computer keeps restarting

M

misfitsfiend

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 18, 2003
Messages
1,293
idk why but everytime i play any sort of game that utilizes the graphics card, my computer will restart and weird noises come from the speakers. it restarts during games like dawn of war and battlefield 2. i have tried just about everything i can think of, but still no dice. i'm running most of the latest drivers, except for the motherboard. (catalyst 5.9 i think?)

specs on this computer are:
3000+ venice
asus a8v se
1 gig geil pc3200
9800 pro 128mb
80gb wd

thanks!
 
My first guess would be power supply. What's the spec info for that?
 
I would recommend trying a bigger power supply. You've got arguably the best 380 possible, but with those specs, it just seems a little small.

In case you didn't know. Any time the output voltage from the P/S fluctuates out of tolerance the P/S will automatically recycle itself so that it doesn't damage any components connected to it. When you run a game, your 9800pro is probably trying to pull more than the P/S can put out, voltage exceeds tolerance, and your system reboots.

I'd suggest stepping up to around 500, that way you have plenty of power for what you have, with some leftover in case you feel like adding some more hard drives, or upgrading.
 
actually, now that i think about it....it could be the power supply. i had the power supply listed wrong, my parents computer uses the stock coolermaster psu rated @ 380w. i'm gonna swap the psu's and see if that works :)
 
no dice. i swapped it out for the current psu and it doesn't work. i know the psu has nothing to do with it because it works in the system listed in my rig with all the bells and whistles.
 
Both systems appear to be about the same as far as continuous power consumption. I'd recommend getting a realtime volt/amp monitor, that way you can check the log the next time it happens.

So, your parent's machine is the A64 Venice 3000+, and yours is the XP Mobile 2500+ @ 2.4ghz, right? Your machine has the Antec P/S and your parent's had the Coolermaster? When you put the Antec into the Venice machine, did you test by putting the system under full load, or by playing the games that caused the system to lockup/reboot?

After being more than certain that it's not the P/S, the next place I would check is IRQ settings. After that, I'd make sure the CPU and Video Card aren't overheating. I'd also run Memtest86+ just in case. Beyond that, I'd update all my drivers, the software, and if it was still being problematic, I'd swap the video cards.

But... In my professional opinion, I would be surprised to find out it was anything other than the power supply. I have been wrong in the past, but not very often.
 
well the thing is, the power supply is brand new. i rma'ed it a few weeks ago, and they sent me a new true380w, it even has the pci-express extensions!

i'm gonna check the irq settings now, what should i check for?

edit- almost forgot, the computer ONLY restarts during games. it is completely stable in every other aspect.
 
Its possible your system may be overheating then. What I would recommend doing is to make sure your system is dust free firstly and to make sure all fans (case fans if you have any, which you should!) are producing a decent airflow (ie. intake fan(s) at the front and exhaust fan(s) in the rear of the case). Also make sure your heatsink on your CPU is mounted properly (I always recommend a higher quality heatsink, if you have a stock heatsink maybe invest in a decent copper one, they provide excellent cooling for your CPU). Make sure your heatsink has some thermal paste such as Artic Silver 5 and make sure there isn't alot of it on there (shouldn't have more thermal paste then approx. the size of a piece rice for example). To make sure that heat isn't the problem the best way to test it is to download a 3dmark app. (anyone will do, preferrably 3dmark 2001) and have MBM 5 running in the background (Motherboard Monitor 5, it is a temperature and voltage measuring application). Then I would recommend running the 3dmark in a loop (3 times is good) so your CPU and vid card can really work at full load for a considerable amount of time. If it doesn't crash and if your minimum temps in MBM and maximum don't differ too significantly, heat isn't an issue. For example you have a 3000+ venice, your idle temp with a stock cooler should be 40ish degrees and 50ish at max load over a duration of approx. 20-30 minutes. If your temps are significantly different then that you have a problem with heat.

If you discover heat isn't an issue it could be a BIOS or driver problem. Make sure you have all the latest drivers for your system components and the latest BIOS for your motherboard. If you wanna be on the safe side, do a fresh install of Windows and install the drivers in this order: chipset drivers->video card drivers->the rest of the drivers you need + windows updates. This process will eliminate the OS as the culprit as well as your device drivers and will also insure you have the latest BIOS for your motherboard.

With the above mentioned steps you should be able to resolve your problem, if none of this helps you may have a hardware issue.
 
guys, i just figured out my problem from reading from another thread.

for some reason, my motherboard doesn't like to be set to AGP8X, it only likes AGP4X. this seems to have completely alleviated the problem, seeing as how everything is running perfectly now. thanks for all your help!
 
Yeah I shoulda mentioned that a BIOS setting could have been amiss.... looks like you got it though!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top