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Rebooting computer
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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by satchmo on Sat Mar 5th at 3:44pm 2005

I suspect the problem may be overheating, but my CPU temp is 44 C and the motherboard temp is 33 C. They dont' seem excessively high to me.

While I play Far Cry, the computer just reboots. It also happens when I leave the computer on all night (it rebooted around 3 am). The same issue occurs when I use any graphic-intensive applications.

Could it be the graphics card overheating? I do have power supplied to the graphics card (Radeon 9800 Pro) from the PSU.

It would be ironic that I bought this computer to play games, but end up not being able to play any high-end games on it. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.
[addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by gimpinthesink on Sat Mar 5th at 3:50pm 2005

I've had that problem couldnt figure it out untill i was dusting my pc the other month and noticed that my psu is only a 300w one and i thourght it was a 350w (which is why i couldnt figure out why it was rebooting for no reason) and I beleve that its not powerful enough for my pc. [addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by fraggard on Sat Mar 5th at 3:55pm 2005

I think it might be a problem with your graphics card overheating. Make sure the GPU fan is working and that there are no other components obstructing airflow there.

Also, it could be your PSU. I had an old PSU that blew when the graphics card was overworked. Maybe yours isn't blowing, but just cutting the power.




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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by satchmo on Sat Mar 5th at 6:28pm 2005

I suspect the Radeon card also. On a few occasions, the computer did not reboot. Instead, it just froze. This happened when I was playing Far Cry. And right before the reboot occurs, I briefly see a blue screen every time. It's not the Windows error blue screen, but just a blank screen completely filled with the blue color.

I confirmed that all the fans are operating properly. I used my stethoscope to listen to each of the fans, including the CPU fan, the graphics card fan, the PSU fans, and the two separate fans of the chassis.

The power supply is a brand new one. I just bought it from Vantec, and it's suppose to supply 430 W of juice to my computer. I doubt it's an inadequate power issue (plus the forementioned symptoms right before the rebooting and the occasional freezing).

Thanks for all the ideas. This thread experienced some technical issue (it didn't allow me to post a reply, and the topic heading and description vanished).
[addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by JFry on Sun Mar 6th at 1:23am 2005

I have a 9800 pro as well and I have had similar problems. However when I re-installed windows it seemed to stop happening (at least.. for the most part). Just a stab in the dark, but I'm guessing it might be driver related.



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by satchmo on Sun Mar 6th at 10:56pm 2005

Yeah, I'll try updating the driver to see whether it helps. Thanks. [addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by satchmo on Mon Mar 7th at 12:10am 2005

Does anyone have any experience hooking up the power cord to the Radeon 9800 Pro? According to the manual, the split power cord that comes with the graphics card (and already attached to the card itself) should be used, but it needs to share the power with the HDD power supply.

It doesn't make any sense that the graphics card should share power with the SATA HDD. And I suspect that the intermittent rebooting has something to do with the power sharing issue. I believe that when the graphics processor is being taxed and the HDD is accessed at the same time, the transient power shortage induces the computer to reboot.

Do you agree with my theory? Or do you guys still believe it's an issue with the driver?

[addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by Crono on Mon Mar 7th at 12:31am 2005

No, it sounds like a power issue. If anything. It happens with Plug and Play stuff too. Especially if your video card isn't getting enough power when running graphic intensive applications.

I would imagine you don't have to use the plug that is shared by the HDD ... but, even if you have to, I imagine the cord on the video card acts as a spliter (like most fan power connectors)

Just hook it up and see what happens. [addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by satchmo on Mon Mar 7th at 4:12am 2005

I changed the hook-up, so now the graphics card and the HDD each gets its own power cord from the PSU. I even updated the Radeon video driver.

Everything was working beautifully...until it crashed again. The computer flashed back the notorious blue screen right before it rebooted.

So now I have no more ideas to play with. I was so certain that the power cord configuation change would have solved the problem, but it happened again.

Oh well, I'll just have to use this powerful beast as a glorified typewriter. What a shame, using a Radeon 9800 Pro for word processing.
[addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by Nickelplate on Mon Mar 7th at 5:10am 2005

satchmo! never fear, the 1337 uber computer guru is here! (that's me BTW)

first make sure that any peel-off stickers are off the bottom of the CPU heatsink. somtimes they have a sheaf of plastic over the actual thermal grease that gets overlooked lots of times.

then, make sure that your power supply is over 400W preferably LOTS more, these can be louder, but REALLY hepl. I had the same prob when i had a voodoo5 and a 250w, it just didnt work!!! newer video cards are constanly pushing the limits on power supplies!

then make sure that you do not have any fans that are being stopped by wires or anything else. older case fans have a mechanism that lets them switch off thier power and maybe something went wrong.

[addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by satchmo on Mon Mar 7th at 5:26am 2005

I really appreciate your suggestions, Nickelplate.

But I've considered all the points mentioned above. The CPU sink I bought did not have the thermal paste already applied. And I am sure that there is no plastic covering over it when I applied the thermal paste myself to the CPU.

The PSU I have should supply 430 W of juice, and this should be sufficient for the hungry graphics card's need.

I double and triple checked on the position of all the wirings, making sure that they're out of harm's way (I even used several strappers to tie them against the chassis so they don't get caught in some fan).

And I re-checked all the connections of power cords, ensuring that nothing is jiggled loose in the process of inserting new cards.

I am pretty sure that this is a problem with the graphics card, but I ran out of ideas on how to fix it.
[addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by Crono on Mon Mar 7th at 5:38am 2005

Actually, I've read some stuff about the 9800 and it seems to have issues with several chipsets.

I've seen several "fixes" people have done. (However, adding that extra power connector helped, no doubt)

1) Remove secondary drivers (through device manager)
2) Remove all drivers through device manager, and install new drivers fresh.
3) Update the chipset drivers. (it's easy to find a driver link if you know the chipset, you can find that out by the board manufacturer and model)

It seems most of the problems are when interacting with a VIA chipset.

It wouldn't hurt to try all three

HOWEVER, there are other things that could be happening.
There's some issues with fast write and such. And I heard clocking down your AGP slot might help focus on the problem (meaning going into BIOS and clocking the card at 4x instead of 8x)

Personally, I'd suggest doing the drivers thing before trying anything else at this point. [addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by satchmo on Mon Mar 7th at 6:28am 2005

Thanks, Crono.

I googled the topic and found this thread: http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic7814.html

This person has the exact same problem that I'm having (so at least I feel better that I'm not alone). It's the best description that I've seen on the problem.

I really don't feel like replacing my brand-new motherboard. So I'll take your suggestion and give it a try first.
[addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by satchmo on Mon Mar 7th at 2:36pm 2005

Testing... [addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by Nickelplate on Mon Mar 7th at 3:43pm 2005

dang, those are the most common ones. I suggest trying a DIFFERNT power supply. At work, sometimes power supplies work enough to get the computer turned on, but when the screensaver starts or anything video intensive starts it shuts 'er down. If you know anyone who has a power supply, just borrow it. it may really help you out.



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by satchmo on Mon Mar 7th at 7:13pm 2005

Thanks, Nickelplate. I'll try updating the nVidia chipset driver first before swapping any more hardware.

By the way, this thread continues with this new one http://www.snarkpit.com/forums.php?forum=1&topic=4545&5.

I had some issue with this thread yesterday (I couldn't post any more replies to it), so I was forced to start a new topic.

[addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by satchmo on Thu Apr 7th at 8:51pm 2005

? quote:
Anyone ever had problem with Kingston memories?


That was from my own posting in another thread.

In retrospect, the statement was ironic. I wrote that on the day I ordered my new computer (parts) from newegg.com. Little did I know that I would experience so much grief from the very same part.

I finally resolved my rebooting problem. It turns out that the Kingston PC3200 I got from newegg.com are incompatible with my ASUS motherboard. I called Kingston to confirm the suspicion, and they admit the instability/rebooting issue.

To solve the problem, I had to reset the FSB speed from 200 MHz to 166 MHz, but still running in dual-channel mode.

That was all it took to fix the issue. Now I've been playing HL2 and Far Cry for a week, and the system runs smooth as silk and solid as rock.

Thanks, everyone, for your helpful tips and suggestions. I really appreciate them.
[addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by Dred_furst on Thu Apr 7th at 9:22pm 2005

good to hear its working smiley

so its 166mhz, in dual mode? is that like ddr? as i think my memory chip is 400mhz ddr.
[addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by Spartan on Thu Apr 7th at 10:23pm 2005

I had the same exact problem with HL2 for about 3 weeks. After that the game ran fine. I never had it reboot me on ever again. [addsig]



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 Re: Rebooting computer
Posted by satchmo on Thu Apr 7th at 10:37pm 2005

? quote:
so its 166mhz, in dual mode?


Correct. So they're running at 332 MHz instead of 400 MHz. That's what dual-channel mean.
[addsig]




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