Thread: Random Restarts! Please help!

I built a computer about two weeks ago, and I haven't been able to get it running for more than 30 minutes (usually a lot less) without a random restart.

Here's my configuration:

Windows XP Professional SP2
INTEL CORE 2 DUO E8400 3.00G/1333/6M/S775
S775 ASUS P5K GREEN P35 PCIE
CRUCIAL 800MHZ DDR2 2048MB BALLISTIX KIT
SAPPHIRE PCIE RAD HD2600XT DDR3 512M
CASE ATX ANTEC NSK4480B BLK 380W
320.0 SEAGATE 7200.10 16M ST3320620A
DVD+/-RW LG GSAH55N DL 20/20/+10
Floppy Drive

Peripherals:

USB Mouse
USB Keyboard
Front/Rear Speakers plugged into onboard Sound
Internet cable plugged into onboard Ethernet.

When I first built the system, it ran long enough to install windows, install drivers, etc. I turned it off at the end of the day. The next morning it kept restarting without ever reaching windows.

I tried combinations of the following:
- Reset CMOS
- Unplug all but necessary components
- RAM sticks one at a time in all different slots
- Swapped PSU for a no-name 500W

None of this had any effect whatsoever, so I assumed the board was defective. Exchanged the board for a new one of the same model, and the same situation as above repeated. The computer ran once without problems, but once I turned it off, it wouldn't post anymore the next time I tried turning it on.

Brought the whole thing back to the store for testing. They swapped out the motherboard again and ran some stress tests. I took it back home. Within ten minutes of turning it on, restart. At this point, it always posted, but it would randomly restart. Sometimes in windows, sometimes during bootup, sometimes while looking at settings in the BIOS. It even restarted while running Memtest. So I took the computer back to the store the same day (last Sunday).

Yesterday, I get a call explaining that the computer has been running since I brought it in. They ran many stress tests over a period of 24 hours. When I picked up the computer yesterday, it was running 3DMark without any problems. Satisfied, I brought it back home, plugged it in and it worked for maybe 30 minutes before the random restarts started occurring again. After that, the computer wouldn't run stably for more than 10 minutes at a time, sometimes less.

I've since tried plugging the computer in with or without the power bar, in various outlets in my apartment, with or without the monitor, with or without the USB keyboard. Invariably the computer always restarts no matter what I try.

I disabled the System Failure > Automatic restart checkbox, but I never get a message when the computer restarts. According to the Asus Probe software the CPU and MB never get above 35C before restarting, which should rule out overheating. Fans seem to be operating normally as well.

Next I tried swapping the PSU out for an Antec Power Trio 550W. At first this seemed to work, but after an hour, the computer was up to its old tricks again. I was running 3DMark when it restarted. The next morning I was able to turn it on and surf the web, but as soon as I tried anything which was resource-intensive, it restarted, and got stuck in a restart loop, often not even posting before restarting again. The only thing I can say is that this more powerful PSU definitely lets me use the computer for longer than the weaker one, but it's still not stable.

I am all out of ideas.

Thanks!

Strange one .. have you checked the "event viewer" under Admin tools to see if anything is reported as causing a possible restart.

I would check out the settings for the clock speed in the bios because it can cause a system to restart or just randominly restart when doing heavy computing tasks such as games, spread sheet calculations, graphics manipulations, viewing movies, copying large files. I would at least get into the system bios and double check that the clock speeds and voltage settings are correct. If you still have the problem, you could try to swap out the processor if possible just to rule that out. There are still other hardware issues that still could cause this, some of what you have already troubleshooted. If this works or does not work let me know and we can try something else.

I also failed to mention that it could also be related to a hard drive issue such as simply a bad hard drive or a corrupted install of windows.

Hope you have it fixed by now.....