Here's a challenging problem for you

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kaiguy57

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Nov 24, 2008
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I have a build running Vista 32-bit that I can't get to work right. Everything is completely normal, but the thing randomly reboots. Don't stop reading yet! It reboots both in intensive situations (Crysis) and just browsing the internet, but more often in Crysis. It does not lag or hang before rebooting, it just does it.

Here's what I've tried:

- updating graphics drivers
- replacing PSU (750 watt)
- running with each RAM stick separately
- increasing voltage to RAM by .1
- reinstalling OS
- checking all temps (CPU, motherboard, and video card all are good and cool) as well as using a desk fan to cool the computer
- swapping graphics cards with a friend to a much weaker card
- disabling the "Automatically restart" on system failure in Vista

The problem persists in every situation.

The build:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775
4GB G.SKILL (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel
ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Motherboard
EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB
Western Digital Caviar 320GB 7200 RPM SATA
LG 22X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner
Rosewill RX750-S-B 750W Power Supply

And that's it! So it's not overloading the PSU... then what is it? Any ideas?? Any help would be appreciated!!
 
have you tried starting completely from scratch? If not, then try that and install one driver at a time until your problem pops back up.
 
It's a Rosewill branded PSU, so I'm not certain who actually built it. They run the gamut from utter trash to mediocre. Who knows what it's actually capable of producing. That said, a 9800GTX+ isn't terribly power-hungry and you aren't OCing, so it shouldn't be a problem. It is however possible the PSU is defective, but not likely.

Update your BIOS to current.

Make sure all drivers are up to date.

Run Memtest86 overnight and see if it comes up with anything.
 
Download Memtest+ v2.01, unzip it, burn the ISO file to a CD, and then boot from it, just like you would do with the XP install CD. Let Memtest+ run for at least three hours on each stick of RAM separately. 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
 
90% of these kinda of reboots are ram related.. run memtest on each stick one at a time (usually over night is reccommended ,but i find 4 hours to be enought usually) if the ram comes up fine, and the above driver reinstall suggestion dosent not come up with any answers, i would suspect the chipset (mobo)

bah danny beat me to it by mear seconeds
 
You can safely try up to 2.1V on your ram.
Make sure it is getting enough air if the memory feels hot.

Just in case the auto memory timings are not correct, set them manually to 5-5-5-15.
Try slowing them down if problems persist.
 
Can I just use the memtest on Ubuntu 8.10's install menu? (Just to save my CD's)

Or is that a different program?
 
a buddy of mine is the lead tech at a local computer shop and he has seen a large amount of rma's on the asus P5Q series. If you are confident that it isnt the psu then I would look here.

I just checked the asus site and there have been several bios updates, with a large number of them to improve memory compatibility, as well as yorkfield cpu issues. How up to date is your bios? Maybe this is all you need.
 
I'd be checking your ram timings and making sure they're good. Would also run memtest too. Check and recheck all of your BIOS setting too. If those prove to be ok I'd be looking at PSU, motherboard etc.
 
Alrighty... memtest86+ turned up nothing running over 20 passes on each stick separately.

I upgraded my bios and all drivers to the latest version.

All my bios settings seem okay, the RAM is at 2.1V (label says 2.0-2.1V on each stick)

Problem persists.

How likely would it be that I got two faulty Rosewill PSU's in a row that both had this problem?

The rebooting has no pattern to it at all. Occasionally I get into windows for around 30 seconds before it does it again (this seems to only happen right after rebooting from Crysis).

Should I buy a new motherboard or something?
 
Return the PSU and request an exchange for something else. I'm still tending to blame it, though it could've damaged the motherboard (or it could've been defective from the start).
 
Is there any way to test the motherboard for errors, etc? I'd hate to RMA the power supply, get a new one, and then still have to buy a new board.
 
kaiguy57 said:
Is there any way to test the motherboard for errors, etc? I'd hate to RMA the power supply, get a new one, and then still have to buy a new board.
Click to expand...

You're missing the point in that you should replace that PSU regardless of if the board has problems or not. It's not good quality.
 
Yes, try another motherboard or put your board in another system to test.
I agree, that PSU is not good, dont get the same one again.
 
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