thinking about upgrading

[alex]

I've been having some problems with my puter rebooting itself lately. Every other day or so, I'll click on something, open a window, close a window or just simply click on a file, and both monitors just go blank, then it reboots.

I'm running an Asus A8V Deluxe with Athlon 64 4000+ Clawhammer OC'd 7%.

I have two monitors, Dell 2405FPW @ 1920x1200 and Dell 2005FPW @ 1680x1050. Both monitors require a video card that will do WUXGA and the 9800 PRO I'm using does qualify.

I thought maybe the stock HSF wasn't cooling the CPU sufficiently so I purchased a Zalman 9500, didn't seem to make a difference.

I also purchased Quake 4 a while back and I'm unable to play it. I get about two minutes into the game and the monitor goes blank and I get "cannot display this mode" error message.

I'm thinking the 9800pro AGP8x just ain't cuttin' it.

If I'm forced to buy a new video card, I'd rather not buy another AGP so looks like I'll be moving to PCIe. But that will force me to buy another mobo as well. Here's what I'm looking at....

Asus A8N SLI Premium

ATI Radeon X1800XT

They're in my cart...I just couldn't click the submit button just yet *twitches

Any other ideas what might be causing the reboot problem?

 

[HomeLAN]

XP reboots whenever winblows encounters a stop error. Turn that little "feature" off, and maybe we can see what's causing it.

Windows XP lets you specify how the OS handles critical errors. To change this setting, select Start --> Control Panel --> Settings --> System (in the Classic-style Start menu, Control Panel is under Settings). Click Advanced --> System And Recovery --> Settings. In the System Failure section, clear the Automatically Restart check box --> click OK. While you're here, it's a good idea to shut off XP's irritating habit of asking whether you want to report every petty error to Microsoft. Click the Error Reporting button near the bottom right and check Disable Error Reporting. However, check the box next to "But notify me when critical errors occur." Click OK here and in the next dialog.

Now when Windows XP encounters a Stop Error, it will simply display a message on the screen and won't automatically reboot.

 

[Dave]

While you're here, it's a good idea to shut off XP's irritating habit of asking whether you want to report every petty error to Microsoft

thank you thank you thank you thank you.
i didnt know that could be turned off.

 

[woodman19_99]

I am guessing a possible overheating of the Graphics card, but you have tried different coolers. I would guess a 9800 Pro would have a hard time supporting the resolutions of those two monitors and running Quake 4 may just push it past the limit.

Unfortunately, that doesn't explain the just clicking on a window and having it go blank issue. For that, I might guess that your RAM could be failing. Issues with RAM can spawn a bunch of different problems within windows, so it is tough to track it right back to the RAM. Do you have any extra sticks lying around that you could substitute in there?

If you do end up going the upgrade route, that Premium board is GREAT! I am using one and performance is very good. In addition, the silent NB cooling helps decrease the noise a good deal, and keeps you away from the issue those fans were having on the Deluxe version...

Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[alex]

thank you thank you thank you thank you.
i didnt know that could be turned off.

I second, triple and quadriple that...THANKS.

HomeLan, I'll go change those settings right now while I'm eating lunch. If it still reboots....

Woodman, I do have an extra pair of memory sticks on hand. I bought a couple more a few weeks ago because I wanted to upgrade to 4gb. Only to find out XP doesn't support 4gb. 64x does, but from what I can find, it's too buggy to invest in right now. If those setting don't fix the problem, I'll swap out the memory sticks.

Thanks guys.

 

[HomeLAN]

To clear things up, changing those settings won't "cure" anything. It'll stop the reboot, but you're likely to get a BSOD. My hope is that the error string on the BSOD will give us a clue.

 

[alex]

Funny thing is, I understood that.....yet I still typed "if it still reboots"

 

[alex]

I think

 

[Inkara1]

Got error reporting turned off now. Thanks!

Of course, once I get the main system moved up here (I'm on the laptop right now) I'll have to remember to do that.

 

[alex]

Well, it took a while but.....

Came home from work, plugged in ethernet cable to router, started Outlook, downloaded emails, deleted spam emails, clicked on deleted items folder to empty and BOOM.....

Black screen.....15 seconds later.....reboot.

No BSOD, no errors, nothing.

In the morning I'll plug in the other two ram sticks.

 

[HomeLAN]

OK. If that fails, it may be the power supply. Spinning up a drive to do something may be the trigger. That usually happens when an optical drive is accessed and has to spin up, though.

 

[alex]

The nightmare is over. The 9800 pro was the culprit. Just didn't have the umph to drive both digital monitors. I disconnectred the smaller monitor and life was good again.....I could even play Quake 4

But I still wasn't happy. The prices have dropped on the ATI X1K series video cards so I bought myself a little birthday present....

Asus A8N SLI Premium mobo (X2 compatible...watching prices drop )

ATI X1900XT PCI-E 512mb video card

Antec 550W EPS12V power supply

Nothing like a fresh windows install. Took me two days to get all my software reinstalled and updated. I also reconfigured my hard drives so the boot drive is stand alone and the other two drives are mirrored. Should be a little faster.

Now i just gotta figure out how to use those two other 1gb sticks of memory. This guy I work with told me there is a /3gb parameter you have to put in the boot.ini file to get XP to recognize more than 2gb.