Extremely mysterious pc issuse! got any ideas?

JoshZ · 17 Mar 2008 at 00:26

yeah i did that..

ok so a bit of an update.. i finally managed to get vista to install
i took it all to bits and reseated everything with care.. plugged all the drives in with different power connectors and satas... it installed ok

now its running alright. i had one reboot using media center but that could have been a bit of a teething bsod. i hadnt turned off the auto update by then so i wont know until it happens again

JoshZ · 17 Mar 2008 at 00:27

also i had to pop out the cmos batt for a bit too and then reset the volts.. i did it by the books. it started rebooting when i tried to install the nforce stuff off the damn gigabyte disk so i uninstalled it in safe mode and since then have got myself a score of 5.2 on the experience index

JoshZ · 17 Mar 2008 at 00:28

now ill have to start running apps and games to stress it out a bit

outcome.. well vista is running as solidly as xp was before.. ie i can run stuff great but it keeps rebooting itself

jennidc · 17 Mar 2008 at 01:35

Temps

Just out of interest what temp is your CPU?

Im just clutching at straws but Im just wondering if its a fan/heat synch or thermal paste issue.

JoshZ · 17 Mar 2008 at 03:00

its running at between 25 and 30 usually .. 30 tops the graphics card is running a bit warmer at 50

i ws pretty careful about applying the thermal paste after the first load of boots i scraped off the akasa stuff and put some artic silver. i put about half a rice grain worth on and spread it out pretty evenly and the temps dont seem to spike at all so i dont think theres a problem on that front

JoshZ · 17 Mar 2008 at 12:13

this is really strange although ive had problems like this with old systems. i left it off all night last night after a perfect boot, i shut it down properly and now when i start it up this morning it doesnt want to go.. iv just managed to get it into safe m ode again after a bunch of boot loops.. what made it boot into windows in was me going into the bios and doing..... nothing.. i just had to go into the bios.. save and exit and then boot into safe mode and it worked... man.. for machines that are supposed to be logic based this one certainly seems to be devoid of that..

JoshZ · 17 Mar 2008 at 12:20

HEYYY
guess what

i just noticed.. that little wierd message pop up. im gonna try that nvidia fix!

the nvkddmkm.sys threw up an error this time .. im getting the new nvidia drivers online now and im dloading all the vista hotfixes that are on the nvidia site again

well none of the official hotfixes seem to apply to my pc so.. hum
ill just follow the manual steps again

Snakedoctor · 17 Mar 2008 at 12:26

Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 is a great Mobo, I have one and it overclocks well and is stable as.

JoshZ · 17 Mar 2008 at 12:49

well im guessing that wasnt it.. there are no files that share a date with that sys file.. i guess it was silly to think it would be that easy...

JoshZ · 17 Mar 2008 at 12:51

great.. shame i dont have the money for one now...i cant get a refund on this one ive tried and i cant spend any more money on this.. ifi get a new mobo i really could have just bought an alienware same spec but i chose to do this.. im regretting it now..at least if i had got one of those i wouldnt have had incompatability issues

JoshZ · 17 Mar 2008 at 12:53

the idea was to try and save money because i cant do any work on this laptop im using :S

Scrutinize · 17 Mar 2008 at 14:14

JoshZ said:
the idea was to try and save money because i cant do any work on this laptop im using :S

I really would get another motherboard to try, even if it is a really cheap one. Other than that you seem to be pretty unlucky and have tried most things.

I take it the motherboard requires switching on from the case front mounted on/off switch and doesn't power up as soon as you turn the PSU on? Had this happen on a couple of mobos where it was a power issue.

Hodders · 17 Mar 2008 at 14:31

One thing you don't say if you have tried is disconnecting the power lead from the case to the MoBo.

I had a faulty switch that would sometime make it seem as though it was being pressed just when the case vibrated slighty. Try the suggest a previous poster made of disconnecting it.

You can do the following:

1) Turn the PC on
2) Pull the switch lead off the MoBo with the PC running.

JoshZ · 17 Mar 2008 at 14:31

omg the procedural rainbows in that nvidia cascade demo are amazing

..done those two things guys!

cheers though...

Mattus · 17 Mar 2008 at 14:35

This really is a bizarre problem. Can you confirm that you've tried moving the PC elsewhere in the house and connecting it to a different power socket using a different power lead? It's a pretty long shot but all the obvious stuff has been tried.

JoshZ · 17 Mar 2008 at 15:13

lol yep done that too

JoshZ · 17 Mar 2008 at 15:38

damnit.. i thought i had cracked it that time

it ran for a2 hours after i installed dx10 .. perfectly .. i was running that nvidia cascade demo on and off.. finally i closed it and started dloading some other demos and it rebooted..

it makes no sense at alll!!!!

toucam · 17 Mar 2008 at 15:39

You said you have a degree to finish and yet still have time to do all of this test and trial?
If I were you I would post it back to OCUK for them to fix it, they would change whatever is's needed to make it stable. Surely they sold it to you and they would stand behind the quality of their product.
Fixing something purely based on guessing is a complete waste of time and you have wasted plenty.
If they refuse to take it back (which is unlikely) I would just get another Intel board and change the PSU too. Sometimes money is worth spending to avoid all the hassle. I'm not suggesting throwing stuff away in the first instance as I always try to fix things myself most of the time but enough is enough.
Just my 2p.

JoshZ · 17 Mar 2008 at 15:44

i can find time for work and testing im just serverly limited by the laptop im working on,, its terribly slow and cumbersome and overheats a lot but its still more workable than my desktop in its current condition.. it makes things very difficult hence the purchase in the first place... i have changed the psu and no if you look a bit further up the post they wont take the system back. only faulty parts i know ive had this argument with them. plus i dont want to spend another 50£ and god knows how much theyll charge to look at it all .. the service cost for one part is £10.. anyway.. not an option if ocuk fronted the cost for postage i would...

toucam · 17 Mar 2008 at 16:03

That's clearly is not right, is it? You bought a pre-built system, not separate components so it should be treated as a whole.
It's like you buy a laptop and if it keeps crashing the seller will have to take it back under warranty conditions, they can't say "well because your motherboard is not dying (or any other component for that matter) we can't take it back". It just doesn't make sense too me. Try to contact one of the mods to see if they can help you.
Good luck with it.