Well if its not one thing its another. . . Heres my latest issue.

For the last few days my computer has been randomly locking up. Ive investigated everything from bad drivers, viruses, re-wireing, reformatting etc. I finaly thought I had it fixed after I reformatted my computer. Then I was playing CS:S when my computer died completely shut off. I went to turn it back on and right as it was about to get to the windows welcome screen it shutsdown. Ive tried different ewall sockets, different surge protectors and nothing. Its not a time issue, because I can leave it running in the BIOS screen for 30 minutes without issue. HELP! Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Comp specs in sig.

Have you blown the family of dust bunnies out of your psu? Did the PSU fan die? Have you measured your voltages(12v, 5v and 3.3v) with a multimeter at load and at idle? Tried memtest to rule out your memory?

Could be PSU, RAM, Or Motherboard. I would try running Memtest for a few hours, some Prime 95 to see if CPU is unstable, Then if you can, get a DMM to test voltages on 20/24 pin connector to Motherboard.

We'll figure it out.

Coke: I hate when I think im the first to reply.... Its so annoying.

PSU is dustbunny free, PSU fans are operational, Ive have run memtest and it passed several times through. I have not measured my voltages, Im ashamed to admit I dont know how. I do have a voltmeter, so how do I go about measuring it?

I cant run Prime95 because I cant get into windows. I can get into the BIOS and thats it. Luckly I had a floppy disk with memtest on it, so I was able to run that. I also checked the PSU for dustbunnies and reseated it with new AS5.

How long did you leave those memory tests running.

You test the voltages by. Im not sure I remmeber correctly but 1 probe has to be grounded while the other is touched to a wire, 12+, 5+ or 3+, Computer has to be on. be careful. Set it to read max voltages then turn it down slowly, its as way to make sure you don't overload the DMM. Nothing else is tested while its on!!!

I think Maybe continuity is. Im not sure.

I left memtest running for about 8 hours while I slept last night.

Touched to a wire? Does that mean I should open up my PSU or do I connect the pin to inside of the connector? I assume the black would be ground. . . what would the others be?

Id try prime 95 also for a few hours.

Can I run Prim95 without getting into windows? If someone can explain to me how to test the rails on the PSU with a voltmeter Ill try that out and get back to you guys. Thanks for all the help so far!

The best way to check the 12v and 5v lines is to use a spare 4 pin molex plug( the same one that plugs into your drives). You have 4 wires 1 red 1 yellow and 2 black. set your voltage level on your meter to the lowest level on the scale or let it auto range( Forgot wether its AC or DC volts). take the red lead and place it in the red wire socket in the molex plug and the black lead on your multimeter into the black wire socket on the molex and then repeat for the yellow wire. I think the yellow wire is 12v and the red is 5v the blacks are ground. Check the voltages at idle and then under load and see what you come up with.

Im not sure which pins you gotta stick live probe in though, when I did it I had a sheet that told me which pins are the 12+ etc lines.

Hopefully someone else will know offhand.

Cannot run prime 95 without getting into windows.

PSU FAQ

EDIT:

Why would he need to set it to the max DC range when the range is already pretty obvious? That is of course assuming he doesn't have a auto-ranging digital multimeter.

ok, I cant test my rails under full load unfortunatly because I cant get into windows. . . Heres what I have at idle.

+3.3 is at 3.40
+5 is at 5.05
+12 is at 11.73

According to the FAQ these readings are all in range. Any other ideas?

Thats what i was taught, set to max then move down till you get accurate reading.

we probably have diff DMM.

Nod- Detach everything from mobo, except CPU, RAM and Video card. then boot it up. if it boots then start adding parts 1 by one and seeing if it boots. if it doesn't Boot, take out RAM, then Video card till you find the bad part.

Even though the 12v rail reading is a little low, it shouldnt be causing the problems that you are describing. It sounds like to me either the Ram (timings, voltage, bad stick, etc.) or the mobo is at fault.

EDIT:

That is assuming a unknown DC voltage value. We already know the DC voltage value for PSU's

The reason you set it to max is so that if you have a brain fart and try and read the voltage on a 240 volt circuit while in the 20 volt range you dont hose up your meter. It's a good habit to be in to prevent having to purchase another meter.While we all know the values but for someone who is not as proficient with there proper use it is best to start at the top and work down. If its auto ranging even better for the inexperienced . all your rails look good but the 12v line its low for an idle reading but still within the 10%window. try measuring it while memtest is running. Can you get into windows in safe mode?

no, I cant get into windows at all. If I try and do anything outside of bios the computer shuts off. I dont get it. . . I also noticed now that I cant turn my computer back on imediatly after it shuts off. I have to turn the PSU off in the back with the switch, wait a few seconds, switch it back on, and then power up the computer. Maybe its just acting like a reset switch?

Try pulling everything out of the board but the cpu vid card and 1 stick of ram. If no go try the other stick of memory. then try and restart. Do you have another psu you can use to power up your rig? anything 350watts or above should get you to post.

w/e


Im thinking its PSU at this point i just got that feeling ya know.

Its down to the testing phase now i think.

I am going against the flow and say ram. MSI boards are real touchy with ram.

Ya but he said he ran memtest and passed. I also told him to run prime 95. butttt uh I dunnue.

ok, heres the latest. I unplugged everything except the harddrive, videocard and one stick of ram. Still no go. Tried swaping the sticks of ram, still no go. The only other PSU I have is from a P3 800MHZ that has a whopping 200W. Im going to go to a friends house tonight, and swap his PSU out with mine, and see how that goes. If that fails, Im guessing it the motherboard. Shucks, I guess Ill just have to get me a new 939 setup. . .

try it without the RAM and Video card. just proc, then add Video card then RAM, then everything else 1 by one.

Without the ram in the computer I cant even get into the bios. I dont have onboard video so I cant remove the video card; ;

I know that. Humor me.

If you have another comp you can try RAM/Video card in that.

sounds like your tripping a breaker when it goes to load at boot time. (when computer draws most power) and is it givng you any beeps at bootup? because if it ise its telling you wht is wrong , i haev a very similr problem to this, and it turned otu tbe a bad Mobo. try RMA?

psu

Heres the latest, and its going to blow your top!

Brought my comp over to a friends house and swaped his psu with mine. My comp still didnt post. Put his ram into my comp, still no go. We tried every variation of ram/psu/vidcard you could imagine. We decided based on these posts, and our expariments that it was the mobo. Deciding that Ill get a 939 setup since my mobo was fried, I gave my 2500+ to my friend. We installed it in his comp, and it wouldnt boot to windows. Mind you my computer was shutting down at this point, it seamed to be roughly the same problem. After afew hours of testing we decided to put his old 2200+ back in his machine. As of now we cant get into windows. Weve tried switching out ram, psu, vidcard etc. from a third system, still no go. It appears to us that whatever f*ed up my comp, traveled through my cpu into his rig. IDEAS?! Blowing your top yet???

ouch.. Bad Cpu is all I can think of, but why it would transfer I have no idea. Thats just bad luck.

you probably hosed his windows install. try doing afresh install on your hdd with his components. will only take about an hour.

I just made it simple and ordered a A64 Venice 3000+ and a MSI K8 board from newegg. My upgrade was long overdue anyway.

Well thats one way to go, though I have failed you as a "uber forum junky" we didn't fix your problem...

Yes we did. He just has to take the side panel off and slide a new pc in behind it.

ya, so Ill tell people with PC problems from now on to just buy new parts.