I posted in here about a little over a month ago concerning my pc randomly restarting itself. I was told a may need to upgrade the power supply and motherboard and RAM. So I have done that, solved the restarting randomly issue as of now. But I have a new problem that has developed.

Whenever I just slightly bump my pc, the computer automatically restarts itself. I've checked that everything was connected properly and nothing was loose, yet it still does it. I don't know why it does this. But that's not my main concern.

While playing the Sims 2, I get about 5-10 mins into the game, and it will flash to black, I can hear the music and everything still running in the background. The after about 10secs of black and sound, the pc restarts. I have NO clue why it's doing this and how to solve it. My PC's specs are WELL above what is necessary to play the game, so I should have no problems with running the game, yet I am. These are my past PC specs and the upgraded ones:

Before:
ATI Radeon 9250 Video Card
500-watt power supply
VIA P4MDPT Motherboard
Intel Pentium 4 3.06GHz
512MB RAM
Windows XP Professional SP2

After:
XFX Nvidia GeForce 8400GS
525-watt power supply
Intel DG31PR Motherboard
Intel Pentium D 3.4 GHz
1024MB RAM
Windows XP Professional SP2

I am WELL above the recommended option for The Sims 2 according to System Requirements Lab. So why does my PC just restart itself 10mins or so into the game. Any help would be great. I will try to get a video of exactly what it does if that would help.

Hi if you bump it and it reboots it must have a short with the case and mainboard the only way to test this is to remove the mainboard and other hardware from the case and setit up an a wood desk or no metalic surface boot it up and see if it works ok. Shorting is a common problem with motherboard changes make sure all the mounting screwws for the mainboard are in the right places. With the game I'd download the latest driver for you card here XFX - Support

also maybe the game has been corupted by bump and reboot have you tried to reinstall it?

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• Shepparton PC Repair

I will try removing everything to see if this is the case for why it restarts when bumped.
I have all the mounting screws in place.
I have the latest drivers for my card.
I have reinstalled the game "at least" 5 times. No luck there.

Sounds like your motherboard is shorting out on the case. Did you use standoffs to raise the motherboard off the mounting plate when you installed it? If not this would be why its shorting out. Also check that none of the pins on the back of the motherboard are touching the case, push down on the board in a couple of places to check (make sure the powers off when you do this). Occasionally some of the pins on the back of the motherboard are longer than they should be and its possible that when you bump your pc the motherboard comes into contact with the mounting plate and is shorting out. If any of them are too long just cut them to the same length as the rest.

For the problem with the game is it just Sims 2 that you are having problems with?

You beat me too it madmatt - lol.

Hmm, you may be correct here. Lemme pull this pc apart and check this thoroughly.

It happens each and every time with The Sims 2.
It happens once in a blue moon with Guitar Hero III, usually when I'm selecting stuff at rapid speed. But The Sims 2, it ALWAYS does this about 10mins into game play.

Toasted

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• Shepparton PC Repair

Ok, took off my motherboard, 2 of the standoffs were not properly placed, fixed them.
Turned on pc, gave it a few slight bumps, no problems. So this problem has been fixed it seems. Just leaves me with the Sims 2 issue.

have you install the DVD or CD patch here it fixes quiet a few problems? TheSims2.com - Updates

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• Shepparton PC Repair

I have not, I will try this.
Just noticed something interesting though.
I ran SpeedFan just now as I haven't before on this new system.
And I get the following, which I don't believe to be correct information.

Sys Fan: 0 rpm
CPU0 Fan: 840 rpm
Aux0 Fan: 0 rpm
CPU1 Fan: 0 rpm
Aux1 Fan: 0 rpm

System: 51C
CPU: 71C
AUX: 125C
HD0: 36C

There is no way my CPU is currently at that temperature, which is roughly in the 130F range. Nor is my AUX 125C putting it at almost 200F. My PC does not feel hot to the touch at all, and the parts themselves are only mildly warm after extended use. Why these readings. I have a CPU Fan, a Power Supply Fan, Fan on the graphics card, and 4 case fans all running. Giving me 7 fans in total, yet SpeedFan only reports CPU0 Fan with any RPM.

You may need to run the intel monitor with that board it's on a cd that came with it man AUX: 125C lets cook some bacon and eggs lol

also you could confirm the temps in the bios

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• Shepparton PC Repair

Not finding anything of the sort on the CDs I got with it.
I'll confirm with BIOS.

BIOS says my CPU Temp is 72C, which is what SpeedFan gave me.
Ambient Temp is 51C.
BIOS doesn't give me AUX temp.
Are these too high? If so, how do I lower them, I'm out of room in the case for fans. I would of thought 7 total fans would be sufficient.