Intel DP965LTCK shutdowns and bootloops.

[stevo1210]

I assembled a computer for my brother yesterday and by today it keeps bootlooping and shutting down at random times. Sometimes it can run for a few hours without shutting down but sometime it only takes a minute after bootup to suddenly shut down.
This is what the PC currently has:

* Intel Pentium 4 HT 530J 3.0Ghz CPU
* Intel DP965LTCK motherboard
* 1 GB (2x 512MB) G-Skill DDRII RAM
* ATI X300SE 128MB graphics card
* Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 160GB SATA HDD.
* D-Link 54g PCI wireless card.
* NEC DVD+/-RW drive.
* Dell L350N-00 24 Pin 350W PSU

After a while I cam to a conclusion that the PSU may be a bit weak because the intel hardware monitor came up with a message after a reboot saying that the 5V line was only 4.6V. I opened the PSU up to have a look for bad caps, but there aren't any bad caps. All the caps are OST though but before I powered this system, I had this PSU powering another Pentium 4 system and that one didn't do random reboots and shutdowns.
I also reseated the PCI cards and RAM to no effect on the system.... it still bootloops and shuts down.
All the fans are spinning and the CPU temperature is around 48-50c on idle and 58c under load.
A CMOS reset didn't help it either.... I loaded the defaults and that didn't help at all.
I also inspected the Intel motherboard for bad caps and there aren't any bad caps on it. The caps on the board are:

* Nichicon HM(M) [still fine, no bulging or leaking]
* Rubycon ZL
* Samxon RS
and a few polymers around the CPU.

The PC was fine yesterday as I could reformat it, install games, play games and install drivers. It wasn't until this morning that it went haywire.

The system had worked fine for over six months now because this used to be my old PC until I upgraded to an Asus P5K-E with a dual core CPU. The only thing that has been changed is the PSU. The old PSU which powered this system was a Thermaltake XP550NP 430W. I have heard that the Thermaltake XP550NP 430W is worse than the Dell PSU currently in the system from this thread: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3096
The Dell PSU also weighs much more than the Thermaltake XP550NP. The caps in the Dell PSU are also larger and have a higher capacitance.
I've enclosed some pictures of the Internals of the Dell PSU as well.
Does anyone know what could be wrong??

Thanks.

[stevo1210]

Re: Intel DP965LTCK shutdowns and bootloops.

I just left the system in the BIOS hardware monitor and the 12V rail dropped to about 11.46V and after half a second, the system just shut off and bootlooped continuosly.
My brother also said that yesterday when the PC was still OK, he could hear a very small clicking type of noise from the area where the PSU is. I'm trying to figure out what the faint clicking noise could have been.... any ideas??

Thanks.

[zandrax]

Re: Intel DP965LTCK shutdowns and bootloops.

Try swapping the psu: you should diagnose if it's a power supply or an other component fault.
If it stills has problems after swapping, try booting the minimal system: board, cpu, a stick of ram and psu. If it boots, you should add other ram sticks, the hard disk, the cd player and pci cards unless you get instability. If it doesn't boot, it's more likely a board, cpu or ram fault: you can isolate the troblesome component by trial and error (e.g. swap the ram, try another cpu, ...).

If you manage to get a stable system, update mobo's bios to the latest one, the 1718: it' recent (december 2007) and last updates are more cosmetic updates than real bug corrections, while the whole 16xx series is full of fixes.

Zandrax

[stevo1210]

Re: Intel DP965LTCK shutdowns and bootloops.

I just booted the system with only the board, CPU, RAM and graphics card and the 12V rail got to about 10.75V and then it shut down. Is 10.75V a bit too low for the 12V rail??

Thanks.

[zandrax]

Re: Intel DP965LTCK shutdowns and bootloops.

I just booted the system with only the board, CPU, RAM and graphics card and the 12V rail got to about 10.75V and then it shut down. Is 10.75V a bit too low for the 12V rail??

Thanks.

It's dangerously too low: it should never be lower than 11.4 v. Swap the psu.

Zandrax

[starfury1]

Re: Intel DP965LTCK shutdowns and bootloops.

yes stevo if it was working fine with old psu, check the voltages on that and just use it if they are in spec.

Sounds like the Dell is not cutting the muster there mate

It may have something wrong with it the Dell so if you still got the box as it was that it was powering Id recheck the voltages in that one with it.

It possible the Dell has unstable regulation due to possibly borderline caps
(not talking DC output caps here) or something else affecting it.

The Dell might be a better supply but it ain't worth jack if its faulty

possible the Dell might be overloaded but from the previous post I think it was consider ok wattage wise to run your old system

so refit the Thermaltake and check what it says to be sure on your now brothers machine

err hope the above makes sense?

[kc8adu]

Re: Intel DP965LTCK shutdowns and bootloops.

psu is bad.
change out the hn/hm caps too.
btw ost are crap too.

[starfury1]

Re: Intel DP965LTCK shutdowns and bootloops.

well that puts it simply thanks KC8

just noticed "liteon" on the pcb

[stevo1210]

Re: Intel DP965LTCK shutdowns and bootloops.

I changed the PSU today. The replacement PSU is also a Lite-on PSU with a 24 pin ATX connector.... but the new one is only 300W. The replacment PSU is second hand and looks to have come from an Acer system as there are Acer stickers on it.
So far the PC has been fine and hasn't bootlooped or shutdown.

Thanks.

[starfury1]

Re: Intel DP965LTCK shutdowns and bootloops.

good one

so your other is a dud

[zandrax]

Re: Intel DP965LTCK shutdowns and bootloops.

I changed the PSU today. The replacement PSU is also a Lite-on PSU with a 24 pin ATX connector.... but the new one is only 300W. The replacment PSU is second hand and looks to have come from an Acer system as there are Acer stickers on it.
So far the PC has been fine and hasn't bootlooped or shutdown.

That's what matters!

Thanks.

Don't mention it.

Zandrax