PC Restarting at Random

Smackhead · 26 Apr 2008 at 11:49

I did have the same problem with my old PC where it would just restart with
no warning at all, so when I bought this new PC i thought ah well it was just the old one, but now, my new pc is starting to behave like the old one, just restarting at random, no screen appearing at all, as though you just press the reset button.

Spec:

Intel Core2Quad Q6600 Quad Core @ 2.4Ghz
2GB Corsair Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5
MSI P7N Diamond nForce 780i SLi
150GB Sata Raptor HDD
Geforce 8800GTX
Corsair 750 PSU
Creative X-FI Sound Card

The only thing to come from the old PC was my graphics card, everything else is brand new built within the last week.

I have installed all of the Windows updates and all of my updates for Norton 360, ran Chkdsk and a memory test from http://hcidesign.com/memtest/ and everything came back O.K.

Does anyone have any Idea's?

fobose · 26 Apr 2008 at 12:09

Try another graphics card?

Smackhead · 26 Apr 2008 at 12:48

Thats the only thing I havent tried as I dont have a backup Card, is there anything else I could try before I go out and get a card incase that doesnt fix it?

IAmATeaf · 26 Apr 2008 at 13:25

If it just restarts without a crash or BSOD then I'd suspect the RAM, what volts do you have them set at?

Smackhead · 26 Apr 2008 at 16:00

Im not 100% sure how to check, what is the easiest way?

superplay · 26 Apr 2008 at 16:09

SOunds like your PC is going into a BSOD, the default is to reboot the computer.

To change this to show the Bluescreen

Control Panel/system/advanced settings/startup recover settings/

Under the "system faliure" section take out the tick in "Automatically REboot"

Then you should get the error code shown rather than a reboot.

More than likely Drivers/Ram as stated above.

superplay · 26 Apr 2008 at 16:12

Smackhead said:
Im not 100% sure how to check, what is the easiest way?

If you are using Vista you can goto Control Panel/ADministrative tools and there is a Memory Diagnostics Tool.

If you can use this on any version

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

Smackhead · 26 Apr 2008 at 16:38

Tried that aswell Superplay removing the "Automatically Restart" Option and it still does reboot.

Is it possible that the PC is trying to use more power than available as the Hub I'm using is quite old and is also running my other External HDD's?

Smackhead · 26 Apr 2008 at 17:24

I have just now tried a DELL machine with all the stock settings and that is behaving the same way, just rebooting at random no error messages just as if you press a reset key on the base unit and so that brings the total of 3 PC's which have been doing this, my old one, my new one and a stock DELL machine.

IAmATeaf · 26 Apr 2008 at 17:24

Download a copy of memtest 86+, boot up off it and let it run the tests, in terms of RAM voltage that will be in the BIOS, so have a look at your mobo manual and also check the RAM manufacturers website to see what voltage you should be running it at, I think most people will recommend 2.0 or 2.1v

Smackhead · 26 Apr 2008 at 18:01

I have checked the Corsair's website and it is 2.1v on there, checked the BIOS and it was set at AUTO which is anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5v so i changed it to 2.1v which is still well within the white for the board. Just need to see now if that will help or not. Also the memory has no errors according to MemTest.

superplay · 26 Apr 2008 at 21:51

Take a look at the event logs to see if there is hints there.

Also is is the same case?

Smackhead · 27 Apr 2008 at 13:03

I have checked the event logs and it doesnt say anything in there that could be causing it, the only thing I thought it was could have been Remote Access, as far as I was aware that didnt boot up with the PC, you had to enable it.

And setting the memory voltage to 2.1 didnt work, checked further and it is suppost to be like that if the memory is running at 1066Mhz, checked with CPUID and it is only running at 800Mhz, so I have lowered it to 2.0v hoping that would stop it crashing. Just waiting to see now.

By the way, am I right about remote assistance?

Smackhead · 28 Apr 2008 at 09:05

So far it is running good at 2.0 no restarts in 2 days, thanks for this hope it continues.

PhoenixUK · 28 Apr 2008 at 13:20

1. Check GPU temps.
2. Random that means anytime ? What if you leave it idling with no apps running at all ? does it still reboot then ?
3. Run memtest.
4. Try plugging it elsewhere in your home, might be problem with the power socket too.
Also try different power cable and PSU.
5. Check CPU temperatures also, might be an overheating issue.
6. Just to be sure check PSU voltages.

If no one of these works I have no more ideas im afraid

.
Maybe it's one of the applications you use ?

---

Ahhh didn't see you fixed it

, too much rush from my side.
Anyways if anything else happens you might check the things I've listed.

Phoenix

Smackhead · 3 May 2008 at 21:30

Hey Phoenix

Yeah I just got it working now been on all day and no problems so far. sorry for the late reply. Looks like it was my GPU overheating.

Thanks for the advice there.