I have a built system: Asus K7-100 mobo, True AMD 750 mhz cpu, Voodoo 5 video card, Sounblaster Live, running a 15 gb hd (7200 rpm) w/ 128 megs of ram. I am at a loss. My system keeps rebooting. I can power on and when the system has been off for a while, I can almost start Scandisk. When its only off for a minute or two, the screen will get to about the PCI controller and then start a complete reboot. I have tried swapping video cards, ram, pulled the hard drive and checked it on the kids pc (using it now as a matter of fact). I have swapped ram and pulled the sound and modem. I have tried to pull the cable to the floppy and using a boot disk. I am totally lost. I assume that its the mobo or the cpu. Can any one help? Thanks for your time.

Hello sasnks,

There are alot of posibilities as to what could be causing your problem.......

The 1st thing Id do is remove any and all hardware you dont need to boot it up.

Go in the BIOS and set everything back to the "lowest" performance settings you have avialable to you.

This could be anything from a BIOS setting to a loose wire...........(Theres even a "slight remote" posibility it could be a tiny particle of dust under your CPU http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif ) <- It happened to me

Get back to the basics.......and start from there

Id also wonder, how long have you had this machine? did you just build it? or did this just start one day for some unknown reason?

Wish You Luck!

[This message has been edited by AwARe (edited 06-08-2001).]

Hey,

Spontaneous rebooting is often due to either bad memory, heat or the motherboard is shorting out to the case. When you say you have a built system, does that mean you built it?

Have you tried the RAM in another machine? Have you checked the CPU fan for proper operation?

Since you say that you have tried different RAM though, the first thing I can think of is heat. Try opening the case and point a standard household fan to blow across the components. Then, try to boot and see what happens. At this time you could also check the CPU fan. Just because it's turning does not mean it's providing optimal cooling. Did you use thermal grease between the CPU and heatsink? Another way to tell if the CPU fan is working correctly, is to touch the heatsink. Is it hot? Or, is it just warm? If you can't hold your fingers on the heatsink for a reasonable amount of time, it's too hot. Get a new CPU fan and check the thermal grease. A little dab will do ya.

Another real possibility is the shorting out of the motherboard. If you built the machine yourself, did you use cardboard washers between the motherboard and case?

If the CPU fan is working correctly and you have RAM that you know is good, the next step may be to take the motherboard out of the computer and lay it on a piece of cardboard on the kitchen table. Then, try to boot with the minimum components. (Minimum components are usually RAM, CPU, CPU fan, keyboard, monitor and video card. I think. I may have forgotten something, but maybe someone else can supply the correct list) This way, you will know if you have a short between the motherboard and case if the system boots up fine and acts the way it's supposed to.

Good luck.

Big Blue 66


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Woe is me.