[KK§cchaos]

My mates computer keeps either locking up or mostly rebooting without warning under XP. Apparently its doing it too under Vista (but Ive defo seen happen under XP)

We've already tried the following, (All with no effect (still locked up or mainly rebooted)):
Changed power supply (to mine)
Changed graphics card (again, to mine)
Changed RAM (to mine)
We have even loaded the default BIOS settings and the safe BIOS settings

The way it reboots is like someone has just pressed the reset switch (except my mate hasnt got it connected) and leaves no error of what happened. Its not even BSODing. We have also noticed the that southbridge chipset is getting hotter tha n the northbridge chipset: is that normal?

The board is a MSI P965 neo-F V2: http://uk.msi.com/in...p;maincat_no=1#
His graphics card: http://www.overclock...amp;subcat=1010
And using an Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2188 2.00ghz/1m/800/86

This post has been edited by cchaos: 09 August 2009 - 03:25 PM

[Nick14]

Update the bios

[jock]

My laptop used to lock up but it was a bad hard drive maybe hard drive is struggling?

[KK§cchaos]

He has about three to four hard drives: so needless to say we have also tried changing hard drives.

As for update the BIOS: it was fine before, so why all of a sudden will it need updating?

This post has been edited by cchaos: 09 August 2009 - 02:49 PM

[Nick14]

cchaos, on 2009-08-09 16:57, said:

He has about three to four hard drives: so needless to say we have also tried changing hard drives.

As for update the BIOS: it was fine before, so why all of a sudden will it need updating?

becouse that what can be causing the Lockups and restarts. had the same thing on Desktop i repaired 1 mount ago updating the bios fixed it

[KK§cchaos]

[First post updated with processor]

He says hes already flashed the BIOS with no effect

[Corman]

Noobish suggestion, but maybe a virus ?

[KK§cchaos]

After a complete format and change of hard drive? Sorry, but I think we can safely rule that one out.

The only thing that me and my mate have is that the board is on its last legs but it is only a year and a couple of months old

This post has been edited by cchaos: 09 August 2009 - 03:33 PM

[santae3]

another suggestion, the battery in the mother board?? checked its condition??

[Nick14]

if it's one off the other HDD then yes it could be virus

[KK§cchaos]

nick14, on 2009-08-09 16:42, said:

if it's one off the other HDD then yes it could be virus

With only one HDD connected?

[Marvin1982]

cchaos, on 2009-08-09 16:39, said:

After a complete format and change of hard drive? Sorry, but I think we can safely rule that one out.

The only thing that me and my mate have is that the board is on its last legs but it is only a year and a couple of months old

to the above post to spec of the system I am running or was it listed

CPU:
Intel Pentium dual core
E2188
2.00GHZ
2.00GHZ/1M/800/86

MEMMORY
Kingston
2G ( 1X 1 )
2.0 V
DDR2 667MHZ ( 800MHZ )

Graphics
Asus GeForce 9400 GT 1024MB DDR2 PCI-Express



I have tried number of bench tests, memory scans, and hardware monitors, all seems fine when I get the report back.
But as the topic explained that the computer just randomly restarts for no apparent reason.
I thought that the motherboard was low on the voltage due to the amount of components in the system.
I ruled this one out by changing the power supply to a higher wattage. ( still no difference )
I then thought it was a BIOS configuration so I sat with my laptop configuring the whole BIOS manualey and also updated BIOS software. ( still no difference ) either tho that all the configurations was correct.
i then focused my attention to the graphics card I configured the system manually by disabling the automatic detection settings and entering the right values in myself but this did not have no affect on the system whatsoever.
I then replaced the graphics card made sure it was set correctly but the system was still rebooting.
I then focus my attention to the memory I changed the memory with the manual configuration settings just in case something was going wrong but it still did not incorporate
so after a ruling out, the manual/ auto configuration settings on all devices / replaced graphics / memory / PSU / and hard disks/
I then come to the conclusion that it could be the main board/
as when I was testing the system I noticed that the South Bridge chip on the board was getting extremely hot.
My conclusion was that it cannot be the CPU stands for central processing unit and that if that was faulty then I would get both get audio and error messages.

I then serviced the main board when it was on the bench ( powered up without the case ) and could not see any faulty components or damage apart from the excessive heat coming from the South Bridge chip

My conclusion was that the main board is written off due two heat and unstable power fluctuations causing the system to be unstable.

This post has been edited by cchaos: 09 August 2009 - 04:07 PM
Reason for edit: Make/model of grphics card entered

[Nick14]

Does it freeze under load or Idle ? and how long in ?

[KK§cchaos]

It was doing it after loading the BIOS and whenever there was a load in windows (if it got that far). Wasnt really a "time" when it would reboot (it was just random)

We have now taken off the CPU cooler, and found residue near the CPU socket, and a couple of capacitors (sorry for my spelling) that look like they are on their way out, so I think its now safe to say it is the board dying

Been looking around at boards, think hes going to go for a Gigabyte GA-EP43C-DS3

Just a case of finding one thats fairly cheap

This post has been edited by cchaos: 10 August 2009 - 03:09 AM

[M]

sounds like mainboard. I have a similar problem with my old amd 754 and decided to abandon it. I'm selling off all the other parts and buying a mobo,ram, CPU, PSU for around 200usd

[maverick.awp]

Try letting the PC on with 1 HDD in safe mode and tell me whether it reboots...

[KK§cchaos]

maverick.awp, on 2009-08-11 08:36, said:

Try letting the PC on with 1 HDD in safe mode and tell me whether it reboots...

Already tested. Didnt help.

New board ordered (delivery takes place tomorrow)

[Manny]

I also had this problem, all i did was replace the CPU fan in the tower. problem solved

This post has been edited by Manny-: 11 August 2009 - 04:32 PM

[Wally_Dog]

Go for a Gigabyte EP45-UDS3L (something like that). They overclock VERY nicely and are extremely good performers.

[nkls]

The same happened to me with my last computer, random restarts now and then. And that was because of some broken capacitors on the mother board.

If a new board is too expensive you could always try to replace the capacitors.