Motherboard voltage inconsistency

Hi everyone! I have a question, my computer is basically not working so I'll try to explain everything as well as I can, any help would be appreciated!

I hadn't used my PC in a couple of months, then I got a new monitor and turned it on. Everything was great for about 15 minutes, after which the computer decided to restart, and would keep restarting about every second from there on, the fans and lights turn on and right away it restarts again, there's no time for the screen to turn on. The only way to stop this cycle is to turn off the power from the back.

After turning it on and off a few times and this always happening, I started getting a BIOS message "BIOS checksum bad". I figured it might be my motherboard battery so I replaced that. The message has since disappeared but the computer keeps restarting.

I then started isolating the components: swapped out ram sticks, let it run without a video card. However, it would always start the restart cycle at one point.

I was then looking through the bios settings and noticed that my South Bridge voltage is very inconsistent. It moves from about 1.3 to 1.1 and sometimes 0.9 (where it goes in the red). My guess is that that is the problem...what could be causing it though? All the other voltages are consistent. Is my MB fried or are there things I can do to potentially fix this? I've looked at all the capacitors and seem fine.

Here are my specs:

Windows 7
MB: Asus Maximus Formula Special Edition
Ram: OCZ Platinum DDR2 (2x1gb)
Graphics: Zotac GeForce 8800GT 512mb
CPU: Intel Q6600 Quad Core


Thanks and any help would be much appreciated!

 

Only question that I have is what PSU you have and have you tested with a different one?

As to the constant auto restarts, to stop them right click

Code:

Computer
Properties
Advanced System Settings
Startup and Recovery
Uncheck Auto restart
OK out

You will get a blue screen next time it restarts, record the details on top, looks like URQL_IS_NOT_EQUAL (just an example but same format), and on the bottom there will be something like 0X0000007(blah blah blah). Just need the info to the left of the parentheses.

Someone else will have to help you with your dmp files. Good luck.

 

Assuming you can get to windows the minidumps are located in C:\windows\minidump. Upload them and I will take a look however I am willing to tell you now that they will say hardware fault. I would guess your power supply is on its last legs too.

 

Hey guys, thanks for the replies!

I have no idea what my PSU is...I can't remember what I bought. The computer is pretty old as you can probably tell from the rest of the components and that's the one part I just don't remember. As of right now I don't have another PSU I could try and I'm kind of tight on money so I'd like to isolate the problem as much as possible before I spend money on anything.

I followed your steps to stop it from auto restarting but it's still happening. I don't get a blue screen, just constant restarts (they happen so fast that I don't even think the computer actually boots)

I also tried opening the minidump file (there's only 1 in the directory) with the program bluescreenview but nothing comes up, the program is just blank with no information. Maybe I'm not doing it right? My apologies, I'm new to this kind of thing. Perhaps there's a better way to view the file?

Thanks again for your help and augiedoggie, great avatar

PS - I just tried bluescreenview on my laptop (because it's got a bit of a problem as well) and I can see all the minidump files and all the information. It looks like my desktop is simply not creating any of these files. Could that be because the power is cutting out completely so it can't even make one?

 

It does sound like the PSU or a real bad CPU heat issue, open up the case and see if the fan spins up. I got no more.

 

Seconded.

attach the minidump to your next post and ill have a look

 

All temperatures are fine and all the fans are spinning

I can't open any minidump file :S. There's only a single file in that directory and bluescreenview doesn't show any info when I open it...it's blank. I don't even think windows has the time to detect an error when the thing shuts down.


The only reason why I'm doubting it's the PSU (and maybe my logic is wrong here) is because the voltage inconsistency is happening specifically with the South Bridge of the motherboard. Wouldn't more components be going funky if the power supply wasn't working right?

 

OK this is really weird, I started the computer again trying to see if I can get a minidump file and now it doesn't restart but rather freezes. I can still see my screen and the fans still spin however the screen is just frozen. Surely if it was the PSU this wouldn't be happening?

 

PSUs will cause all sorts of problems. They dont have to die completely but just be unable to suply a steady voltage and sufficient current.

A Bad PSU may cause all the problems that you have highlighted. you need to attach the mini dump using the manage attachments button in additional options (scroll down)

I can then review it with a debugger

 

Hi,

Thanks so much for the help. I bit the bullet and decided to buy a new PSU...fixed my problems. Thanks so much!

 

Glad you got it sorted