PC (re)Starts randomly

[NeMSeR]

PC Starts randomly

Hey all, i have a huge problem...

My pc will start itself randomly... I'll be listening to music and when it restarts it makes a weird noise out the speakers like... ERRR lol something like that... then restarts... and sometimes it wont even reboot properly, it might just come on to the windows boot screen then restart again...

SPECS:

OS: Windows XP home, SP2
CPU: AMD Athlon pro 2800+
motherboard: gigabyte GA-7S748
graphics card: ATI Radeon 9600pro
HDD: seagate 160gb
RAM: 1gb ddr400
psu: mercury 400W

CPU TEMP: 71-80C increses and decreses alot

 

[Masque]

Sounds heat-related. How old is the machine?

Check inside for dust....blow it out from all fans, heat sink etc. Make sure the box is in a fairly well ventilated area. What program are you using to monitor the temp? Seems to be leaning a bit high.

Also (important) make sure all your fans are spinning up to speed...especially the on over the heat sink.

 

[NeMSeR]

it's 2 years old, and i cleaned all the dust out 2 days ago but it's still the same problem... im using speedfan to monitor the temperature and my cpu fan is running at 2500RPM

 

[Masque]

Did you build this machine yourself? It's entirely possible the thermal tape or thermal paste has dried out, thereby reducing the contact between the processor and the HSF. If that is the case, it would be wise to (only if you're comfortable with it) remove the HSF from the processor, "carefully" clean the residue from both sides and replace it with a quality thermal paste.

 

[NeMSeR]

Thanks alot for your reply, i'll have to take it into a store to get it done, i wouldn't wanna touch anything like that.