System restarts unexpectedly

sholay · 01-06-2005, 04:02 PM

I upgraded my old system to a new one a month back.From then onwards i am facing numerous problems.My old system P II 350mhz was running perfectly for 5 years without any problem.

The new system restarts unexpectedly.What could be the reason?
The system restarted at least twice a day after installing the OS.
There is no particular interval for the sys. restart.

My PC Config:

P4 3ghz 800FSB 1mb L2 cache
Asus P4P800-VM
512 mb PC3200 Ram
120 and 40 gb HDD
1 CD Writer and I DVD writer
Mercury 350W SMPS

I have put one extra fan

The CPU temp. varies between 40 and 55'c
Mobo temp. varies between 35 and 50'c

My vendor suggested me to change the battery of my UPS as it was 5 years old.I did that and put a new one.But still the problem persists.

Who is the culprit - SMPS,Motherboard,Ram or overheating?
Please help me.

amit_arya · 01-06-2005, 04:44 PM

System restart... then proabably PS is the culprit... provided there is no software issue

if you are on winxp/2003 oin the startup and recovery option uncheck automatic restart

mycomputer > rgt click> properties > advanced > startup & recovery > automatic restart

if you are getting a Blue screen of Death (BSOD) then probably is a Software issue else i would say it is *MOST* probably a PS issue

pimpom · 03-06-2005, 02:10 AM

Random restarts are very annoying and it can sometimes be difficult to isolate the culprit. The best way to find out if it's any of the hardware is to substitute them one by one. My first two suspects would be the memory and the PSU.

If your temperature readings are reasonably correct, then overheating is not the issue.

premrajeev · 03-06-2005, 12:36 PM

keep your cabinet open. check for cpu and chipset temperatures. Also run a memory test (memtestx86) . Then, disconnect your old HDD and one optical drive. Check for some time. I belive, a 350 W smps will be able t provide only 180 w , which may not be enough for a P4 3GHZ. this could be the problem. if the problem continues, check the bios and find out the exact temperatures. Also, alter the ram timings. use safe settings in the bios. check again. Wrong timing in RAM also causes restarts.

**DOUBLE CHECK THE TEMPERATURES AS SENSORS MAY BE MISLEADING SOMETIMES..HEATING IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF RESTART.

club_pranay · 04-06-2005, 07:27 AM

please check the following (considering your temperature sensors to be correct)...
1. All Power connectors on the mobo(smps to mobo)- unplug-clean-replug

2. Power cables(power supply to smps)- check for lose connection & cuts... if u found any damage... please replace

3. UPS output- try bypassing the UPS(sometimes they have a faulty relay).

4. now considering your temp sensorsincorrect, --Remove your CPU's heatsink, clean it, apply a good quality thermal paste and put it back nicely.

if the problem presists, get your SMPS, MOBO, and even Processor(highly unlikely) checked.