Gigabyte motherboard: GA-M57SLI-S4
Amd Anthlon 64x2 5200 Windsor
4 Gigs-(4x1) Gskill 800 6400 RAM
1 IDE dvd burner
1 80 gig sata hdd (xp)
1 320 gig sata hdd (projects)
I put this together today, installed windows... and it kept randomly shutting off... I ruled out cpu temp... it was a cool 25.... I ruled out the drivers, i tried using an ide hdd - BSOD during installation, I tried using only the 320 gig sata hdd, partitioned out 20 gigs for xp...BSOD during installation.
So I started over with the original setup as listed above.... it gets close to finishing installation of xp then it reboots before it should then says its restarting installation.... I let it try three times then it gave me the BSOD.
This is my first from scratch build and my first sata encounter.... my best guess is something to do with bios or psu settings. Or maybe too much ram for the current settings? It seemed to cut off during intensive work... installations of software and drivers.... sometimes even during windows start up.
Ok so I tried again... now it won't even make it to the beginning of xp installation before crashes.
I've ruled out the ram... took 2 sticks out ...still crashed. I don't get it, earlier today I actually got xp installed without having to do any f6 to manually install a floppy based sata driver. It kept rebooting... but not crashing.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Last edited by SlimmyWang : 12-25-2007 at 04:05 AM.
First of all, I would double check the CPU settings in bios set up, sometimes there are links or switches on the mobo to select the FSB speeds etc, I would also pay particular attention to the RAM speed and check you are using the correct RAMs
Many a mobo uses the mounting screws as a earth connection so checking these may be a good idea... also check the links on the hard drive to see if its configured correctly.
What happens if you power up with the hard drive disconnected...? You should still be able to get into bios set up, do you get the same problem.... if all is well here with no hard drive when you boot you should get something like 'No hard drive found', 'Hard drive failure' or 'Please insert the disc with the operating system on', it'll let you know one way or the other.
All you need for bios boot and be able to access the set up screen is the CPU, RAM and Graphic card...
...what happens is when you power up the bios checks itself out... give a bleep and boots (properly known as POST - Power On Self Test), it then hands control over to the CPU then when CPU is in control data is loaded into ram, start up programs etc etc.
Unhooking the things not required makes life a little easier... from this you will see that until the bios has booted nothing is going to happen, also disconnecting the hard drive removes all driver conflicts, viruses etc because no data is being loaded.
In bios you should be able to check the CPU temperature and voltages and the CPU and RAM speed, you can do this without disconnecting anything of course by simply entering bios set up.
Yeah I can get to the bios no problem.... all the settings are set to automatic. I have no idea whow to set the fsb or cpu whatever.. the cpu didn't come with documentation.... just installation instructions... and yes this is the retail cpu. Why can't they be clear when they make bios settings and other crap? These Sata HDD don't have any jumpers or anything on them so.... how would I check their settings?
So I can get to the bios no problem.... I have no idea why the automatic settings aren't working..... when I try to install windows it crashes during the copying files part.
Ok Could you possibly give me a clue as to what settings I should look at and the range of where they should be example:1-2volts for cpu.. or whatever.
Unfortunately, finding clear specs and instructions is much harder than it seems... ok so now I've xp going to the completing installation part then it crashes and says " IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL or PFN_LIST_CORRUPT" research leads me to believe its either RAM or the PSU... that kinda explains the system cutting off randomly when I had xp installed... I'll mees with the RAM...I've got 4x1gig... I'll try different combonations & see if I can get a Stable system.
Well.... after hours and one whole day... it was the RAM... I bought 4gigs (4x1 gig) from newegg.com they're pretty good about replacements so it shouldn't be a big deal. Besides 2 gigs are fine for now. Thanks for the help!!
Ah... sounds like you've solved it congratulations.
If things are ok on auto I'd be tempted to leave it rather than set them manually, the end result is the same I guess, a Google should come up with the CPU specs if required.
new build keeps randomly shutting off 
Linear Mode
