Computer shuts down on XP install

Hi folks

I'm experiencing a strange problem with my new system. As soon as I
reach a specific point in the Windows XP install, the system simply
shuts down, as if someone pulled the power cord. The part of the XP
install in question, is the part you reach after the disk has been
formatted and the files have been copied and you have rebooted, i.e.
the first time Windows runs (where it says "30 minutes
left" and starts telling you how great an OS it is, etc.). After
5 or 10 seconds in this part of the install, it shuts down. I just
think it is really odd that it is at this exact spot every time. Like
something special happens here that triggers it.

I've tried different XP installation cds, but to no effect. So I
figured it must be a hardware problem.

I noticed that the CPU temperature is pretty high immediately after
each shut down (65-68C). I checked this in the BIOS. So could it be
CPU overheating?

My second guess would be that it is a PSU problem.

My specs:

Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Asus A8N-SLI
eVGA 7800 GT CO
2x1 GB Kingston ValueRAM
Hitachi T7K250 SATA 250 GB HDD (On which I intend to install XP)
Maxtor DiamondMax 9 ATA 80 GB HDD
Antec TruePower 430W PSU

Note: The PSU is a couple of years old, so it does not have a 24-pin
EATXPWR plug. So I corrected this by getting a 20 to 24 pin
converter. Don't know if this matters, but the more information the
better.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

There's power supplies and power supplies....!
Yes the wattage is important, but more so is the quality because of
the CPU speed.

Imagine a lower speed CPU, the clocking pulses will be drawing power
from the PSU at a slow rate thus the regulation has bags of time to
recover in between the loading, this puts a ripple on the supply
lines, the main culprit are the electrolytic capacitors that smooths
the rectified supplies.

If you increase the CPU speed dramatically the loading is heavier and
the ripples are greater, thus what should be a DC supply may contain
a substantial amount of ripple supperimposed on the DC voltage that
vary in sympathy with the clocking pulses.

Faster the CPU greater the heat produced which means greater the
amount of power taken from the power supply.

I would try another PSU but get a high quality one, your problem could
also be due to a driver problem since you tried a different
installation disc, the CPU temps does appear to be on the high side,
are the FSB's set correctly and have you checked the voltages in
bios, it does seem alittle worrying, trust you are using the
recomended fan for your CPU which is equally important....?

I seem to recall reading somewhere that power supplies can be fickle
with AMD2000+ and above cpu's, usually those that come in empty
computer cases you get, they work no probs with say a AMD1800 but
anything above 2Ghz is asking too much for some of them.

Davy

Davywrote:
There's power supplies and power supplies....!
Yes the wattage is important, but more so is the quality because of
the CPU speed.

Imagine a lower speed CPU, the clocking pulses will be drawing power
from the PSU at a slow rate thus the regulation has bags of time to
recover in between the loading, this puts a ripple on the supply
lines, the main culprit are the electrolytic capacitors that smooths
the rectified supplies.

If you increase the CPU speed dramatically the loading is heavier
and the ripples are greater, thus what should be a DC supply may
contain a substantial amount of ripple supperimposed on the DC
voltage that vary in sympathy with the clocking pulses.

Faster the CPU greater the heat produced which means greater the
amount of power taken from the power supply.

I would try another PSU but get a high quality one, your problem
could also be due to a driver problem since you tried a different
installation disc, the CPU temps does appear to be on the high side,
are the FSB's set correctly and have you checked the voltages in
bios, it does seem alittle worrying, trust you are using the
recomended fan for your CPU which is equally important....?

I seem to recall reading somewhere that power supplies can be fickle
with AMD2000+ and above cpu's, usually those that come in empty
computer cases you get, they work no probs with say a AMD1800 but
anything above 2Ghz is asking too much for some of them.

Davy

Thanks for the reply.

I see your point with the power supply. But I always assumed that
Antec PSUs were pretty decent though.

The voltages look ok in the BIOS. And I am using the AMD stock HSF.
I'm going to try reseating the HSF with some new thermal paste and
see if that doesn't do the trick.

Alternatively, could it be a problem with the SATA HDD?

Electrolytics do dry up, the ESR also could increase with aging and
heat, this will not only cause increase ripple on the supply lines it
will also cause the component to heat up, hence swollen tops and
leaked gunge.

A capacitors ESR (Effective Series Resistance) needs to be as low as
possible to prevent this from happening, imagine putting a
resistance in series with a capacitor - the higher the resistance the
less the ability to decouple the supply.

The power supplies may well be top-grade but that does not stop
capacitors from deteriorating - heat is the real enemy here whether
from other components or heat generated internally due to increased
ERSR, you use a standard type capacitor it's not gonna last very long
plus the fact that it's liable to explode or leak gunge that can
corrode the copper tracks on the mobo after eating away the
protective lacquer.

Try a Google and see if you can find the running spec for that CPU,
the operating temp does seem a little high to me and would certainly
be the first thing I would work on, solving this may well solve the
installation problem.

Davy.

I doubt it's the power supply because, as you state, it happens at the
same point every time.

So it could be a duff install CD / CD-ROM drive but I would have
expected you to get some very obvious data read errors.

My money would be on duff RAM. I had a similar problem a while back
where I looked for all the complex reasons, and it was actually a
faulty DIMM.

Download memtest86 from http://www.memtest86.com/ and write it to a CD.
Boot the CD and let the test run for 24 hours. If you get an error any
time, then you can stop the test cause the RAM is definitely stuffed.
If you don't see any errors over 24 hours then the RAM is probably OK
and you are still in the dark!
Cheers,
Scott

While I was reinstalling the heatsink, I noticed that locking the cam
handle twisted the spring and clips on the heatsink. Is that normal?

Pic:
http://img506.imageshack.us/my.php?i...sc005006hz.jpg

As you can see the clip is pushed hard to the left. I just fear that
it might prevent proper contact between the HSF and CPU. Thoughts?
Anyone have experience with socket 939 HSFs?

Yep think you are right a power supply wouldn't cause it to shut down
at the same point every time.

Davy

Difficult for me to tell, but would explain the high temps and shut
downs the CPU should be flat in the socket and the heatsink mounted
squarish and centrally on top.

The lever in mine is pushed down flat after inserting the cpu to lock
it, when I mounted the sink I had to sprise the retaining springs
with a screwdriver, in case of slippage and damage to the board I
laid a peice of thick card down in case the driver did slip.

Davy

Yes! Finally it works!

It was the heatsink as I suspected. I unhooked the handle so it
doesn't force it to the left and voila, it runs like a dream!

Thanks for all your replies! You've been helpful!

Well, at least you know more about electrolytic capacitors now ;-)

Glad you got it working.
S.