A different kind of restarting...

Well, i have searched for an answer to this problem and i have found no answer to it, anywhere. I'm not completely sure if its a power supply, memory, etc etc.... Well it only happens when im playing a taxing game. I play HL1, with no problems, but say if i switch over to guild wars, within at least 5 minutes, click, restarted. If i do nothing but surf the net it will NEVER restart. I have done everything known to man. I have formatted, replaced mobo, new processor bought new hard drives to boot from. Still no resolution to my problem, which still persists. It makes me so upset when i am playing something and it just restarts.

System info if needed

Mainboard : WinFast K8S755A
Chipset : SiS 755/755FX
Processor : AMD Sempron 2800+ @ 1600 MHz
Physical Memory : 1280 MB
Video Card : ATI Technologies Inc Radeon 9600 XT (V350)
Hard Disk : WDC (40 GB)
Hard Disk : WDC (30 GB)
Hard Disk : WDC (80 GB)
DVD-Rom Drive : LITE-ON DVDRW LDW-451S
DVD-Rom Drive : WZ1400L ADN945R SCSI CdRom Device
Monitor Type : Dell Computer DELL M781p - 19 inchs
Network Card : D-Link Inc DFE-528TX/530TX+/538TX Fast Ethernet Adapter (DL 10038C Chipset)
Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8169 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
Operating System :Microsoft Windows XP Professionnal 5.01.2600 Service Pack 2
DirectX : Version 9.0c (February 2006)

 

a shot in the dark...

The only thing that jumps out at me from looking at your specs, is the amount of memory (1280mb). How many sticks of RAM do you have and what are their sizes? Have you tested your RAM? If you are running 3 sticks of RAM try taking the 'odd' one out and see if that helps the problem.

B

 

Yea, i have 2 512's and a 256, ill try taking the 256 out and testing it.

 

Check your SMPS rating too. Try swapping your SMPS with another.

 

Well i took out the 256, and it seemed stable for the ammount of time i played, i also took out an extra NIC i had in it. Whats SMPS? if you mean a Power Supply, its a 400 watt powermax, i did think it might be going bad, but is there any way to check with software maybe?

 

what are u'r system/cpu temps at during game play?

 

Well, it peeks at about 32-34 C. I'm not sure what the maximum temperature for CPU's is. But i think that is about right. I use this program called speedfan its version 4.28, i only use it because Motherboard Monitor doesnt support this board, i have 4 temps i watch, 1 cpu, and the 3 hd's, one of the hd's is peaking at like 46 degrees C, and the other 2 are ALWAYS at 39-40. Maybe this HD is to close to another?

 

Check with software - none that I am aware of.

 

Willie:
Is it a powermax or a PowMax? I'm not familiar with Powermax but if its a PowMax, be aware that although these are decent low cost PSU's, they are also known for voltage swings. You can check your voltages in most BIOS'es or you can run something like Everest and get voltage readings while you do other tasks on your computer. If you keep getting knocked out with a system taxing game, my first suspicion would be that your ATI card can't get enough "juice" - they pull a lot of power although the 9600 isn't as bad as some of the others.

Two other comments - first, whats the amperage rating of your 12 volt rail? Second, I question the 32 C temp of your CPU as unlikely.

 

A $10 power supply tester is an excellent investment but I'm not sure it could detect an intermittent problem - when your rig is under heavy load while gaming. Still it's a good idea. Thisis the one that's very popular today.

Does an ATI 9600 require its own power connection? I doubt it but I thought I'd ask.

Two things are notorious for causing a PC to reboot under a heavy load. One is a sagging rail (due to a problem power supply) or insufficient voltage being supplied to your processor for the speed you're running at. For example, if you're overclocking but not giving your cpu extra juice.

I'm thinking that your power supply is the culprit but as mentioned I'd do some testing your RAM as well.

Gary