Random Reboot PC Issue - please help!

[hockey2112]

Hey guys, just wanted to give you an update on my situation. I ran into a family friend yesterday, and realized that his line of work is computer hardware. I told him about the issues I was having, and the first thing he said was that it was probably the ECS mobo.

He recommended that I reflash the mobo bios, then test the RAM, and then check out the Power Supply. I reflashed the bios last night, and have not yet had another reboot. We'll see how things go for the rest of the week... hopefully it remains stable, and I can upgrade my mobo at a little later time (need to give the credit card a little time to cool off, so the wife stays happy ).

If anyone else has any additional input on these issues, it is more than welcome. For all I know, my PC could be rebooting itself right now (I am currently at work).

[hockey2112]

On that page you linked to here it also lists the ASrock and Gigabyte boards. Either one of those would be fine and would work with the components you have now.

What about this ASUS? Would this one be suitable?

http://www.portatech.com/catalog/viewitem.asp?ID=13553


By the way, it rebooted overnight, so we're back to the original problems. This is so frustrating!!!! Next time, I'm getting a Dell.

[steve-b]

I would suggest stripping all the extra hardware out of the PC. Just run a barebones setup...no extra cards, drives, bare minimum memory. If the bare bones set up works, then we are getting somewhere.

I'd then add 1 component back in at a time until the reboots started happening again. This way, you'd be able to figure out if 1 component is fried.

I'd be very surprised if everything is A-OK after running at the wrong voltage.

If the bare bones set up still reboots, then I'd reckon something very fundamental to the system is fried.

You mentioned it was ok till you plugged into the firewire PCI card. This suggests either the firewire drive or the card or the PCI interface is fried.

I don't know how bad running at 220 is when you are supposed to be on 110, but I have seen 220 ran at 110 and produce some lovely big blue sparks and lots of smoke.

[hockey2112]

Hey guys, I am just going to get a new mobo.

Can you give me your opinion on these boards, and give me any other suggestions? I am looking for something in the $80-150 (US) range that has one or two firewire plugs, PCI-Express, DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) support, SATA capable. I will primarily use it for graphics (photoshop, etc) and video processing (capturing, converting, authoring DVD's, etc)... not much gaming.



ASUS
Asus A8R-MVP Socket939/ATI RD480/2PCI-E/SATA2 Motherboard $122.99 North Bridge ATI CrossFire Radeon Xpress 3200 & South Bridge ULi M1575 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131004
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard $132.99 North Bridge NVIDIA nForce4 SLI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131540

GIGABYTE
GIGABYTE GA-K8N Pro-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard with 1394b $99.99 North Bridge NVIDIA nForce4 SLI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128301
GIGABYTE GA-M55SLI-S4 Socket AM2/ nForce4 SLI/ DDR2/ SATA2/ ATX Motherboard $92.99 North Bridge NVIDIA nForce4 SLI http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...Tab=2&NoMapp=0
GIGABYTE GA-M55PLUS-S3G ATX Socket AM2 Motherboard for AMD Athlon 64 X2 $119.99 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 (Northbridge) & NVIDIA nForce 430 (Southbridge) http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...D_Athlon_64_X2
GIGABYTE GA-M51GM-S2G ATX Socket AM2 Motherboard for AMD Athlon 64 64 FX, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64, Sempron $114.99 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 (Northbridge) & NVIDIA nForce 430 (Southbridge) http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...on_64_64_FX#ts



By the way, the tech guy at the company that I purchased the ECS board was very defensive when I remarked on its quality. He said that I should look into timing issues and bios block in my OS (or something like that) before deciding that the mobo is the problem. What would I check for timing issues, and how would I do it... and what is Bios block in my OS?

Thanks!



----

By the way, I am kind of leaning towards this board, as I can pick it up locally today:
GIGABYTE GA-M55PLUS-S3G ATX Socket AM2 Motherboard for AMD Athlon 64 X2 $119.99 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 (Northbridge) & NVIDIA nForce 430 (Southbridge) http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...D_Athlon_64_X2

What do you think of it? Do you see any major drawbacks or advantages of this board?

[steve-b]

I have no experience with gigabyte kit, but ASUS usually rocks. I've had 3 mobo's from them and each has been rock solid.


BTW, your userbar is awesome.

[hockey2112]

I have no experience with gigabyte kit, but ASUS usually rocks. I've had 3 mobo's from them and each has been rock solid.


BTW, your userbar is awesome.

Haha, thanks dude. I guess I got aggravated with people having 20 of them in their sig, and decided to make that one. Hopefully it made a difference.

I think I have decided on this one:

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131540

[Tomlo]

Ya ASUS is my brand of choice, I highly recomend them...