A neighbour's son has an IBM (think centre?) Pentium 4, 3.2 GigaHz, 1 Gig
RAM, XP Home SP2. The latest XP updates and video drivers have been
installed. When he plays 3D graphics type games, after a while the
screen(LCD) goes black and the computer reboots. This is at about the same
place in the game each time. If he waits for an hour before trying again,
the failure is at the same place, but if he tries to play the game again
straight away, the failure occurs much earlier in the game. As far as I
know, the machine doesn't fail when anything other than these games is
running.
One of the games is Counter Strike, Condition Zero.
Can a chip overheat when the graphics is very busy? Is this the kind of
failure you would expect if a chip overheated?
Any other likely causes?
They live in the country and bought the computer in Sydney. The computer is
still under warranty, otherwise I would slip the cover off and check that
any fans are attached properly and running.

From:	Ben Thomas
Subject:	Re: Computer shuts down and reboots
Date:	Thu, 20 Jan 2005 03:40:32 GMT

T.T. wrote:
> A neighbour's son has an IBM (think centre?) Pentium 4, 3.2 GigaHz, 1 Gig
> RAM, XP Home SP2. The latest XP updates and video drivers have been
> installed. When he plays 3D graphics type games, after a while the
> screen(LCD) goes black and the computer reboots. This is at about the same
> place in the game each time. If he waits for an hour before trying again,
> the failure is at the same place, but if he tries to play the game again
> straight away, the failure occurs much earlier in the game. As far as I
> know, the machine doesn't fail when anything other than these games is
> running.
> One of the games is Counter Strike, Condition Zero.
> Can a chip overheat when the graphics is very busy? Is this the kind of
> failure you would expect if a chip overheated?
> Any other likely causes?
> They live in the country and bought the computer in Sydney. The computer is
> still under warranty, otherwise I would slip the cover off and check that
> any fans are attached properly and running.
>
>
>

Sounds like it is overheating. They should ring IBM.

--
--
Ben Thomas - Software Engineer - Melbourne, Australia

My Digital World:
Kodak DX6490, Canon i9950, Pioneer A05;
Hitachi 37" HD plasma display, DGTEC 2000A,
Denon 2800, H/K AVR4500, Whatmough Encore;
Sony Ericsson K700i, Palm Tungsten T.

Disclaimer:
Opinions, conclusions, and other information in this message that do not
relate to the official business of my employer shall be understood as neither
given nor endorsed by it.

From:	Mick
Subject:	Re: Computer shuts down and reboots
Date:	Thu, 20 Jan 2005 07:29:07 GMT

use memtest86 on ya machine i had the same problems was faulty memory
"T.T." wrote in message
news:lDDHd.125170$K7.30760@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>A neighbour's son has an IBM (think centre?) Pentium 4, 3.2 GigaHz, 1 Gig
> RAM, XP Home SP2. The latest XP updates and video drivers have been
> installed. When he plays 3D graphics type games, after a while the
> screen(LCD) goes black and the computer reboots. This is at about the same
> place in the game each time. If he waits for an hour before trying again,
> the failure is at the same place, but if he tries to play the game again
> straight away, the failure occurs much earlier in the game. As far as I
> know, the machine doesn't fail when anything other than these games is
> running.
> One of the games is Counter Strike, Condition Zero.
> Can a chip overheat when the graphics is very busy? Is this the kind of
> failure you would expect if a chip overheated?
> Any other likely causes?
> They live in the country and bought the computer in Sydney. The computer
> is
> still under warranty, otherwise I would slip the cover off and check that
> any fans are attached properly and running.
>
>
>

From:	Charlie
Subject:	Re: Computer shuts down and reboots
Date:	Thu, 20 Jan 2005 11:20:12 +1000

check the event log under admin tools for errors. Take the ram clock
speed back a notch if possible and test that. Take the side cover off
the case and get a fan blowing into it and test that. Change some agp
related bios settings.

There's a few random things to try anyway ;)

Charlie

From:	Larry
Subject:	Re: Computer shuts down and reboots
Date:	Thu, 20 Jan 2005 15:26:51 +1000

The latest BIOS upgrade addresses a fan speed problem. Make sure your
BIOS is the latest version. I have a Thinkcentre 2.4 GHz and the latest
BIOS just installed a couple of weeks ago is 2AKT47. Also make sure
that there hasn't been a buildup of dust in the vent areas.

Larry

T.T. wrote:
: A neighbour's son has an IBM (think centre?) Pentium 4, 3.2 GigaHz, 1
: Gig RAM, XP Home SP2. The latest XP updates and video drivers have
: been installed. When he plays 3D graphics type games, after a while
: the screen(LCD) goes black and the computer reboots. This is at about
: the same place in the game each time. If he waits for an hour before
: trying again, the failure is at the same place, but if he tries to
: play the game again straight away, the failure occurs much earlier in
: the game. As far as I know, the machine doesn't fail when anything
: other than these games is running.
: One of the games is Counter Strike, Condition Zero.
: Can a chip overheat when the graphics is very busy? Is this the kind
: of failure you would expect if a chip overheated?
: Any other likely causes?
: They live in the country and bought the computer in Sydney. The
: computer is still under warranty, otherwise I would slip the cover
: off and check that any fans are attached properly and running.

From:	Damien McBain
Subject:	Re: Computer shuts down and reboots
Date:	Thu, 20 Jan 2005 23:15:47 +1100

T.T. wrote:
> A neighbour's son has an IBM (think centre?) Pentium 4, 3.2 GigaHz, 1
> Gig RAM, XP Home SP2. The latest XP updates and video drivers have
> been installed. When he plays 3D graphics type games, after a while
> the screen(LCD) goes black and the computer reboots. This is at about
> the same place in the game each time. If he waits for an hour before
> trying again, the failure is at the same place, but if he tries to
> play the game again straight away, the failure occurs much earlier in
> the game. As far as I know, the machine doesn't fail when anything
> other than these games is running.
> One of the games is Counter Strike, Condition Zero.
> Can a chip overheat when the graphics is very busy? Is this the kind
> of failure you would expect if a chip overheated?
> Any other likely causes?
> They live in the country and bought the computer in Sydney. The
> computer is still under warranty, otherwise I would slip the cover
> off and check that any fans are attached properly and running.

Probably heat. Maybe virus, more likely heat.

--
damien clan .
@ mcbain com

there's no place like 127.0.0.1

From:	T.T.
Subject:	Re: Computer shuts down and reboots
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 02:45:51 GMT

"Damien McBain" wrote in message
news:41efa1bd$0$31109$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...
> T.T. wrote:
> > A neighbour's son has an IBM (think centre?) Pentium 4, 3.2 GigaHz, 1
> > Gig RAM, XP Home SP2. The latest XP updates and video drivers have
> > been installed. When he plays 3D graphics type games, after a while
> > the screen(LCD) goes black and the computer reboots. This is at about
> > the same place in the game each time. If he waits for an hour before
> > trying again, the failure is at the same place, but if he tries to
> > play the game again straight away, the failure occurs much earlier in
> > the game. As far as I know, the machine doesn't fail when anything
> > other than these games is running.
> > One of the games is Counter Strike, Condition Zero.
> > Can a chip overheat when the graphics is very busy? Is this the kind
> > of failure you would expect if a chip overheated?
> > Any other likely causes?
> > They live in the country and bought the computer in Sydney. The
> > computer is still under warranty, otherwise I would slip the cover
> > off and check that any fans are attached properly and running.
>
> Probably heat. Maybe virus, more likely heat.
>
> --
> damien clan .
> @ mcbain com
>
> there's no place like 127.0.0.1
>
Thank you all for your responses.
The BIOS is 2AKT47AUS
The display card is a Radeon
Today we tried it with "automatically restart" unchecked. It failed the same
way and rebooted the same way as before.
Took the side panel off and the fans were firmly seated and running.
I can't work out how to get to setup. del, f8, f11 all do nothing. What is
the secret?
Once I can have a look at the BIOS, I am sure I will have another question
or two.
Thanks again.

From:	Damien McBain
Subject:	Re: Computer shuts down and reboots
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 14:04:08 +1100

T.T. wrote:
> "Damien McBain" wrote in message
> news:41efa1bd$0$31109$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...
>> T.T. wrote:
>>> A neighbour's son has an IBM (think centre?) Pentium 4, 3.2 GigaHz,
>>> 1 Gig RAM, XP Home SP2. The latest XP updates and video drivers have
>>> been installed. When he plays 3D graphics type games, after a while
>>> the screen(LCD) goes black and the computer reboots. This is at
>>> about the same place in the game each time. If he waits for an hour
>>> before trying again, the failure is at the same place, but if he
>>> tries to play the game again straight away, the failure occurs much
>>> earlier in the game. As far as I know, the machine doesn't fail
>>> when anything other than these games is running.
>>> One of the games is Counter Strike, Condition Zero.
>>> Can a chip overheat when the graphics is very busy? Is this the kind
>>> of failure you would expect if a chip overheated?
>>> Any other likely causes?
>>> They live in the country and bought the computer in Sydney. The
>>> computer is still under warranty, otherwise I would slip the cover
>>> off and check that any fans are attached properly and running.
>>
>> Probably heat. Maybe virus, more likely heat.
>>
>> --
>> damien clan .
>> @ mcbain com
>>
>> there's no place like 127.0.0.1
>>
> Thank you all for your responses.
> The BIOS is 2AKT47AUS
> The display card is a Radeon
> Today we tried it with "automatically restart" unchecked. It failed
> the same way and rebooted the same way as before.
> Took the side panel off and the fans were firmly seated and running.
> I can't work out how to get to setup. del, f8, f11 all do nothing.
> What is the secret?

The only secret is which button to push to get into that BIOS setup! Try F2
& F10, I have seen those used as well as the ones you've already tried.

> Once I can have a look at the BIOS, I am sure I will have another
> question or two.
> Thanks again.

The blaster worm causes pootas to restart (among other things) see
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=833330

You need to check your cpu temperature. Motherboard Monitor can do that for
you (http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=311 + a number of other
locations, this one has an Australian mirror). You can't tell just by
looking whether the heatsink is seated properly on the cpu core. Don't try
to reseat it until you've checked the temps.

--
damien clan .
@ mcbain com

there's no place like 127.0.0.1

From:	Dee
Subject:	Re: Computer shuts down and reboots
Date:	Sat, 22 Jan 2005 16:11:53 +1100

> >
> Thank you all for your responses.
> The BIOS is 2AKT47AUS
> The display card is a Radeon
> Today we tried it with "automatically restart" unchecked. It failed the same
> way and rebooted the same way as before.
> Took the side panel off and the fans were firmly seated and running.
> I can't work out how to get to setup. del, f8, f11 all do nothing. What is
> the secret?
> Once I can have a look at the BIOS, I am sure I will have another question
> or two.
> Thanks again.
>
>
>
Try TAB and F1 as well. Tab usually turns off the splash screen for the
motherboard, so then you can see the msg for the key to press.

hmmm Radeon eh, that was a good guess.

turn off fast write and drop to AGP 4X as well if that don't help, you
probably won't even notice the performance drop for stability's sake.
50% of the time 4x will run faster than 8x

Dee

From:	T.T.
Subject:	Re: Computer shuts down and reboots
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 05:51:23 GMT

"Dee" wrote in message
news:MPG.1c5c8ba07d04b579896b5@news.tpg.com.au...
> > >
> > Thank you all for your responses.
> > The BIOS is 2AKT47AUS
> > The display card is a Radeon
> > Today we tried it with "automatically restart" unchecked. It failed the
same
> > way and rebooted the same way as before.
> > Took the side panel off and the fans were firmly seated and running.
> > I can't work out how to get to setup. del, f8, f11 all do nothing. What
is
> > the secret?
> > Once I can have a look at the BIOS, I am sure I will have another
question
> > or two.
> > Thanks again.
> >
> >
> >
> Try TAB and F1 as well. Tab usually turns off the splash screen for the
> motherboard, so then you can see the msg for the key to press.
>
> hmmm Radeon eh, that was a good guess.
>
> turn off fast write and drop to AGP 4X as well if that don't help, you
> probably won't even notice the performance drop for stability's sake.
> 50% of the time 4x will run faster than 8x
>
> Dee

What does AGP 4X mean?
Does it mean I am dropping something's speed from 8 times something to 4
times something?
Thanks.

From:	Dee
Subject:	Re: Computer shuts down and reboots
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 17:54:53 +1100

> What does AGP 4X mean?
> Does it mean I am dropping something's speed from 8 times something to 4
> times something?
> Thanks.

Refers to Bandwidth, so if your not using all the bandwidth at 4x your
not going to see any speed difference at 8x.

no matter how wide that freeway is, i've still gotta stick to the speed
limit :)

could be a typical system might need 5x bandwidth for arguments sake,
then in that case 8x could/would be used, but you would only increase to
5x, not double the bandwidth.

Dee

From:	T.T.
Subject:	Re: Computer shuts down and reboots
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 07:36:27 GMT

"Dee" wrote in message
news:MPG.1c5f46c91847794c9896bf@news.tpg.com.au...
> > What does AGP 4X mean?
> > Does it mean I am dropping something's speed from 8 times something to 4
> > times something?
> > Thanks.
>
> Refers to Bandwidth, so if your not using all the bandwidth at 4x your
> not going to see any speed difference at 8x.
>
> no matter how wide that freeway is, i've still gotta stick to the speed
> limit :)
>
> could be a typical system might need 5x bandwidth for arguments sake,
> then in that case 8x could/would be used, but you would only increase to
> 5x, not double the bandwidth.
>
> Dee

Oh dear, I am even more confused. When this game is being played, the
machine is not on-line. Is there another bandwidth? Does it relate to video?

From:	Dee
Subject:	Re: Computer shuts down and reboots
Date:	Thu, 20 Jan 2005 20:29:54 +1100

In article , tonyt92
@yahoo.com says...
> A neighbour's son has an IBM (think centre?) Pentium 4, 3.2 GigaHz, 1 Gig
> RAM, XP Home SP2. The latest XP updates and video drivers have been
> installed. When he plays 3D graphics type games, after a while the
> screen(LCD) goes black and the computer reboots. This is at about the same
> place in the game each time. If he waits for an hour before trying again,
> the failure is at the same place, but if he tries to play the game again
> straight away, the failure occurs much earlier in the game. As far as I
> know, the machine doesn't fail when anything other than these games is
> running.
> One of the games is Counter Strike, Condition Zero.
> Can a chip overheat when the graphics is very busy? Is this the kind of
> failure you would expect if a chip overheated?
> Any other likely causes?
> They live in the country and bought the computer in Sydney. The computer is
> still under warranty, otherwise I would slip the cover off and check that
> any fans are attached properly and running.
>
>
>
>
wouldn't have a radeon display card in it by any chance ?

From:	Unknown
Subject:	Re: Computer shuts down and reboots
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 07:29:23 +1100

"Dee" wrote in message
news:MPG.1c5a251e34ce1b709896b2@news.tpg.com.au...
> In article , tonyt92
> @yahoo.com says...
>> A neighbour's son has an IBM (think centre?) Pentium 4, 3.2 GigaHz, 1 Gig
>> RAM, XP Home SP2. The latest XP updates and video drivers have been
>> installed. When he plays 3D graphics type games, after a while the
>> screen(LCD) goes black and the computer reboots. This is at about the
>> same
>> place in the game each time. If he waits for an hour before trying again,
>> the failure is at the same place, but if he tries to play the game again
>> straight away, the failure occurs much earlier in the game. As far as I
>> know, the machine doesn't fail when anything other than these games is
>> running.
>> One of the games is Counter Strike, Condition Zero.
>> Can a chip overheat when the graphics is very busy? Is this the kind of
>> failure you would expect if a chip overheated?
>> Any other likely causes?
>> They live in the country and bought the computer in Sydney. The computer
>> is
>> still under warranty, otherwise I would slip the cover off and check that
>> any fans are attached properly and running.
>>
>>
>>
>>
> wouldn't have a radeon display card in it by any chance ?

Why do you say that? I have been using an ATI Radeon since Dec 2003 (9600
Pro) and never been a problem.

There are different makes of Radeon which are a problem. Excalibur is one,
for example. However, being a Radeon isn't really the source of the problem.