PC sudden reboots

V

veljamh

I've been trying to play certain games on a bit old PC for a while now. But all I get is instant rebooting.

Since it's aged (power supply dates from 2004), new PC is on the way, I still wanna play some legacy games until it arrives.

Current issues are Neverwinter Nights 2 (with both expansions), and any other video game that requires Shader Version 2.0+.

CPU: AMD AthlonXP 2.4 (2.0 operational, 133x15) - all instructions passed benchmarks
Memory: 2x512 MB Kingston (DDR400) - no errors on memtest86
GPU: ASUS nVidia 7600GS 256MB DDR2 - antialias, texturing, mapping, rendering passed on benchmarks.
HDDs: 2x80 GB Maxtor 7200rpm - All sectors and clusters clean.

Power Supply (imo, a critical issue): Mercury ATX 280W -.- (plus aging reduced it's effective output for sure).

Question: In order to create a stable environment, should I consider replacing the PSU? Maybe this one can no longer produce so much power for this graphic card.

I mean, I've tried everything else, switching to other memories, reseating components, this is the only thing left xD
 
You are running XP? Go into control panel, system, advanced, start up and recovery. Uncheck time to display operating system and automatically restart computer... and yes, replace that old power supply with a new 500 watt or better supply
 
Yes WinXP SP3. I'll try that with halting the reboot process, but I am now 99% sure its an issue that GPU is struggling with PSU (even had those pesky nVidia warnings, which I thought were bugged :( )

Anyways, should I look for a PSU with some sort of specific V-rails or its all the same? Cause I've ran on a dozen of threads all over the web, referring to select a PSU with GPU specific rails.


Thanks for reply.
- veljamh
 
Update

Ok, a little update, I was out of town, I know it's a bit of late reply :)

Here are some values from BIOS:

CPU Temperature: 68°C [154°F]
System Temperature: 48°C [118°F]

CPU Fan Speed: 2689-2700 rpm
North Bridge Fan Speed: +5000 rpm

Vcore (default is 1.65V): 1.664 - 1.680V
+5.0V rail: 4.998 - 5.003
+12V rail: 11.315 - 11.437 (critical?)
-12V rail: -12.564, -12.646
-5.0V rail: -5.528, -5.578

Battery: 3.472 - 3.488
Battery 5V SB: 4.678 - 4.703

Hope this helps. Btw, I've ordered the supply a few days ago, and it's still not here -.-
 
Your core temps are quite high. I have and old P4 that starts with a core temp 90, by applying thermal paste its down to 35.

Apply thermal paste to your procie and make sure you have adequate ventilation
 
The new power supply will fix the reboots. The CPU and system temps are high, but cleaning out the inside of the computer and doing what WinXPert says will be a good thing to do
 
:D

Thanks for the replies :)

And yea, I've never replenished eons old thermal paste (which by now has maybe turned to dust xD).


Since it's Sunday now, everything is closed, but tomorrow I'll buy some compressed air cans, 96% (standard one here) alcohol to clean the rig, and the fore-mentioned paste to resolve the issues. :D
 
PSU Replaced and tested

OK, final reply.

After a series of PSU selections, I've tested one in the long run.

Antec 420W with dual +12V rails.
It has a 24pin cable for my 20pin MB, but it works fine.


Thermal Paste is also re-applied.


Thank you both for the replies. So far, not a single BSoD from any application.

:)
 
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