Hi all,

I am trying to sort a problem with my system - so far with no luck.

I have an ASUS A7V8X motherboard, AthlonXP 2600+ CPU and a Coolermaster "Heat Pipe" HHC-L61 cooler. Basically, the system won't stay powered up - it keeps shutting down but not on a time basis more on an activity basis.

The system will sit in BIOS or DOS etc. forever but as soon as I give it some work to do (like installing Windows XP) it shuts down.

The motherboard has ASUS COP (CPU Overheating Protection) so that if it thinks the CPU is in danger of overheating it will power down. Anyone had this? I've flashed the BIOS to v1012 and still no joy.

The CPU temp is at 47degC at idle (from BIOS) and I don't know what it's getting to on load 'cos I can't get Windows on to load some software - is there another way? I need to be able to load up the CPU and monitor its temp from DOS. How do I check whether the CPU is overheating and the mobo is doing its job without windows? Is there some software anyone knows?

The CPU cooler is on using the thermal grease that came with it. Is a thermal pad better? Could it be that my CPU's overheating (I've tried 2, a AthlonXP2000+ and this 2600+).

Any help would be great 'cos I'm going crazy over this!!

Check your bios setting to see what temperature has been set for shutdown. Try increasing this setting (e.g. to 60 deg C - still safe) to see if it helps.

Thanks for the reply,

I have changed it from "Auto" right up to 100degC (and various stages inbetween) and it still happens.

I have talked to ASUS today who think that the board may be faulty. (Great, guys). I'm going to return the board and try with an MSI I think. I've heard they're the best board (?)...always had SOYO up until now.

Ah well, just when you think you're one step closer to knowing a bit more...

MSI's are great, i've had a few problems with ASUS boards myself.

I've accidentally tested the feature on a A7N8X (Asus needs board names that are easier to type!) when I yanked on a spare molex connector to hook up more drives. Seems it was on the string that had the water pump power and disconnected the pump. About 5 minutes after powering up it shut down and then would shut down quickly after each Restart. I found the waterblock was around 170F and realized what was going on. It works quite well, actually.