Is my PSU causing my reboots?

Sp00n · 8 Jun 2012 at 12:55

Recently built my new machine and it's not been happy since day one really, once a day (randomly), most days, it will just reboot itself for no reason, it's not showing any BSOD either as I set it to not automatically reboot.

I have run a memtest to check to make sure the RAM isn't at fault and it comes back all clear, temps are respectable in the 40s (it has rebooted when the computer was idle).

The hardware that has changed from old pc to new is RAM/CPU/Mobo/SSD so I don't know, I suppose I could try running without any of the additional hdds. I've also updated to the latest BIOS a couple of times on the mobo as the changelog stated "improve system stability" but it didn't make any difference.

So, does 500watts sound like enough for my setup? Is there a sure fire way to figure out if I'm pushing the PSU? Do we think it could be anything else?

PC Spec:

Intel i3 2120
Asus P8Z68V PRO
4GB pc12800
1 x aDATA s510 SSD
1 x WD 1.5Tb
2 x WD 500Gb
Nvidia GTX 260
USB = Mouse/Keyboard/Printer/MCE receiver
Thermaltake T2 500watt

It's been a while since I've had any problems with my PC and I'm disappointed my new build isn't as reliable as my old

Orcvader · 8 Jun 2012 at 12:57

Did you do a fresh install of Windows when you upgraded everything, and not simply cloned it to the SSD?

Sp00n · 8 Jun 2012 at 13:10

Fresh install of Windows 7 64bit

Orcvader · 8 Jun 2012 at 13:13

Take the 260 out and try it with the onboard, just to lower the power consumption and see if it helps.

Sp00n · 8 Jun 2012 at 13:24

Good shout, I'll give that a go and we shall see

ishoeyi · 8 Jun 2012 at 13:27

i had similar problem before

and i also notice it reboots, well not shut down reboot itself, rather just blank out and restart, it tends to do it while the system is still cold, once it warms up it was fine

changed the psu and it was sorted

good luck

MatsyLR · 8 Jun 2012 at 13:31

One question, does your computer just randomly shut down and a couple of seconds later start back up?

If so that's the problem I had, I had no idea why on earth it was doing it, I checked the memory and everything nothing was wrong.
I decided to take a peice of RAM out and re-connect all the PSU connectors and also turn it upside down so the fan is facing up.

It hasn't shut down on me since.

Try taking RAM out and testing it
Re-connect the PSU connections

Sp00n · 8 Jun 2012 at 13:34

Currently the PSU is fan down in the case (antec 300) so I'll swap that around as well, thanks for the suggestions

Lemin · 8 Jun 2012 at 13:52

Buying a new psu for this reason. I get, Kernel event ID 41 error.

Check yours, Open Event Viewer...

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Open-Event-Viewer

Ive had loads of them :mad:

http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-...rnel-power-random-shut-downs-no-minidump.html

also
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2028504

Sp00n · 8 Jun 2012 at 15:59

I have 18 in total (the build is about 6 weeks old), last one was 4th of June but it's definitely rebooted itself more recently than that.

R.P.L · 8 Jun 2012 at 17:20

I recently had a similar problem when I installed my SSD. Solved it by using seperate power leads, one for the SSD and one for the HDD and optical drive (I had them all running off the same one to start), and enabling hot swapping for all SATA ports (apparently this enables AHCI features other than just hot swapping which can resolve some issues).

I'm not sure which one fixed the problem to be honest, as I wasn't patient enough to try each fix seperately to diagnose the problem. I'm running a P8P67 pro mobo, so not exactly the same, but it might be worth trying these fixes if you haven't...