Spontaneous Rebooting of my PC

[thesnakepit]

Lately, I'm experiencing spontaneous reboots of my pc for some reason that I'm not aware of. I have a new pc which I've just assembled. I have a Jetway motherboard (model 867AS) with an Athlon 1.1 processor and 128MB DDRram. I'm using Windows XP as my OS. Everything in my pc is new and working properly so I don't think it's the usual case(heat or power supply). Can anyone help me out with this problem? I'm really gettin' tired of these unexpected reboots.

[ski]

If your system is continuously rebooting, then it is not working properly, and overheating and/or an inadequate power supply can cause this.

If the rebooting occurs during specific applications, i.e., when you're playing games or running graphics and/or CPU intense applications, then it's possible that the system is overheating due to obstructed case vents, installation in an enclosed cubicle, wires and cables obstructing fans' air flows, cooling fans not running at design speed, an inadequate or poorly installed CPU cooler, a poor thermal compound interface between the heat sink and the CPU, or an undersized power supply module.

WRT the CPU, make sure the heat sink is in firm contact with the processor die and is not touching anything else(sometimes it can get hung up on the raised portion of the CPU socket), and that there is a sufficient(but not an overabundant)amount of thermal compound. Arctic Silver 2 or 3 is best for this. If you used a thermal pad that came with the cooler, then carefully scrape off as much as possible with a plastic tool, use 99% pure isopropyl alcohol to remove the rest, and apply thermal compound.

WRT the power supply module, make sure it's at least 300 watts, and more importantly that its combined '3.3 volt + 5 volt' rating is at least 165 watts(180 watts if you're using a high powered video card).

Here's the AMD recommended lists for CPU coolers and power supplies: http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_869_1039^1050,00.html
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_869_1039^4038|25_ATX,00.html

[sea69]

if this has just started, and was ok before-

reboot and press F8 and choose 'last known good/working configuration...'

see if that helps you out.

if not post back and I have another idea.

note: the above advice was very good if we find it is a hardware problem.

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[thesnakepit]

Hi, thanks a lot for the replies. I just need to ask a question concerning AMD Athlon processors. Since an Athlon XP 1.9's real speed is about 1.5ghz, what could an Athlon 1.1's real speed be? Or is it really 1.1ghz? (Btw, I'm still having problems with unexpected reboots. I've tried almost everything, including the system restore. Still didn't work. But thanx for the help.)

[mjc]

I believe that AMD came out with the new rating system with the XP series, if it doesn't say it is an XP then its speed is what it says....eg an Athlon 1.1 is really runnung at 1.1GHz....


The reboots are not going to go away by themselves, even though your hardware is new, don't count out heat or power supply problems...strip the machine down to a minimal system, if it will run with out rebooting with just the hd, (one stick) RAM, and the video card, then you know those components are ok, and you can add everything else back in, one piece at a time, with at least several hours of running between each addition....(burn-in).

If you can't even get through a minimal configuration without the reboots, then I think it would be time to try a different power supply.


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mjc
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