Shutting down...Who pulled my cord!! - GA- M68MT-D3

[JP]

My desktop PC shuts off when the CPU usage seems to get above 60%.Shut off meaning as if you pulled ou your AC cord, no blue screen. The PC can stay on all night but when you start going online the CPU usage spikes up to 40%, open another screen, or hit enter on a google search item...it goes above 60%. The highest % i've seen is 69%

I just bought a M68MT-D3 motherboard, AthlonII X3 450 CPU, Two 2Gb memory cards @ 1600 Mhz and new power supply@500W. I thought my cpu was overheating so i put additional compound under the heat sink & top of CPU..same failure. When I turn on the PC after a crash and open the BIOS the CPU temp only shows  ~34C.    What's going on here!!?  

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

Well it would seem to be down to either a power issue where the PSU can't keep up with the demand for power or a heat problem.

You have already looked at the heatsink/CPU connection but it could be that there is too much paste there as that can be as  bad as too little. Did you clean off the original TIM before replacing with fresh. You should put on about a grain of rice size in the centre of the CPU before clamping down the heatsink again.

What PSU have you put in there ?

Please list everything it is running.

[JP]

diablotek DA-SERIES 500w ATX PS. i'M only pulling the basics HDD DVD R/W drive, no extra attachments.The PS never seems hot though.

 This crash can happen in a few seconds after you boot-up....Boot-up.....click on IE....two or three googles or yahoo searches...then boom-crash like my cord was pulled!!! I have to push the power button to re-boot then it's like it never happened.

I also was just looking at the memory capability spec for the motherboard M68MT-D3. It says it only supports 800,1066,and 1666MHz(OC)....but I have 4Gb Ram @1600 MHz. Could that be a problem....or is it adjustable.

It's lightning fast ~3.2Ghz. CPU seems fine. AthlonII X3 450.

[absic]

Have you made any changes to the BIOS settings?

Running RAM at 1600 MHz with an AM3 Processor is not really a good idea but, if you have left everything at default settings it should be running at 1333 MHz.

Are you running the latest BIOS for your motherboard? If not it might help if you updated to it using the QFlash Utility.

[JP]

I'll reset that CMOS an check the defaults.
Another thing i didn't do was reseat that processor when I put that new heat sink compound on

[Dark Mantis]

Anotyher thing to consider is the memory. Now I know you are going to say that it is alright but it may be that the crashes happen when the higher memory blocks are used as with more porocessor power and so it would be worth testing with Memtest86+ properly. Like these instructions:

I would suggest that you download and run the latest version of  Memtest86+ to check your RAM first.

Memtest86+        http://www.memtest.org/

Insert one stick of memory in slot 1 and run Memtest on it for at least 10 complete loops/cycles and if there are no errors then swap it over with the next one and continue untill you have checked all  modules.
 
If you have any errors the module is faulty.

If you have any faulty modules you will have to return the whole kit as they are matched.

Post back when you have done that with the results.
 

[Badbonji]

Sounds strange though for a complete power down?

I would point to a faulty PSU, whenever I get bad RAM it just causes BSoDs and hangs rather than a complete shutdown!

Goodluck with the troubleshooting though!

[bytheway_r]

I say, replace this PSU. It's most likely the culprit. Really, it's best to buy a quality one, even with lower wattage rating. I'm not saying they never cause problems but they usually have great warranty that covers any issues quickly.

Not to mention that a cheap PSU could be a much lower wattage unit than it's label would suggest. Have a read here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/low-cost-psu-pc-power-supply,2862.html

Look at the abysmal efficiency, too. That's going to increase your electricity bill a bit.