Random Restarts Bad RAM or PSU?

CasaDeJsin · 03-20-2008, 10:57 AM

hello. i have been having this problem of my computer randomly restarting since i installed new ram about 2 weeks ago. I bought two new pairs of kingston ddr 400 1gb sticks. They are supported by my motherboard which is an Asus A8V. I of course checked each stick with memtest 86 to see if the ram was faulty. It was not. The problem only occurs when i put in both sticks of ram in dual channel mode. If I have 1 stick in, the computer is stable. I have put the sticks in the proper slots to operate in dual channel and have also cleaned the slots out. I am wondering if I do not have enough PSU power anymore to operate in dual channel mode. My PSU is 300w. Is this enough to power my system and could this be causing my computer to stop.

Specs. ASUS A8V motherboard, AMD Athlon 64 Processor socket 939, 2 1GB sticks ddr 400 ram, 2 dvdrw drives, 1 floppy drive, 2 250 gb 7200 rpm hard drives, 1 radeon 9600 SE, 1 fan.

dai · 03-20-2008, 11:08 AM

it depends on what you are running in the computer
300-350w psu's were for the win 98 era
with your current set up you would expect to find at least a quality 550w in it
agp requires a min of 18amps on the 12v+ line
you may have room to lift your ram voltages up slightly check the kingston site for the voltage range for your ram

CasaDeJsin · 03-20-2008, 11:25 AM

the voltage on the ram is 2.6 v . my motherboard allows me to lift to 2.8 max. could that damage anything?

but basically you are saying my psu is the most likely culprit?

dai · 03-20-2008, 11:38 AM

check how many amps are on the 12v+ line i would suspect it is 12-14a not the 18a required
is the 2.6v what it is set on or the max recommended running it on

CasaDeJsin · 03-20-2008, 11:44 AM

haha yeah its not even close. its 11.5a max. the +2.6v is just what it says on the sticker on the stick of ram, so i assume that is the max reccomended? right now i have it set at 2.6 in the bios as i dont want to damage anything.

dai · 03-20-2008, 11:54 AM

what was it set on before
see if you can borrow a psu with 18a on the 12v line to try in it
one of your friends,who has upgraded probably has one sitting on a shelf
current day computers are in the 30-60a bracket

CasaDeJsin · 03-20-2008, 12:25 PM

i will try that out. i was planning on buying a new one anyway. as for my memory setting. i have tried to set it anywhere from 2.6to 2.8v in the bios. it didnt change anything.

also would this be a good psu unit? im trying to find one as inexpensive as i can.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817339012

dai · 03-20-2008, 05:56 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817256032
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817101518
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171028

03-20-2008, 10:57 AM	#1 (permalink)
CasaDeJsin Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4 OS: XP SP2	Random Restarts Bad RAM or PSU? hello. i have been having this problem of my computer randomly restarting since i installed new ram about 2 weeks ago. I bought two new pairs of kingston ddr 400 1gb sticks. They are supported by my motherboard which is an Asus A8V. I of course checked each stick with memtest 86 to see if the ram was faulty. It was not. The problem only occurs when i put in both sticks of ram in dual channel mode. If I have 1 stick in, the computer is stable. I have put the sticks in the proper slots to operate in dual channel and have also cleaned the slots out. I am wondering if I do not have enough PSU power anymore to operate in dual channel mode. My PSU is 300w. Is this enough to power my system and could this be causing my computer to stop. Specs. ASUS A8V motherboard, AMD Athlon 64 Processor socket 939, 2 1GB sticks ddr 400 ram, 2 dvdrw drives, 1 floppy drive, 2 250 gb 7200 rpm hard drives, 1 radeon 9600 SE, 1 fan.

03-20-2008, 11:08 AM	#2 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,670 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Random Restarts Bad RAM or PSU? it depends on what you are running in the computer 300-350w psu's were for the win 98 era with your current set up you would expect to find at least a quality 550w in it agp requires a min of 18amps on the 12v+ line you may have room to lift your ram voltages up slightly check the kingston site for the voltage range for your ram __________________

03-20-2008, 11:25 AM	#3 (permalink)
CasaDeJsin Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4 OS: XP SP2	Re: Random Restarts Bad RAM or PSU? the voltage on the ram is 2.6 v . my motherboard allows me to lift to 2.8 max. could that damage anything? but basically you are saying my psu is the most likely culprit? Last edited by CasaDeJsin; 03-20-2008 at 11:27 AM.

03-20-2008, 11:38 AM	#4 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,670 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Random Restarts Bad RAM or PSU? check how many amps are on the 12v+ line i would suspect it is 12-14a not the 18a required is the 2.6v what it is set on or the max recommended running it on __________________

03-20-2008, 11:44 AM	#5 (permalink)
CasaDeJsin Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4 OS: XP SP2	Re: Random Restarts Bad RAM or PSU? haha yeah its not even close. its 11.5a max. the +2.6v is just what it says on the sticker on the stick of ram, so i assume that is the max reccomended? right now i have it set at 2.6 in the bios as i dont want to damage anything.

03-20-2008, 11:54 AM	#6 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,670 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Random Restarts Bad RAM or PSU? what was it set on before see if you can borrow a psu with 18a on the 12v line to try in it one of your friends,who has upgraded probably has one sitting on a shelf current day computers are in the 30-60a bracket __________________

03-20-2008, 12:25 PM	#7 (permalink)
CasaDeJsin Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4 OS: XP SP2	Re: Random Restarts Bad RAM or PSU? i will try that out. i was planning on buying a new one anyway. as for my memory setting. i have tried to set it anywhere from 2.6to 2.8v in the bios. it didnt change anything. also would this be a good psu unit? im trying to find one as inexpensive as i can. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817339012

03-20-2008, 05:56 PM	#8 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,670 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Random Restarts Bad RAM or PSU? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703010 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817256032 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817101518 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171028 __________________