Motherboard alarm sounds, computer keeps going off

Ripper · 29 Mar 2006 at 09:59

I didn't know what forum to put this in, but yesterday my computer decided to be annoying and turn itself off repeatedly. The alarm on the motherboard will sound (as if its overheating) and the PC will turn off. It got to the stage where it wouldn't even boot up, and by pressing the power button it'd simply turn the alarm on.

I checked the temp's and they seemed fine. I thought it might be a RAM problem so i tried all the different combinations and it still happens. Now i'm realy stuck about what to do because I don't know much about hardware these days.

MY system is as follows:

ABIT NF7-S mobo
AMD XP 2400
GF FX 5900
2x256 PC2700 DDR RAM
120gb WD hdd
creative sb audigy 2 soundcard

if anyone has any ideas i'd appreciate it! and if you need anymore info just let me know

Ripper · 29 Mar 2006 at 14:33

anyone got any ideas? just tried cleaning out the heatsink and applying fresh thermal compound just incase it was overheating. It stayed on for a bit but then the alarm came on and it turned off again

dont know what to do now, cant format really because off all my work

Ripper · 29 Mar 2006 at 15:14

just tried different gfx cards as well, still happens.

basmic · 29 Mar 2006 at 15:20

What's the CPU fan like?

I'm wondering if it's dodgy and slowing down. And the motherboard detects either: a) The CPU fan has slowed down; b) The CPU has reached a specified temperature.

On either of those conditions, some motherboards can be set to shutdown.

Ripper · 29 Mar 2006 at 15:27

seems ok, not noticing anything odd

vanandjuanunited · 29 Mar 2006 at 15:28

What temps are you getting?

Ripper · 29 Mar 2006 at 15:31

when it first boots up its around 10 for system temp, and 25-40 for cpu. I really cant see it being that, ive been to an i series in the summer when the cpu's ran at 80*c . And like i said ive just took the fan apart got rid of all the dust and put new thermal compound on the cpu

basmic · 29 Mar 2006 at 15:35

Try running drive diagnostics on your hard-drives.

I've seen systems reset because of a faulty drive.

If all seems fine with the drives, run Memtest and Prime95.

Ripper · 29 Mar 2006 at 15:50

whats memtest? i dont know if i'll be able to try things like that because its random how long the pc will stay on for, never more than 10mins tho usually

L_D · 30 Mar 2006 at 12:53

Remove any unneeded components and try again. It does sound like an overheat though. What settings have you got in the bios for max temp/shutdown temp?

Ripper · 31 Mar 2006 at 15:33

set them to pretty much max. Managed to get it on and install motherboard monitor, 55*c CPU and 31 for system. cleared CMOS and plugged it into a different plug socket and "touch wood" its on atm. Doing a virus check, ad aware scan and playing music and it hasn't gone off *yet*. I seriously think its some sort of power problem, we had our electric system in the house changed the other week, and now on my surge protector instead of "protected" being lit up green, "earthed" is lit up red. altho when i tried it in a different room the other day, it went off, so its difficult to understand atm

Ripper · 31 Mar 2006 at 16:16

lasted an hour and then went off, longest since it started doing it. sigh