Help! My system abruptly shuts-off for no reason. Had 3 unrecoverable crashes so far.

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I have a Pentium 4 3.0Ghz system built-up from an Intel D865PERL
desktop board. This past week has been a nightmare I've had 3 to 4 unrecoverable abrupt system shut-down crashes where I had to do a full C drive format, repartition, BIOS clear, then reinstall Windows XP Professional, and then all my programs one by painstaking one. After 3 days and 3 nights I got it back to where was before. Then it would lose the DVD-RW drive and SCSI Syjet 1.5GB removable harddrive. I recently installed an Evercool WC-202 watercooler kit in it, but have'nt had any problems with until yesterday the same time the DVD drive would go dead and dissappear from My Computer, the fans in the watercooler would stop. Its pump and LCD screen would stay working however. Weird! I pulled the side panel off and jostled/wiggled the Molex "Y" splitter power cables, and everything returned to normal if I held the cables in certain positions by twisting them. Must be an intermittant short or bad connection in one of the 2 of them or both that trips-out the power supply.

With this last sudden shut-down crash, the motherboard's OEM utility program Active Monitor, and the Intel Desktop Control Center stopped working correctly. The one gave an error messege that my board had no sensors. Did one of these crashes fry the board's on-board temp/fan/voltage sensors? I arrived at the conclusion that the "Y" Molex cables need replacing.

I would appreciate any feedback from any of you. I read similar postings, and realize I'm not the only one having this problem.
My Motherboard is still under warranty from Intel, I just dread having to tear my system apart, and be depressed/computer-less while waiting for the replacement board to arrive.
 
Not only should you try and exchange your (probably fried) mobo, you should especially look into that powersupply that does not seem to have enough molex-connectors. Y-splitters are only for emergencies and they rarely fit properly (cheap throw-away item).
Check that the PSU meets the minimum requirements with about 30% at least to spare.
Two 12v rails are very desirable.
 
Thanks for your feedback. I even had to get on the phone with Intel. They asked if the voltages and Temps., were showing up in the hardware monitoring function in the BIOS. Turns out I had to regedit go to H_Key Local Machine, then down to software and delete some key entries under the Intel category. Apparently uninstalling the 2 Intel utility programs still left some of thier reminnants in the registry. Since twisted/tweaked the 2 Molex "Y" connectors yesterday, the system has been behaving itself. (Fingers Crossed!)I'm replacing them anyway on payday. You're right I should look into a more powerful PS. I thought 400Watt would be more than enough. My old Tomcat3 system originally had 320Watt PS then I upgraded it to a 350Watt one. Fun thing about computers I'll close on, you always can learn something new each day.

I'm cracking open a cold beer in salute to you.

Cheers!

Sttomcat3
 
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