I just purchased an ECS (Elitegroup) P4M800PRO-M motherboard with an Intel Pentium D 2.8ghz. RAM is DDR2 533, 1gig. PSU is 580watts. The computer crashes, actually restarts, randomly for no reason. I've checked the voltages on the PSU and they are all in range (+12V is around 12.35; +3.3V is around 3.26; +5V is around 4.84). CPU temp is usually around 30-33 degrees celsius, plus 1 CPU fan/heatsink and 4 case fans, so overheating isn't a problem. I've done a memtest, for about 1 hour, which produced zero errors. I've heard a couple others with the same mobo say they have the same problem and that DDR2 doesn't seem to work correctly on this motherboard. I've done everything, such as update drivers and flash BIOS, that ECS tech support has told me to do with no such luck. I'm frustrated as I worked a lot of overtime just pony up the little funds I have to build this new system and I just want it to work properly. Has anyone else encountered this problem or know of anybody that has and has been successful in correcting it? Any suggestions?

Hello, and welcome to PCHF.


Click Start > Control Panel > System.

Click the Advanced tab.

Click the Settings button under Startup and Recovery.

Remove the tick from the box next to Automatically Restart under System Failure.

Click OK.

The next time you have a serious system failure rather than reboot, your PC should present you with a blue screen of death (BSOD) with an error message.

By posting the error message the tech team would be able to better determine the fault and find the remedy.

ok, thanks, i will try that... i am on my AMD XP system right now and the Pentium D has been deconstructed as I was going to return the mobo, so when I set it back up I'll do what you suggested and get back to you. Thanks a ton for the quick reply.

You're welcome - the tech team would be able to give more ideas when they come online.

i just did a clean install - again - of Windows XP on a reformatted harddrive and am waiting for it to restart so i can receive the error message... i will let you know what it says when it happens

as a sidenote, i've been doing some research and have seen many others with the same model of motherboard (P4M800PRO-M) that are having the same exact problem - it appears the board doesn't handle any types of DDR2 very well, and the manual only lists two manufacturers of DDR2 PC4200/533 **1GB** that are compatible with the board - this board is extremely touchy when it comes to the DDR2 RAM. ECS tech support had said earlier to manually set the DRAM speed. I have 1 gig of GSkill DDR2 PC4200 533 that uses Samsung chips (may be to blame)... after the last CMOS clear my board is now reading the RAM at 400 not the 533 that my RAM is... I went into BIOS and manually adjusted the DRAM speed to 400 and havn't had any problems yet - i'm not holding my breath and, even if the problem is fixed for now, plan on returning the board... you get what you pay for. i will be back with an update as to the status of this problem.

Definately keep us upto date on this one gregor. Good luck