Dodgy Power Supply?

[losing-touch]

I've recently built a computer for a friend, its not the first computer I've built but I'm not entirely confident about it.

The problem is every now and then, seems to be while more CPU intensive tasks are being carried out, the computer just switches off and restarts. At the moment my friend is recording a lot of music onto their system and although the computer is on most of the day it only seems to switch off while its recording. When it does switch off it seems to do it several times in a row, and then it is left for while and its fine.

The motherboard is an ASUS A7N8X and i thought initially that the processor could be overheating (i had a little trouble with the heatsink, when i built it)and the motherboard was switching off automatically, but it seems to be running below threshold (between 30-50°C) so i dont think its that.

Could it be the power supply? unfortunately we didn't have a huge budget and i didn't know the risk at the time but we bought a £22 mercury case + psu from addonsonline.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks

Chris

[iMc]

i would hazard a guess that if it isnt the psu it could be the ram. how much have you got running off that psu?

[losing-touch]

They're running a CD-R drive a DVD drive, a single hard drive, a case fan and a processor fan. Do you not think it is the PSU?

The RAM is 512mb of PC2700 TwinMos

[BUFF]

Check your voltages - you might want to try upping Vcore slightly.

[losing-touch]

I've replaced the power supply, with a relatively cheap 400Watt one, and i'm still having the same problem, so i'm pretty sure its not the PSU. I've re-applied the heatsink, its a Thermalright SLK-700, and the PSU seems to be running hot, at around 60°C before it crashes. Would you reccommend purchasing a better heatsink? Could it be anything else? If the Vcore is the problem, how would i go about upping it?

Thanks
Chris

[mike_w]

The settings for the Vcore should be in the BIOS, just take a look around there.

Mike

[Firelord]

Sounds like PSU to me cos exact same as what I had a wee while ago. Instead of cheaping on the PSU get a decent one such as scans CWT 450 watt PSU! Avoid Q Tec at all costs its a dirty word!

[Proplus]

Sounds to me your CPU is overheating. The reason why it'll keep restarting unless left for a while is that the CPU is still too hot for the system.

Check your temps, if they are not too high, adjust the shutoff temp in the BIOS to something higher and see if that helps.

You mentioned you reseated the heatsink, but did you ever apply any thermal paste?

[CrapshoT]

what size/make of fan do you have installed on your heat-sink sorry for the silly question but the fan mightn't blow enough air on the hs i have a sk-7 and its a decent
hs and keeps my o/c 2500xp at around 37C with a smart fan 2 on it at a slow speed as well(they are noisey above a certain speed) so you may need a better fan
but i also think it may be your ram some twinmoss ram is not recomended for n-force 2
boards (tho im sure that may just be pc3200 ram http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...inMOS_147.html )
try putting your ram in different slots to see if that stops it and i would increase your ram volts as well to 2.7