Crash Problems

[Hat Trick Hunter]

Hi,

my computer has crash problems, but they are just random. Sometimes they are when I start up or connect to the internet, or just out of the blue. I have an Asus P4533-c motherboard and it has built in a safety software that when my pc is not getting enough power it restarts to save it. I checked my power and my 12v meter is around 11.80v and 3.3v is 2.85V.

I have a pentium 4 Northwood 1.8ghz processor and I have tried overclocking it but it doesn't go any higher then 2ghz. It doesn't overheat it just shuts down, so I thought maybe my 320watt power supply was faulty. I don't run my pc overclocked I just wanted to see how far it could go. My PC has this hardware in it:

- Audigy X-Gamer
- Ati Radeon 9500 pro
- D-Link network card
- 56k modem

It's not an overpowering computer so I didn't think power consumption was a problem but hey I might be wrong.
If you guys could help me out to figure what is wrong that would be great.

Thanks

[Force Flow]

OCing usually induces instability in a system. Try knocking it back down to stock speed. ;)

[Hat Trick Hunter]

it's not OC, it crashes at default speeds

[Cricket]

What OS are you using?

What brand is the power supply?

:) Cricket

[Tin]

it sounds to me like a PSU issue. your +3.3V rail is very low. that low 3.3V seems to be the problem, because your +12V reading is fine. you normally want your voltage readings to be within 5-10% of their rated spec. so no less than 2.97V on your 3.3V rail, 10.8V on the +12V, and 4.5V on the 5V rail.

[Hat Trick Hunter]

I am running windows XP Pro, and my power supply is some generic type it's Atng.

[glc]

Get a decent power supply - any power supply that can't keep the 3.3v rail over 3.0 (and I'd really prefer to see at least 3.2) is gonna be nothing but trouble, which overclocking will just compound. 320 watts is plenty, but it has to be CLEAN power, which yours is far from being. My NSpire 300 watt power supply is running the 3.3v rail at 3.47 rock steady, and NSpire is not known as a premium power supply.

Any power supply less than about $60 CDN is suspect. Can't go wrong with an Antec or Enermax.