Brother's computer acting up

P

panta

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Messages
106
E5200

4830

Corsair VX 450W (second hand from eBay) :(

4GB Mushkin RAM

WD 6400AAKS

Gigabyte DS3L

Vista X64

I built this for him about 8 months ago. He has recently been reporting what seem like random restarts, and that it sometimes refuses to turn on. He said when this happens he either leaves it a little while and tries again, or keeps pressing the button, but one way or the other it starts eventually.

I have no idea what's causing this, although I am inclined to point fingers at the PSU just because it's second hand.

Many thanks for any help.
 
Well that is definitely symptoms of a heat issue so yes. that would be my guess might want to check make sure the fans are spinning and not blocked maybe a power supply tester before you go and replace it.
 
[Testing the RAM]
Download Memtest86+ v2.11 or whatever the latest version is, unzip it, burn the ISO file to a CD, and then boot from it, just like you would do with the XP/Vista install CD. Let Memtest+ run for at least three hours on each stick of RAM separately as well as test the RAM all together. Go for a full 24 hours if you want to be completely sure that the RAM is not a problem. If you start seeing errors, than your RAM is defective or you have incorrect settings for the RAM.

[Testing the Hard
Download the CD image of Hitachi Drive Fitness Test, burn the ISO file to a CD, and then boot from it, just like you would do with the XP/Vista install CD. Test the hard drive and see if any problems are found. DFT will run on most manufacturers' hard drives. Alternatively, you can use Seagate's SeaTools for DOS to test a Seagate or Maxtor drive. For a Western Digital drive, you could use Data Lifeguard Tools for DOS to test a Western Digital drive.

[Testing the CPU]
Use Prime 95, OCCT, Orthos or Intel Burn Tool to stress test the CPU.

[Testing the GPU]
Use Furmark or ATI Tool to stress test the GPU. If you see any artifacts, the GPU could be overheating, too overclocked, or faulty.

[Testing the PSU]
Buy and use a digital multi-meter to monitor the voltages coming from the PSU. Follow the instructions for "Using a multi-meter to check voltages":
http://www.bfgpower.com/troubleshooting.html#DMM

My bet is on the motherboard. Rather than use the power button to start the PC, jump the two power pins with a screwdriver on the motherboard to start the PC. That'll rule out the power button being the issue
 
I ran Intel Burn Test but the CPU temperature rapidly exceeded what I consider safe so I canceled that and ran Prime95 small FFTs instead. However, when I came to check on it a few hours later, Prime95 & RealTemp were not open and I was instead greeted by a blank desktop. I can only assume that the computer restarted itself at some point, but whether this would've happened anyway or was triggered by Prime I do not know. What do you think? I think it wasn't Prime, but rather the usual restarting problem occuring during Prime testing, because it only restarted after several hours and the Prime logs reported 0 errors.

I ran Memtest86+ 4.0 for 6 hours on all the RAM modules together (2 x 2gb) but no errors were returned. Should I run it on each module separately regardless of this?

I also tried to use Hitachi's Fitness Test but it got stuck before it even started—"Detecting IDE slave drive" I think it said. What should I try next? The HD is a Western Digital 6400AAKS.

The GPU temperatures are fine, and it isn't overclocked, but I will run Furmark on it later. I am getting a digital multi-meter tomorrow so I will test the PSU with that.

Thank you
 
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What temperature do you consider unsafe?

Make sure your SATA Controller is in IDE mode.
 
My smartphone is refusin to render that link so I can't comment on it just yet.

Usually if theres a restart during prime95, then it usually means that the CPU isn't getting enough voltage or the mobo is the culprit.

And yes run memtest on all sticks of ram individually
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Ok. The thing is the PC restarts regardless of whether Prime is running, and even when it was running it took several hours to restart, so, the way I see it, it could very easily be a coincidence. But I am no expert..

I await your verdict on the multimeter. :)

Thanks again
 
My brother just turned his computer on and was greeted by this:

(there was a yellow variation, and both blue and yellow were flashing) and then after about a minute of being on a bubble said "atikmdag.sys had stopped responding and was successfully recovered". The glitches then stopped. He's been playing Half Life 2 for a while and it hasn't happened again.

I still haven't got my hands on a multimeter, so testing the PSU is out for the moment. :mad:
 
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I am having trouble finding a DMM that meets this criteria: "First, make sure your DMM is capable of reading DC voltage and that it can read voltages to the 100th place (aka: a "resolution" of .01V.)".

Could somebody help me find one? I discovered the one that I linked earlier was from a wholesale place and I can't buy it. I'm not really sure where to look, but maybe www.maplin.co.uk. I am in the U.K.
 
Danny Bui said:
That's a video card issue according to the screenshot.

Honestly, can you not just use another PSU just to see if the issues are still prevalent?

Oh and this is the multimeter used in the link I gave you so it should be a good choice:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=46384
Click to expand...

Thanks for that.

I could, and probably will swap my PSU for his. The only reason I have yet to do it is that this problem surfaces so infrequently that it will be a pain in the butt to find, even with another PSU.
 
I (finally) got my hands on a DMM and have tested the VX 450 with it.

PSU alone (jumped with a paperclip):

+12v : 12.13

+5V : 5.07

+3.3V : 3.28

-12V : 11.34

PSU hooked up to all components and computer at idle:

+12V : 12.24

+5V : 5.03

+3.3V : 3.28

-12V 11.86

PSU hooked up to all components and computer under load (Prime 95):

+12v : 12.26

+5V : 5.03

+3.3V : 3.28

-12V : 11.94

All of the above comply with ATX 2.2 spec, if I am not mistaken.

What can I do now? :confused:
 
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You think it's the video card because of those artifacts, right? I think that those artifacts might have been a result of the video card driver not starting properly after resuming Windows from sleep mode. I say that because he hasn't used sleep mode since this happened, and these artifacts haven't reappeared. Do you think I should swap out the card regardless? Can a video card actually cause the PC to (seemingly) restart at random?
 
panta said:
You think it's the video card because of those artifacts, right? I think that those artifacts might have been a result of the video card driver not starting properly after resuming Windows from sleep mode. I say that because he hasn't used sleep mode since this happened, and these artifacts haven't reappeared. Do you think I should swap out the card regardless? Can a video card actually cause the PC to (seemingly) restart at random?
Click to expand...

that is a possibility. Swap it out temporarily.
 
Ok, there's a problem.. The only other video card we have is my 4870, which won't fare too well with the possibly faulty 450w PSU, right? Maybe I should just put his 4830 in my PC (TX 750) and see what happens.
 
panta said:
Ok, there's a problem.. The only other video card we have is my 4870, which won't fare too well with the possibly faulty 450w PSU, right? Maybe I should just put his 4830 in my PC (TX 750) and see if it craps out on me.
Click to expand...

Either way will work. The voltages seemed to be in spec.
 
Is the passing of the multimeter test conclusive evidence that the PSU is not faulty in any way whatsoever? Or is there still a possibility..?

Something I have noticed about this VX450 is that it makes a whining sound when I open Crysis (definitely coming from the PSU), is that a sign of a defective PSU or is it not a concern?
 
panta said:
Is the passing of the multimeter test conclusive evidence that the PSU is not faulty in any way whatsoever? Or is there still a possibility..?

Something I have noticed about this VX450 is that it makes a whining sound when I open Crysis (definitely coming from the PSU), is that a sign of a defective PSU or is it not a concern?
Click to expand...

Still a possibility but it's less even now with the DMM test. A whining sound isn't a sign of a defective PSU. But like I said: try another PSU if you really think it's an issue.
 
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