let's see...sister's new computer is less than 12 hours old...and..PROBLEMS

[impostal22]

my sister's new computer came from cyber power today so i installed windows XP and everything else i felt should be put on, and i'm running into a few problems. the only one i'll concern you guys with is...it reboots itself...randomly. also, it says on the first bootup screen that the RAM is operating at 166mhz, but i think it should be at 200 (it is pc3200, and i'm 99% sure the mobo has 200 capabilities). anyway, the big problem is the rebooting.

i have error reporting on, but don't get any error reports after it reboots itself. it did it once earlier today, and did it again just now, while i was in the middle of something. was very weird, b/c it happened out of nowhere. i *do* have restart immediately after system failure on. could that be the problem?

thanks.

[Miscue]

Make sure your CPU heatsink is attached properly, and that all fans are spinning. Looks like your BIOS settings possibly reset to default, so change them back to what they should be. If everything looks ok, my diagnosis is that your machine is hosed (unstable) - need to send it back. It's difficult to tell what is the culprit without troubleshooting the parts - could be many things.

[who_311]

My CP had some problems of restarting at random times, and I found out that it was just out of date drivers for my video card. Do you happen to have a Radeon 9800/9700 card? That was the problem with mine, and then we found the drivers, and fixed them. Once we did that, everything was better. You might want to check all your drivers, because when I ordered mine, some other drivers were actually out of date.

Alex

[Miscue]

My CP had some problems of restarting at random times, and I found out that it was just out of date drivers for my video card. Do you happen to have a Radeon 9800/9700 card? That was the problem with mine, and then we found the drivers, and fixed them. Once we did that, everything was better. You might want to check all your drivers, because when I ordered mine, some other drivers were actually out of date.

Alex

I suppose it could be something bizarre like that which ends up being cheaper - although usually it's a busted part(s) or some parts don't like each other. What I explained assumes that everything was setup properly.

[who_311]

I suppose it could be something bizarre like that which is cheaper that way - although usually it's a busted part(s). What I explained assumes that everything was setup properly.

Yeah, its just that I have met 3 other people who have had the exact same problem when they ordered from Cyber Power. I just wanted to put out my 2 cents, because from what Ive read and have been told from others, Cyber Power has a reputation of havin problems with their PCs from the get go.

Alex

[impostal22]

sigh..another problem that's occurring is i'm getting errors from internet explorer, and it has to close. the thing is..cyberpower does a 72 hour burn-in w/ all their machines, so you'd think they'd figure this out? (although, xp wasn't installed yet). i doubt it's any hardware problems in terms of not assembling it correctly. cyberpower is really good about that...

about the BIOS settings, how can i be sure about what they *should* be?

[taylor492]

I dont know anything about computers but if i were u i would stay away from cans of compressed air

[impostal22]

oh and alex- my sister's computer has some crappy nvidia card in it...the mobo is an nvidia geforce-2 and the card is a geforce-4...i doubt that'd be a problem though, because you'd think CP wouldn't assemble it as such if it were a problem. anyway, i updated the video drivers via windows update, and it started happening after that. i might take them out and put in new ones from the nvidia site.

[impostal22]

I dont know anything about computers but if i were u i would stay away from cans of compressed air

LOL duly noted.

[Kevmaster]

shoulda bought a Mac

[impostal22]

just checked BIOS out...the temps are all good..CPU fan is spinning, CHASSIS fan isn't at all, but i dunno what that is anyway...

CPU frequency is at 166mhz...dunno if that's right..

memory frequency is at auto...which is 166mhz too...don't think that's right.

how can you tell if your mobo can handle 200mhz memory frequency? i thought it was by the FSB...but that might be cpu frequency. either way it has 400FSB i believe...meaning 200mhz frequency.

help?

mobo= asus A7N8X-X MB NFORCE-2 400
proc= AMD ATHLON XP-2800 333FSB OEM
vid card= nvidia EVGA MX440 8X AGP 64MB DDR TV OUT
memory= 2 sticks of 256 pc3200 ddr ram

[jefbarn]

Tour memory is running at the correct speed for the cpu (333 mhz cpu /2 = 166) unless you are trying to overclock. Most likely is the memory timing is off. If the memory timing is set to auto, try switching it to slower settings like 3-3-3-8 or something like that. No ras/cas delay less than 3 should work with most new chips. Then go online and get a program called prime95 and run the cpu burn in test. This will weed out any memory/bus problems quickly. If the program gets an error, then the system still isn't stable.

[Miscue]

Tour memory is running at the correct speed for the cpu (333 mhz cpu /2 = 166) unless you are trying to overclock. Most likely is the memory timing is off. If the memory timing is set to auto, try switching it to slower settings like 3-3-3-8 or something like that. No ras/cas delay less than 3 should work with most new chips. Then go online and get a program called prime95 and run the cpu burn in test. This will weed out any memory/bus problems quickly. If the program gets an error, then the system still isn't stable.

Yup... auto settings for memory sometimes suck, particularly on recent AMD boards.

[Curly]

If I were you I would install the most recent Nvidea drivers. This could very well be the culprit.

[Fixion]

just checked BIOS out...the temps are all good..CPU fan is spinning, CHASSIS fan isn't at all, but i dunno what that is anyway...

CPU frequency is at 166mhz...dunno if that's right..

memory frequency is at auto...which is 166mhz too...don't think that's right.

how can you tell if your mobo can handle 200mhz memory frequency? i thought it was by the FSB...but that might be cpu frequency. either way it has 400FSB i believe...meaning 200mhz frequency.

help?

mobo= asus A7N8X-X MB NFORCE-2 400
proc= AMD ATHLON XP-2800 333FSB OEM
vid card= nvidia EVGA MX440 8X AGP 64MB DDR TV OUT
memory= 2 sticks of 256 pc3200 ddr ram

proc= AMD ATHLON XP-2800 333FSB OEM - 133*2=332.... 166 is correct

Just because your motherboard CAN run at 400mhz (fsb) doesn't mean the processor can. Turn off autoreboot on crash or whatever its called (rightclick mycomputer>properties>damn I can't remember the rest, I run linux and my xp comp is off) and get the error, it usually tells you in english what is causing the problems .

Yup... auto settings for memory sometimes suck, particularly on recent AMD boards.

Becaue Intel boards can magicly detect the "right" settings for the ram. It could be ram, don't buy cheap ram. My recent AMD board (ASUS A7N8X, yeah I need an NF7-S), can detect them just fine. But I run my ram (Guile) at very agressive timings. I don't like the board trying to figure out what is best for me.