pinpointing a hardware issue

[SwanBeeCh]

My computer is a bit outdated (quite a bit. I built it about 3 years ago), and I'm having some difficulties figuring out exactly what is causing it to randomly restart.

I've tried swapping out the hard drives and the power supply, with no luck.

I let it sit for about 2 months, and had another go at it. I turned it on, and it lasted two weeks before it began the restarting randomly bit again.

It could be a software issue, but sometimes it will restart during the first few seconds of the boot phase in rapid succession, which leads me to believe it is a hardware issue.

If anyone has any ideas on what the issue could be, I'd appreciate your input.

I don't know where to start at as far as posting build info, so if you need any makes and versions of the hardware I have let me know.

Thanks.



edit:
I'm in the process of slapping on some fresh thermal paste right now... (I just realized that I hadn't tried this yet), but if anyone has any other thoughts on it, it's entirely possible that that isn't the issue.

I'll post results when I can.

 

[Dangman]

It could be a RAM issue. Test the system with only one stick of RAM at a time.

 

[SwanBeeCh]

Thanks for the suggestion. I've been reading up on my motherboard (asus a7n8x deluxe), and it seems to be an issue that it's had with the ram slots before...

however...

with the lack of thermal paste that I currently have, and no means to finding any tonight, I tried all sorts of different ram configurations, and unless both sticks of ram, as well as both dual channel slots and the other ram slot on the board are all shot... it's not a ram issue.

So I guess it's getting put off until tomorrow. *sigh*

Haha, owell. I guess that's just the way it is every now and again.


Also, in a new development. When the computer is turned off... it will turn itself on.

After doing as much reading as possible on the problem as related to my motherboard, I'm going to attempt adding fresh thermal paste, resetting the cmos, and then scrapping the parts for as much money as possible.

Unless of course someone has something else to add. *wishful thinking*