PC keeps restarting (info inside)

[gunstar]

Ok, so I've had my PC for a year now. Just in the past few months it's been restarting at random intervals. I thought about refreshing windows by reformatting but it still does it. Over the year, only thing I've done inside the PC itself is take out a firewire card, installed new RAM and just recently installed a new GFX card and a fan.
I don't think my PC is THAT hot to make it restart itself.

It tends to restart more on using BT's, Downloads and when a lot of things are going on. Today it restared on me when I was playing HL2 and downloading a video clip.

Could it be the power supply?

I got a P4 2.6Ghz, 120gig, 1gig RAM 3200, win XP pro with SP2.

Any other details just ask.

[pphalan]

Power supply voltages and tempetures

[27]

Go into Contrl Panel>System>Advanced tab>Startup and Recovery>

Uncheck Automatically Restart from the System faliure options.

Now, whenever your PC crashes, it'll give you an error rather than just restarting.

Do you have either of the following:

Nvidia graphics card?
VIA chipset?

[gunstar]

I have recently got a Nvidia 6600GT OC by BFG as my present for x-mas. As for VIA chipset, I'm not sure what that is.

Also my PSU is 300watts and my average temp is around 40-50c

[27]

Did you have a non-nvidia graphics card before?

The VIA chipset s your motherboard chipset.
Look in the manuals or on its website to determine which chipset your motherboard is.

[magicfreak32]

Originally Posted by gunstar

I have recently got a Nvidia 6600GT OC by BFG as my present for x-mas. As for VIA chipset, I'm not sure what that is.

Also my PSU is 300watts and my average temp is around 40-50c

Its your powersuply. That card requires at least a 350w, I think. Maybe a 300, but you have a lot of other stuff in for that power suply too. You need to get a new powersuply and a fan or 2 more wouldn't hurt either.

[sr71000]

agreed on the fan and psu issue ...when you get a psu, get a good brand...you can get a 500watt cheep brand psu and it'll still be outperformed by an antec 350 in some cases...go with a good brand, sparkle, antec, and there are others i can't remember..i usually buy antec

[gunstar]

ok so far, I did what the guy above said and I got the BSOD. and it says I got a NV4_DISP error.

The card needed a 300w supply and I already got one fan in there which I added at the same time as I got my GFX card. I did a search on this with google and some ppl say to check the BIOS for a VGA thing switched to enabled?!

anyone clarify this for me? thanks. If not, I'll just buy another PSU and maybe another case and move what I have into the new case. This case does get quite hot.

oh and this is my mobo:

Mainboard
Bus(es) : ISA AGP PCI IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
MP Support : 1 CPU(s)
MP APIC : Yes
System BIOS : Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG
Mainboard : QDI P4I865A
Total Memory : 1GB DDR-SDRAM

[MOUSE37]

My home computer just started turning on and restarting this morning.I can't even get through a system recovery,any help would be appreciated greatly.Thank you.

[large_nostril]

@gunstar, if you're getting the BSOD with any reference to a driver (which nv4_disp is your nvidia driver), it is almost 100% guaranteed it is your PSU. Here's a great PSU for $60: http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...pe=rb#moreinfo
This is the PSU that I use in my 2 most demanding systems and I'd put my life on it (well, maybe not quite). It's $120 with $60 off in rebates but I think the rebates expire today. Otherwise, I'd suggest an Antec PSU. You also probably want to put more fans on your system. They'll lower your system temps and increase its stability.

@mouse37, sorry I don't fully understand. Is your computer turning itself on? If it is, make sure it's on a surge protector. If it is and still does it, you're probably looking at a new PSU as well. If you've had any power outages lately, this can cause damage to your PSU (unless its on a UPS) which could cause the system to randomly get power and start. If your system isn't starting on it's own; did you add any new hardware/software lately?