Hey guys, my computer keeps restarting mainly with a certain game i've been playing, but will still do it randomly even when i'm not doing anything. I'm getting a minidump and .sys error, which is commonly associated with ram problems from my understanding, but i've replaced just about everything in my computer except for my video card, and it will still do it without the video card in. All my drivers are up to date, at least I think, and my CPU is running around 25-30C. I'm not overclocking anything. I'm running XP Pro with SP2. Any help is wanted. Here are my specs.

Intel pentium D 820 @ 2.8
2g GSKILL ram @ 533
Nividia 7800GS
250g Western Digital SATA
MSI PM8PM-V Motherboard

I've tried it with different ram in, different harddrives, different video cards, different copies of XP, even took it into a repair shop and they didn't know what was wrong, so i'm pretty much out of ideas at this point. I just reformatted and now its only recognizing half of my harddrive (which is only 4 months old) also, so I'm about to break this thing. I've run all sorts of tests, and its saying everything is working fine, including the RAM. Thanks alot guys.

Jess

Welcome to PCHF, i'll notify our tech team who will be more than happy to assist you.

Hello Nerd689 Welcome to PCHF

Well let's see. you have done half of the work so far. You pretty much have but to test other peripheral devices attached to the unit, or a new power supply.

Pretty much what I would do at your point is unplug every peripheral attached to the unit (modem, network card, video card, etc.)

I'm guessing you already ran a hard drive diagnostic and memory diagnostic, so I guess it is unnecessary to worry about those.

If you dare to venture further, you should try testing a good power supply (if the tech didn't do it already). Best bet is to pick one up at a local retailer that has a return policy in case it isn't the power supply.

If taking out all the devices and a testing a new power supply doesn't solve the problem, then that pretty much narrows it down to a bad motherboard. Most likely a defective power connector or North/Southbridge.

Order this way:

1. Run hard drive/memory diagnostics on current HD/memory (if not already done)
2. Pull out all peripheral devices and test unit to reproduce problem
3. If problem persists, leave peripherals out and test with a new power supply
4. If problem persists, suspect bad motherboard and decide whether a new unit is your best bet.

Let me know what happens

alright i've taken stuff out, tested with a diff powersupply, and the problem is still happening, i have no idea what to do. This is sooo frustrating.

Only thing it could really be then is a problem on your motherboard.

If you have all the peripherals out, and your hard drive/memory pass their diagnostics tests, and you have a fresh copy of Windows installed that you are sure has no malicious software, then there really is nothing else it can be.

If it has happened on two different motherboards, then I would be at a total loss of ideas. If it happened only during the game, that would be one thing. But since it is totally random, and you have a fresh installation of Windows, then that would say to me it is hardware related. So if you have all the peripherals detached and your HD/memory is ok...the only other thing it could be is motherboard.

it may be down to overheating, but as you said it only has about 25-30C.

see if you can actually monitor the temperature rise whilst actually playing the game.

i had a similar problem with my old PC setup, doing anything else the pc would sit idle at about 35c but when playing Call of duty 2 the temp slowly rised and rised until it hit 90C blue screened on me and then had to restart