CPU or Motherboard problem? Or both?
 

I bought a systemax system about a year ago. Model# SYXS-DB-989150.

I think the specs a

CPU: PENTIUM P4 3.06 (probably celeron)
MB: P4M800-M7A
RAM: 1GB

Anyway, after receiving my product, I attached two extra hard drives
immediately afterwards, and my troubles started a few weeks
afterwards. The hard drive which was attached as a slave to the C
drive would not show up from time to time when I booted my computer.
However, if I restarted it, it would appear, so I just lived with it.

Then sometime in January, my house had a blackout. After that,
whenever I did something that required a lot of data transfer from one
hard drive to another, the computer would just restart without
warning. I don't do games, but I do use a lot of video related
software such as AutoGK or DVD Shrink, and those are the only times
when the computer would restart. When using Office programs or
Firefox, the computer would run fine. I do however, have a suspicion
that Winamp caused the computer to crash quite a few times.
Looking around, I found that you could configure a setting in "My
Computer Advanced" where you could have a blue screen of
death appear instead of the computer simply resurrecting itself. I did
that, and no BSOD.
Then, I downloaded memtest and tested the ram with 5 passes. It passed
with flying colors.
I also downloaded SpeedFan to see whether the temperature ever went
ballistic while I was running DVD Shrink. I never managed to catch the
moment when the computer crashed but the temperature was always below
the 60 degree mark and only exceeded 50 sporadically.
Finally, I downloaded "CPU Burn-in" and let it rip. This
managed to crash my machine everytime, and I'm quite sure this fouled
up my computer for good. Now, it randomly reboots anytime it feels
like it.

So my question is: Is this a problem with my CPU, motherboard, or
both?

I'll just buy the parts and replace them myself, but I'd like to
salvage what I can rather than buying both parts (which would be a
surefire remedy but I might be throwing away a perfectly good CPU or
motherboard).

CPU or Motherboard problem? Or both?
 

ekdysiast wrote:
I bought a systemax system about a year ago. Model# SYXS-DB-989150.

I think the specs a

CPU: PENTIUM P4 3.06 (probably celeron)
MB: P4M800-M7A
RAM: 1GB

Anyway, after receiving my product, I attached two extra hard drives
immediately afterwards, and my troubles started a few weeks
afterwards. The hard drive which was attached as a slave to the C
drive would not show up from time to time when I booted my computer.
However, if I restarted it, it would appear, so I just lived with it.

Then sometime in January, my house had a blackout. After that,
whenever I did something that required a lot of data transfer from one
hard drive to another, the computer would just restart without
warning. I don't do games, but I do use a lot of video related
software such as AutoGK or DVD Shrink, and those are the only times
when the computer would restart. When using Office programs or
Firefox, the computer would run fine. I do however, have a suspicion
that Winamp caused the computer to crash quite a few times.
Looking around, I found that you could configure a setting in "My
Computer Advanced" where you could have a blue screen of
death appear instead of the computer simply resurrecting itself. I did
that, and no BSOD.
Then, I downloaded memtest and tested the ram with 5 passes. It passed
with flying colors.
I also downloaded SpeedFan to see whether the temperature ever went
ballistic while I was running DVD Shrink. I never managed to catch the
moment when the computer crashed but the temperature was always below
the 60 degree mark and only exceeded 50 sporadically.
Finally, I downloaded "CPU Burn-in" and let it rip. This
managed to crash my machine everytime, and I'm quite sure this fouled
up my computer for good. Now, it randomly reboots anytime it feels
like it.

So my question is: Is this a problem with my CPU, motherboard, or
both?

I'll just buy the parts and replace them myself, but I'd like to
salvage what I can rather than buying both parts (which would be a
surefire remedy but I might be throwing away a perfectly good CPU or
motherboard).


I'd suspect the motherboard, based on your description so far. It
could also be the power supply, but you don't say what you're using
for that.

You can find the Biostar P4M800-M7A for $43 and up, so it isn't an
expensive board. It looks to have three phase power and is socket LGA775.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Custra...82E16813138263

On this page, you can see some boards that might replace it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ubcategory=280

The Gigabyte GA-8I865GME-775-RH looks to have OK reviews, and
there are the Intel BOXD865GSAL LGA 775 Intel 865G Micro ATX
entries as well. You'd have to do a Repair Install of
Windows, as one way to account for the use of a different
chipset and its different drivers. That is the quickest way to
get running again.

If the Biostar board has a hardware monitor that shows the power
supply voltages, you might use that to see whether the power
supply has issues or not. A multimeter would do a more accurate
job of checking, than a hardware monitor, but not everyone has
one of those to work with. You would be looking for a voltage
that is lower than normal, implying the supply is weak and
is close to overload.

Speaking in terms of the odds of any one item having problems,
power supplies would have the highest odds of failure or weakness,
the motherboard would be second, and CPUs are much more reliable
than both. So take your pick as to which you try swapping first.
(I think on my first build, I bought duplicates of just about
everything :-) )

Paul

CPU or Motherboard problem? Or both?
 

"ekdysiast" wrote in message
...
I bought a systemax system about a year ago. Model# SYXS-DB-989150.

I think the specs a

CPU: PENTIUM P4 3.06 (probably celeron)
MB: P4M800-M7A
RAM: 1GB

Anyway, after receiving my product, I attached two extra hard drives
immediately afterwards, and my troubles started a few weeks
afterwards. The hard drive which was attached as a slave to the C
drive would not show up from time to time when I booted my computer.
However, if I restarted it, it would appear, so I just lived with it.

Then sometime in January, my house had a blackout. After that,
whenever I did something that required a lot of data transfer from one
hard drive to another, the computer would just restart without
warning.

(snip)

So my question is: Is this a problem with my CPU, motherboard, or
both?

I'll just buy the parts and replace them myself, but I'd like to
salvage what I can rather than buying both parts (which would be a
surefire remedy but I might be throwing away a perfectly good CPU or
motherboard).

Based on what you wrote, I am 99.99% certain that your power supply is bad.
It was probably borderline when new. What gives this away is that you had a
hard drive not show up on cold boot, but show up on restart. That right
there tells me that the power supply wasn't able to supply enough current to
spin up ALL the drives at the same time, but after one was going, it could
spin up another (on reboot).

Another telling symptom is that you are restarting when using more than one
physical drive simultaneously. This is no doubt caused by a low voltage
condition caused by increased current draw. (weak power supply)

My prescription is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817101111

I'd suggest that you use that EXACT power supply. It's very high quality.
You won't want to spend less on a power supply, though you definitely
ould. -Dave

CPU or Motherboard problem? Or both?
 

I would suspect your power supply unit and/or your motherboard as having
been damaged by the past blackout. The voltage spikes that can occur then
are tremendous.

--
--------
DaveW
"ekdysiast" wrote in message
...
I bought a systemax system about a year ago. Model# SYXS-DB-989150.

I think the specs a

CPU: PENTIUM P4 3.06 (probably celeron)
MB: P4M800-M7A
RAM: 1GB

Anyway, after receiving my product, I attached two extra hard drives
immediately afterwards, and my troubles started a few weeks
afterwards. The hard drive which was attached as a slave to the C
drive would not show up from time to time when I booted my computer.
However, if I restarted it, it would appear, so I just lived with it.

Then sometime in January, my house had a blackout. After that,
whenever I did something that required a lot of data transfer from one
hard drive to another, the computer would just restart without
warning. I don't do games, but I do use a lot of video related
software such as AutoGK or DVD Shrink, and those are the only times
when the computer would restart. When using Office programs or
Firefox, the computer would run fine. I do however, have a suspicion
that Winamp caused the computer to crash quite a few times.
Looking around, I found that you could configure a setting in "My
Computer Advanced" where you could have a blue screen of
death appear instead of the computer simply resurrecting itself. I did
that, and no BSOD.
Then, I downloaded memtest and tested the ram with 5 passes. It passed
with flying colors.
I also downloaded SpeedFan to see whether the temperature ever went
ballistic while I was running DVD Shrink. I never managed to catch the
moment when the computer crashed but the temperature was always below
the 60 degree mark and only exceeded 50 sporadically.
Finally, I downloaded "CPU Burn-in" and let it rip. This
managed to crash my machine everytime, and I'm quite sure this fouled
up my computer for good. Now, it randomly reboots anytime it feels
like it.

So my question is: Is this a problem with my CPU, motherboard, or
both?

I'll just buy the parts and replace them myself, but I'd like to
salvage what I can rather than buying both parts (which would be a
surefire remedy but I might be throwing away a perfectly good CPU or
motherboard).