Extremely mysterious pc issuse! got any ideas?

[JoshZ]

hey grouse cheers for that ill do that once i get this running in windows without reboot.. unfortunately i think the successful install was only there to mess with my head.. It still doesn't seem to want to run so it doesn't look like the ram timings were an issue (or if they were they aren't the only issue.. :S) I'm gonna try one more combo of settings tonight before I call it a night.. I wont be around untill tomorrow evening so ill check back in then and let you all know how its going..lol fingers crossed the chaos gods of the interweb will smile on me for once eh... anyone would think ive just gone and blown up a mirror factory..

 

[FreeStream]

That its the weirdest thing I've seen in a while!

That is classic PSU/memory, but as you've swapped them *shrug*.

Remove EVERYTHING apart from CPU, one stick of mem, one HD, KB, mouse, monitor.

If it still does it, then I have no idea. I think selling the mobo and getting a different one :/

 

[flying grouse]

came across this on a technet forum, same problem using 64-bit and 4GB of RAM seemingly resolving their reboot problems>http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...7C-614B-404C-850C-377541E93C18&displaylang=en

Quote from forum:
To start troubleshooting this issue, we recommend you to install only 2gb of memory on your system and download and install the Microsoft Patch number KB929777, this patch can be found at the following website:

Once you install the patch, please install all the 4 GB of memory on the system and check if the problem continues

 

[Shrapnel]

He said this happens in XP 32 bit as well.

This is a VERY strange problem you have mate! You said you ran it outside of the case. When you did this, were the power / reset buttons still connected from the case?

Does the system reboot if you just leave it idling?

Do you see any blue-screen when the reboot occurs, or does it just jump straight out of windows.

 

[JoshZ]

hey there! the problem still continues! .. hum wheni mounted it outside i only plugged in the power switch.. id shoot myself if its that but seeing as i only have access to the one in my case im not sure how i would boot the system without it lol... as for the BSOD .. it doesnt occur at all and theres no sys error evidence in the evenvwr after.. i got vista 32 on there now and it still conintues.. i managed to get the nvidia drivers to start installing but it stops for ages half way thru the install and then does the magic boot again.. ive left it dling for a while it seems to hold up ok .. (thats when i can mange to get it to boot all the way into my desktop)..I have a lecture this afternoon but ill be back this evening and ill try it again (also ill see if i cant get hold of an old power switch from the IT guys at uni..)

 

[IAmATeaf]

If it's as unstable as this then try leaving it booted up sitting at the BIOS screen and see if it then randomly reboots?

 

[Shrapnel]

JoshZ - you can start the machine outside of the case by unplugging the power-on button and bridging the two appropriate contacts on the motherboard. But be careful.

Yeah - try what IAmATeaf said - leave it in BIOS and see what happens.

Good luck.

 

[iraiguana]

How far does this get in prime ? wonder if cpu is throwing errors or board could be shorting out some how, what is it mounted on outside of the case ?

 

[JoshZ]

well i havent prime tested it but i stuck the cpu into my mates machine and ran COH for over 2 hours without issue.. when i mounted it up outside the case i put it on the antistatic bag and placed that on a small wooden table. it seems fine in bios ive had it idling in that for about an hour now.. its seems a bit strange.. i can get vista to boot up for a while before it shuts off..then when i try to boot it a second time itll go into a reboot loop just before loading the profile unless i boot into safe mode. i have it running in safe mode ok.. it idles in there fine i havent tried installing much else apart from the nivdia drivers and they went on in safe mode (although made it reboot in full mode).. im gonna go through the steps grouse outlined now and see if they help any .. still mystified though lol its so confusing!

 

[JoshZ]

hey there i'm slightly curious about one thing could anyone tell me what the LDT frequency setting concerns? or what I should have it set to.. its default on 5 but i'm not sure what it does?

 

[flying grouse]

ldt = lightning data transfer - the old name for Hypertransport. =Hyperthreading ratios.
On an nForce mobo it usually is used to connect the nb & sb.

At a rough guess I would say that you want to keep ldt multi x true*

*remember that Intel quad pumps it's CPU bus so that e.g. a 1066 fsb CPU is actually running 266fsb but polled 4 times a cycle.

as I understand it......the HyperTransport base speed is 200Mhz, and 4x is 800Mhz

and as you have found the settings are 1x 2x 3x 3.5x 4x 5x

Hmm.....you may be on to something, found some had lowered this by one step and it stopped their system from crashing

Just curious what timings are you using for your RAM

 

[Uhtred]

OK long shot time, the power the PSU is getting. Have you tried a different power cable and a different wall socket in the house?? To be honest it sounds like the motherboard is at falut. I would send it back and get a different model/make

 

[Phil2008]

OK long shot time, the power the PSU is getting. Have you tried a different power cable and a different wall socket in the house?? To be honest it sounds like the motherboard is at falut. I would send it back and get a different model/make

He will have spent about £50 just on sending the darn thing back

 

[Amnesia]

have u tried using that motherboard and different graphics card/psu/keyboard/mouse/hdd/dvd/memory/cpu ?
i know it would be a pain but if it works then u can add 1 component at a time and see where its failing.

i'd just like to add it could be a driver fault if your managing to install the os and the problems only occur when your installing games/apps which obviously come after drivers.
try with only vid card drivers(different to what u have tried before).
dont use 4 gig when doing any of the tests


damn insomnia

 

[Rick_Barnes]

Where in London are you? I don't mind helping you get to the bottom of the problem using my components.

Sounds to me like you need to try a decent power supply in the machine.

 

[The Deuce]

nice to see someone from OC come on here and offer to refund you a new IDE cable

sounds like PSU to me or fault on tower wiring (stab in dark)

 

[Richie P]

I have to say my first thought when I looked at the spec list was that PSU.

I had a 580w Type-R about 2 years ago, which I wasn't that impressed with. It was biased toward the 3.3 and 5v rails leaving only a proportionately small amount to the 12v rail which is crucially important with a quad core and the 8800GT. My guess is you're tripping the 12V of the PSU. You 530w PSU can only supply 28A to the 12V rails, which is only 336w max of the 530w claimed. Compare that to a Corsair 520w which claims 480w on the 12v rails.

You say you've tried with 'another PSU'? Which make/model? Do you have a good quality 500w or better PSU to test with?

Btw, for those that look at my sig and think I overspec my PSU's with a 1kW for a single graphics card system...lol. This PSU is the most efficient and quietest one I have, and I own a review site so I've a few to choose from. I know it's overkill, but it's quality.

 

[encephalopathy]

have you tried a different dvd drive in it? (or tried running with it disconnected) - i have had problems before with an intermittantly functioning dvdrom crashing the system

 

[Outcast]

Unless I missed a comment we still need to define whether it's a hardware or software issue.

As a couple of others have queried.... Does this happen when in the BIOS ?

I use live cd's to test systems before going through the rigmarole of O/s installations warming the hardware up good & proper.

 

[Shrapnel]

Unless I missed a comment we still need to define whether it's a hardware or software issue.

As a couple of others have queried.... Does this happen when in the BIOS ?

OP said that it ran for an hour or so in BIOS without trouble.

I think he said he's swapped out almost everything so has eliminated any dodgy components in isolation.

This is a tough on.