XP on a sata model ordered with everything else. His habit of keeping the case on the floor proved disasterous temp wise. Ever see a mountain of dust?!
With a nice wool blanket covering the board I can imagine the drive temps soared a bit!
Sorry were talking about what i said? Cos i was saying that putting the case on the floor was a BAD idea so naturally i was a bit confused when you said "His habit of keeping the case on the floor proved disastrous temp wise" cos thats exactly what i was saying. Moor dust = higher temps (im sure i dont need to tell you that).
That was simply one example of what can be seen when not setting a case up on something like a stand or desk. The one here has to see a good cleaning monthly. You can imagine what it would look like a case sat on a floor for over a year!
Evem that isn't the only cause for seeing a number of sudden restarts especially with any BSODs involved. Something seeing high temps would only be thought besides a bad install of drivers, an incorrect version going on, or something else installed and loading along with Windows being a software problem.
The problem being seen there however lacks any usable information you would see in the error message since that will point out a specific driver or hardware. Bad caps on the board, a corrupted bios, or even a weak battery can see restarts without any error information being displayed.
With any bad caps the power levels on the board itself are directly effected. To help rulle that out a good close inspection of the board itself for any bulged out or leaky caps would be an idea. If the system has been in use for over a year a bios update or simple replacement of the battery would be a preferred low cost option there.
Evem that isn't the only cause for seeing a number of sudden restarts especially with any BSODs involved. Something seeing high temps would only be thought besides a bad install of drivers, an incorrect version going on, or something else installed and loading along with Windows being a software problem.
The problem being seen there however lacks any usable information you would see in the error message since that will point out a specific driver or hardware. Bad caps on the board, a corrupted bios, or even a weak battery can see restarts without any error information being displayed.
With any bad caps the power levels on the board itself are directly effected. To help rulle that out a good close inspection of the board itself for any bulged out or leaky caps would be an idea. If the system has been in use for over a year a bios update or simple replacement of the battery would be a preferred low cost option there.
cohen
New Member
Motherboard
OK well then buy another video card but i don't see why it doesn't work- it is probably a fault with motherboard. So maybe get a refund and get a different motherboard.
OK well then buy another video card but i don't see why it doesn't work- it is probably a fault with motherboard. So maybe get a refund and get a different motherboard.