Hardware?

My computer keeps turning off on me. At first I thought it was just when I had a bunch of programs running etc. but, it seems that is not the case now. It will boot up and at the windows sign on screen just lose power, did that like 3 or 4 times and finally it worked. It will turn off like 3 times in a row then be ok for a few days. It usually only turned off when i was playing a game of listening to music now its whenever. I keep getting new cpu installed as well when i boot up and prompting me to go to setup or select default values and continue. Does anyone have a clue as to my problem? This is driving me absolutely crazy.

 

here is an everest attachment with a report of my system.

 

isn't there anyone who can help me with this? I know at least one of you has some sort of idea.

 

It's the holiday season, so it can take a little while.

Anyway, do you know what your CPU is supposed to be?

It's set as a 1.4 Pentium 4, is that correct?

 

Yeah, that is true. I am just getting so frustrated and wondering if I am gonna have to buy something expensive since I am poor this month and the comp has been my buddy as of late lol. Sorry if I seemed a little demanding just going nuts with all the shutting down. Its a pent. 4 2.8ghz cpu. I dunno why it is on 1.8 weird.... how can I change that?

 

No need to apologise.

At least you know the problem now!

It's not even on 1.8, it's only on 1.4!

I don't own one, but it should be on a 133 FSB with a multiplier of 21, which will give you 2.8.

You need to enter the Bios to change the settings.

 

So that should fix my issues?

 

Yep, currently it's only running at a crawl. I'm surprised it's even running.

 

Well I think good news is that this seems to be the problem, bad news is I can't change it in my bios there just isn't an option to do it. I went through the whole thing and found nothing on changing my cpu speed or anything relating to such other than just seeing the stats for my cpu. It took 3 tries to reboot since each time it shutdown from my startup programs I watched on task manager as it went to 100% then went pft. think i will use safe mode if I have to do anything involving turning it off again. Any other ideas on changing it?

 

Unless it's a crappy OEM board, there are settings there.

You won't solve this until your CPU is detected by the Bios, as that's what loads first, and what Windows relies on.

 

Well I don't think the board is top end, but it has been good to me in the last two years. I built my computer myself(with some help of course). I just don't know where I can find the settings for that change to be made I relaly did search through the entire setup in bios. I looked at the asus probe as well and it says my cpu speed is 2800 but i think its full of shit since the everest says otherwise. How can I get my cpu to be recognized by my bios? Is there a how to or some such on setting up bios. I don't mind doing reading etc. I am completely stumped on how to change it though.

 

ok well i just read that the multiplyer for intels chips are locked and you cant change them thats why i cant find a way to change it. I didn't see anything about the fsb though. However the being locked thing could be someone talking out of their ass since i just read it on the net.

 

That's not entirely correct.

Most processors these days are locked, but you aren't trying to overclock, just set it to how it should be.

 

Just to add, I would be surprised if your motherboard/Bios doesn't have multiplier settings.

Some boards don't, but they are crappy OEM boards.

 

well i just had alot of fun here for the last 20 mins or so trying to get this thing back on lol. it shuts down in safe mode too. I looked at the everest stats and at one point it said 2800ghz 14x200 I don't know how or why but it did. now its back to the 1400. I promise that there isnt a way to change the multiplier it says locked in the bios setup, however it also says my cpu is at 2800. My comp is shutting off before it can even boot now sometimes. Should I update the bios? I just dont know how to get it to recognize my cpu. Think maybe mobo is bad? or even the cpu? powersupply?

 

It could be anything, it's very difficult without going through a process of elimination.

The only condolence is that you know what the underlying problem is.

How to rectify it is another issue.

If you are sure it's fluctuating in detecting the CPU, then the most likely culprits are as you suggested.

It's not a compatibility problem, as that board should support that CPU.

What's the history of this setup, has it ever worked etc?

 

I'd also make sure it's not overheating and stepping down.


And every time you shut down or restart, check Everest and see if it changes the specs.

 

Yeah it has worked for the last 2 years. I have had two problems so far. First problem was that my original videocard radeon 9800 the fan broke on it. I bought a little fan and hooked it up it was fine for a while. Then about a year later my power switch broke somehow and after alot of bs I figured out that was the only problem and so I bought a new case and switched it all out. Had no problems until all this started. I have had a few spyware things and such but other than that nada. I also switched the video card out with a radeon 700 x pro or some jazz. I cant remember the name currently. I still have my other card, just needs another ghetto rigged fan put on it lol. I have looked at the temp. on my asus probe and everest and neither have shown any overheating prior to shutdown. It doesn't restart either it just goes dead. I am going to try and update the bios and see if that helps, any help with that one as well is appreciated lol. And after that I will change the powersupply which i have an extra of. Any suggestions on a motherboard if I need to get a new one that will be compatible with my cpu and ram?

 

Also, is there a way I can check my mobo and/or cpu without taking it to a computer store?

 

let a program run in the background when you are looking at everest, if your CPU is like mine the multioplier varies between 4x-11x the mobo changes it when it needs the extra power, if that is the case then cpu speed probably isn't your problem.

 

Ok, did some testing lol. I ran wc3, google earth, firefox and looked at everest at several different times as well astask manager. The asus probe utility showed that my cpu was a 2800ghz everest showed 1400. This was consistent. Same with the temp. The highest temp my cpu reached was 75. All that happened was that those programs showed that 100% of my cpu was being used in task manager. I tried to open a ton of things and see if it might shut down but to no avail. It just randomly does that. my cpu said 14 x 100 the whole time with everest. I made sure I refreshed everest as well just to make sure. I still havent seen it go back to 2800 on everest again though. When it was at 2800 it was like that the whole time after I rebooted it, but then it turned off immediately after i started a wc3 game.

 

I would trust Everest more than the ASUS probe, especially considering you are having problems.

Try physically checking everything is where it should be, then you will have to go through each possibility one by one.

Sorry, I really can't offer any more insight without having it in front of me.

 

Well I changed the powersupply out, flashed the current bios for my mobo, disassembled, cleaned and reassembled everything. I am still getting the new cpu installed messaage and I am still randomly turning off. Is there a way to test my motherboard and see if it is the culprit? Same for cpu cause I have no idea how I can test them, other than putting them in another computer and then waiting to see if power loss occurs. Could it be my cd, dvd, floppy drives possibly causing a problem and how can I test them as well? I really don't want to have to buy stuff randomly and replace it since returns are a pain with cpu stuff I also sent in a helpdesk form to asus, but I doubt they will help me. I am going to take one thing out at a time and see if it still shuts down, but other than that pfft i have no clue what to do other than but a new comp. And maybe a fresh app of windows..

 

You could try SiSoftware Sandra and/or something like Dr Hardware, although I don't know how telling they will be.

 

A question, what does windows say it is? under the system tab. Also does the bios recognize this as a 2.8 ghz chip, when it first boots it should say in the bios what the chip is running at. if its 2.8 there then it is windows thats backing it off. It can do that through powersettings. If the system is set to desktop or laptop or something it can under clock itself to save power. If you set it to always on, it goes full out. Also check your board for puffy caps, a capisitor goin down the tubes could be the culprit. As for testing the rest of the perefirals thats easy, unplug them all and boot your system. If its fine, then do it one piece at a time. Also run a memtest on it. Memory gone bad does weird things to systems. infact now that I think of it do that first.

 

For what its worth the most common problems that cause a computer to shut down after running for a while is CPU over heating, a failing power supply(voltage good signal is missing or too high), motherboard issues such as bad capacitors or other short circuit issues, and a bad or failing CPU. Check your CPU temp in the BIOS with a P4 you should 95 to 105 F. Your video card could be the problem also if it is overheating again. The only way the check these issues is to have spare equipment that is known to be good and replace one item at a time. Be sure to clean all the dust out of the computers fans so that they can cool things properly. Hope this helps.