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Computer restarts!

Itachi89

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Hey everyone, I have a problem with my computer that just recently started to happen.
My computer restarts whenever I go to play a game, and only then!

I have never had this problem before and it just started happening, I am almost 100% sure it is because of overheating, when I start my computer it's on 42, whenever I start a game it quickly rises to about 53-55 then restarts..
I have a Asus K8N motherboard and I cant find anywhere in the BIOS on how to stop it from restarting!

Please help me! :)
 
D

Deleted member 24505

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welcome to the forum

maybe you need a better cooler.if your cpu is overheating,you cant stop it from restarting by going into the bios and changeing something.you need a better cooler.

you could check your cooler,make sure the fan is ok,and check the fins are'nt blocked.you could also take it off and try some as5 on it.
 
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most likely your power supply, 50-60 should be ok under load, what power supply do you have?
 

pt

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check your option in BIOS dor the computer to restart once it's reaches a x temp., it's probabily too low
can you post your full sys specs?
 

Mediocre

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Could also be video drivers. NVidia released new drivers 11/2.
 

Itachi89

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most likely your power supply, 50-60 should be ok under load, what power supply do you have?

I am using a 300W one, I have been using this one for about 4 months and I have had no problems before so...

And like I said earlier I cant find anywhere in the BIOS to change at what temp it should restart at!

Specs:
AMD Athlon 64, 2400 MHz (12 x 200) 3400+
Asus K8N
nVIDIA nForce3 250
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256 MB)
Maxtor 6L200P0 (200 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)
1GB RAM
 

Alec§taar

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Could also be video drivers. NVidia released new drivers 11/2.

Agreed... after all: They are the mechanism the OS talks to the hardware w/ along with the "HAL" (hardware abstraction layer).

IF you can get us a bluescreen of death (BSOD) hexcode data (0x0000 stuff)? That CAN help hugely in pinpointing if it is a drivers OR hardware level problem.

IF you can get that, that is...

Hardware side: IF you're overclocking your CPU, memory, or GPU on your vidcard? Back off!

Run it, & see if it still happens...

(That is probably the type of advice you're going to get since you are VERY convinced it is hardware related)

APK

P.S.=> As far as power? Well, 400 watts & UP imo w/ today's equipment... poor power can hose you also! apk
 

C0mrad3

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Had a problem with that a long time ago when I used to play America's army, for me, the problem was the video drivers.

Uninstall your current video drivers and install the new one in safe mode on your pc, it's better to do a clean update like that.
 
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No bluescreen -> no Error Code (or read the logfiles).
Have you already unchecked "Automatically restart" ?

 

Alec§taar

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Have you tried a SAFEMODE bootup? If it doesn't happen there, it's not a hardware thing, but a driver issue possibly...

(This is a SIMPLE way of testing that out, if you cannot come up w/ a "BSOD" hex 0x0000 stopcode for us to help you with, since it only loads PART of the entire driverset you use when you run in normal bootup mode).

* Try it, & if it keeps happening, the odds are with hardware based issues.

APK
 

blue

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YOU might be getting "stop errors",often due to a bad driver, so i'm told.Somewhere in the XP parameters you can untick "restart on error".you will then get a blue screen and err message.Agoogle search might locate the parameter
 
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Alec§taar

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YOU might be getting "stop errors",often due to a bsd driver, so i'm told.Somewhere in the XP parameters you can untick "restart on error".you will then get a blue screen and err message.Agoogle search might locate the parameter

Good point, & one I overlooked that yourself & Peach1971 caught...

Failure to get a "BSOD" hexcode can be due to this setting:

Control Panel-> System Icon -> Advanced Tab -> Startup & Recovery GroupBox @ bottom Settings button -> System Failure groupbox, checkbox is there for that... uncheck "Automatically Restart" & then, see if you get BSOD crashdumps & stopcodes then!

(SafeMode booting may also help folks in the future on determination if your reboots & such are the result of bad driver code also, since it only loads PART of your entire driverset (Ms' drivers crucial to system operations only, no 3rd party stuff!))

Also, adding the /SOS boot.ini switch to your OS loading line in it can also help determine what driver (IF this is the cause) is "hanging" on you as well - another little 'something' to keep in mind, because it shows drivers loading... that is what is going on when you see the "scrollbar" moving under the OS logo @ bootup in modern OS (2000/XP/Server 2003) by MS... & in older ones like NT 3.5x - 4.0, when you saw the little dots going across the screen during boot @ the top.

:)

Once you DO get a stopcode from a BSOD crashdump: Hit Microsoft's webpages & research the diagnostic code & possible causes + fixes!

APK

P.S.=> A lot of this has been happening lately, & we really ought to do a "Sticky Thread" on this subject... how to diagnose system lockups & such! This thread & a couple of others cover a great deal of the bases to check, & between them all we could do a fairly comprehensive 'sticky' on this note... I think so @ least! apk
 
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blue

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an unlikely one, you haven'y got a mobo monitor application running that triggers the restsrt ?
 
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I am using a 300W one, I have been using this one for about 4 months and I have had no problems before so...

And like I said earlier I cant find anywhere in the BIOS to change at what temp it should restart at!

Specs:
AMD Athlon 64, 2400 MHz (12 x 200) 3400+
Asus K8N
nVIDIA nForce3 250
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256 MB)
Maxtor 6L200P0 (200 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)
1GB RAM

Tadah! Problem spotted! That WILL drain a bit more than 300W when gaming.
Get a NEW PSU that has 400W or theoretical 400W (385W).
Especially considering your computer is a watt consuming powerhouse.
 
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i dont think its the PSU...its been working for 4 months fine, unless its dying

i run:
abit mobo (w/865 chipset)
2.6Ghz @ 3Ghz northwood
9800 PRO @ XT speeds
tv tuner card
1GB PC3200 RAM @ PC 3700
2x Hard disks (1x 40GB and 1x 80GB @ 7200RPM)
1x DVD burner
card reader
huge LCD display on the front

...all on 200W :p:D

call me crazy :D
 

Alec§taar

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Power Supply Antec 500w ATX 2.0 "SmartPower" powersupply
Software Windows Server 2003 SP #1 fully patched, & massively tuned/tweaked to-the-max (plus latest drivers)
...all on 200W :p:D ... call me crazy :D

I wouldn't put these guys "outta the ballpark" on their speculation that it MIGHT be a power issue over there... if you are running ALL that equipment on only 200 watts?

Well, my hat's off to you, but I think you are definitely "pushing it" also, much as they felt you may be!

As an experiment, provided you CAN do it? I would pull the powerplug on the 2nd disk (since disks have mechanical parts, they tend to eat more power iirc, than other things typically do, other than higher-end vidcards) & see if you still mess up...

That MIGHT just put you to a powerdraw point where power issues are not an issue possibly for you!

Personally/were I you? I would test it out running only 1 of those HDD's of the 2 you have & see if you still 'crash'...

APK

P.S.=> For a "more complete/consolidated" way to diagnose software-based problems of this nature? See here:

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=19748

& try those things to hopefully "ferret out" any culprit softwares that MAY be causing this for you if it is DEFINTELY NOT hardware-side (& I have to admit, the power thing looks suspicious here)... apk
 
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i dont think its the PSU...its been working for 4 months fine, unless its dying

i run:
abit mobo (w/865 chipset)
2.6Ghz @ 3Ghz northwood
9800 PRO @ XT speeds
tv tuner card
1GB PC3200 RAM @ PC 3700
2x Hard disks (1x 40GB and 1x 80GB @ 7200RPM)
1x DVD burner
card reader
huge LCD display on the front

...all on 200W :p:D



call me crazy :D
Thats when you arent gaming dude... consider it. The GPU, RAM and CPU drain 100W more... thats why it gets like 3 times hotter (inside the processor, ram and GPU)
 

ktr

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also, i think there is a bug in the latest directX release. i hear the fix it to reduce audio hardware acceleration to basic.
 
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Thats when you arent gaming dude... consider it. The GPU, RAM and CPU drain 100W more... thats why it gets like 3 times hotter (inside the processor, ram and GPU)

Nup, thats a gaming computer. Its been running for 3 years (only put in the 9800 in the last year)...it used to have a FX5200. I got this X800 for this comp a couple of months back, but before that, it was the other comp all the time, and im a pretty moderate gamer. Now, its still used every second day or so for gaming by the brothers.

Anyways, back on topic, as alec said, i wouldnt rule out the psu issue, but imo, its a software issue (have you updated anything recently?)
 

Itachi89

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Nup, thats a gaming computer. Its been running for 3 years (only put in the 9800 in the last year)...it used to have a FX5200. I got this X800 for this comp a couple of months back, but before that, it was the other comp all the time, and im a pretty moderate gamer. Now, its still used every second day or so for gaming by the brothers.

Anyways, back on topic, as alec said, i wouldnt rule out the psu issue, but imo, its a software issue (have you updated anything recently?)

Nope, nothing. I have upgraded my graphic card drivers now, its still happening, I have unchecked the automatic restart and I dont get a blue screen so I am going to buy a new PSU since I think it might help (and besides mine sounds funny...)
 
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well a psu making noises isnt good :p

try downgrading the drivers, sometimes older drivers work better.

also, try this: right click desktop -> properties -> settings -> advanced -> troubleshoot -> untick "enable write combining"....see if it helps. its a long shot, but worth the try.
 

Itachi89

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well a psu making noises isnt good :p

try downgrading the drivers, sometimes older drivers work better.

also, try this: right click desktop -> properties -> settings -> advanced -> troubleshoot -> untick "enable write combining"....see if it helps. its a long shot, but worth the try.

Nope that last thing didnt help temp still rises like crazy when I start a game, can it be the cpu fan?
 
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youve got stock cooling i suppose...

I, personally, dont think its temps, b/c a gfx card can go up to like 80*C safely, and a CPU about the same, and your only saying its getting to like 60's
 

Itachi89

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Just thought I should add this, whenever I started my computer this morning it started, went into windows, I went away for like 2min, when I came back the screen was all black and I couldnt do anything to get it back. When I restarted it the screen was still black and the computer didnt even start properly (no beep sound in the bios) so I had to restart it a couple of times before it started and now its working again, however it is still restarting whenever I start a game...

Someone please help me find out what the problem can be!

(thanks for all your help everyone that has already posted btw)
 
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