Need a little help with my PC
 

So for the past few months my PC has been resetting randomly and without warning.
I thought it was overheating, but the temp seems fine and it also resets while idling sometimes.
Sometime it resets at the BIOS screen before even booting up Windows. But here's the weird part - sometimes it doesn't reset for a week or two!
I've put my PC under various CPU and GPU stress tests. All I can say is that sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't reset under those tests. I'm really stumped. I don't know if it's software or hardware related.

Specs are:
Win7 x64
C2D 6320
8800GTS
4gigs of ram
500W PSU
Asus P5B mobo.

Can anyone help?
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BUY EXTREME Q

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

nax, my pc does the same, spent 4 months trialling tests.......
In my case i wacked the graphics card fan up to 75% (louf lol) - but not crashed since...
Still seems tempramental on 2 games, but the rest is fine...

yest i sitll think it may be the mobo.....

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

Have you run memory tests? Running memtest86+ for several days might well be worth doing (it can take a while for the errors to show up).

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

I've installed RivaTuner and ramped up the fan to 85%. Still does that.

Hmm.. memory tests. That might be worth trying. Thanks Rob1n.
Maybe I should also update the mobo's firmware/bios/whatever you call it these days?
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MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

Could be the PSU or CPU as well. See if you can rule those out.

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

Take out all the ram and start with one stick run memtest from Ubuntu or hirens boot cd and see what comes up me thinks ram is playing up

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

I ran CPU stress tests. I've unzipped 10gig rar files and watched 1080p movies and it seemed fine. I don't know if there are any PSU tests available. Is there any kind of software that checks PSU health?
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GERHARD BERGER

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

Not really, sometimes a PSU will fail under heavy load (the one in my gaming machine is going out this way) but sometimes they can cause random cut-outs like you describe. All you can do is try another PSU in the system, or try your PSU in another computer.

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

Hmm.. so you're saying my PSU is simply worn out? Could be. I just updated my mobo's bios just in case. I was running an 07 version and I just installed a nov 09 one so I was wayyyy out of date :)
See if this works.
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CHRYSLER VALIANT CHARGER SPECIFICATIONS

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

You updated your mobo's BIOS when your PC was randomly shutting down? You're braver than I am :D

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

Haha I was almost shaking when the progress bar started going! But everything went quite well. Everything seems normal but time will tell :)
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Big dick hairy

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

well it didn't work..
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BLOWJOB DOUBLE

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

try to use only 1 ram slot. previously i have problem too. finally found out that 1 chip ram is faulty. (2gb faulty). bahh.

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

Hmm, well, for what it's worth, I've put my two RAM sticks in the second dual channel slot. I'll try that out though. I still have warranty on my RAM so if it really is the issue I could have it replaced :D
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Weed vaporizers

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

Bumping this thread with an update

So I did a fresh install of Win7 x64. For two weeks it ran great under heavy load when I played games on maxed out settings.
Then one day, I'm browsing the web. The computer is under minimal load and BAM. Restart. No warning, nothing. And it started happening all over again.

I'm completely and utterly baffled. Never seen anything like this.
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Upskirt Black

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

You didn't say if you ran memtest86, did you try that? (all 'buntu boot CDs come with it BTW)

You ran CPU stress tests so it's unlikely to be the CPU. So it could be a faulty mobo, overheating video card (unlikely since it crashed while doing regular desktop stuff), or a bad PSU.

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

Sounds like hardware problem to me, try to check out the wires connected to mobo, some ain't fully attached maybe? It can also be the PSU falling apart, because randomly reseting points out that the system may not be gettin' enough power. Also if you have a electricity-spike protector in the end of your power cable, check that out too. :)

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

could be RAM my friend. RAM will do that to ya. I hate to tell you this, but you might need to buy some more for a few days.

buy some. test it out for 7 days (below the return period) and then return it.

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

maybe you should get a program that will monitor the PC temp too.

cpuz

does it I think. there's free ones out there.

power supply couldbe a culprit too.

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

Completely forgot about memtest86. Can I boot it form a usb drive btw?
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AMATEUR CAMS

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

IIRC bootable 'buntu flash drives also have memtest86 (you can make one with a boot CD)

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

windows 7 should have a simple memory test too. I know that vista does anyway. Run that first, if you find it didn't detect a problem then setup memtest and let it run for at least a few passes.

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

also if your video card fails, when you reboot, windows 7 will actually pop up at the bottom corner with
"Windows 7 encountered an error, click here for details" and it will say "Video card falire" or something. it's quite helpful

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

Well, the memory test turned out fine. This is weird. Is there anyway to test my PSU?
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Dodge Town Panel Specifications

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

As you have an intermittant fault i would start from scratch.
Replace the PSU first as you have done a ram test and if it still fails after that you know its the ram, motherboard or graphics card.
Also check that the CPU is seated properly and even, with a new app of silicon, that means taking the CPU off the m/b and checking before re-install.
If your competent enough take your time and take the whole thing apart and start from scratch using proper antistatic precations and check / clean everything as you go, if not take it to an engineer.
You did not state how old the build is, the biggest problem is heat so bear that in mind whatever you do and look for any hot spots that have been created on the m/b etc.
Good luck.

Re: Need a little help with my PC
 

It's an almost 3 year old rig. I could take it apart bit by bit. I practically built the system myself so I know every inch of it.
problem is, replacing the PSU is expensive and I don't want to throw more money on this rig since I'm saving up for a new one in the future.
Oh well, I don't have a choice do I?
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Weed