Is my cpu on its last leg???

[Gouki]

Here's my system specs:

XP 1700+ JIUHB on Epox 8RDA+ @ 2.2Ghz
Radeon 9000 Pro 128mb
512mb of Dual DDR

This system has been overclocked and rocksteady for upwards of six months. I run FaD 24/7 on it and also game quite a bit...without turning off FaD. Never had any problems til last night.

It rebooted on its own. Typically that's a sign of overheating so I checked the temps and they were what its always been (50C), popped the case off and realized that it desperately needed to cleaned...dust bunnies were running rampant. So I cleaned it out, fired the system back up and went to bed. About 4am it rebooted again!

Like I said...it's been rocksteady for over 6 months with no problems and suddenly it reboots on its own twice in one night.

Is my cpu on its last leg?

[Optimus Prime]

or it's last 478 legs .

Sorry.

Maybe, overclocking does kill you CPU, but it should *not* take 6 months to destroy it, try a new heatsink/fan, take a look at your CPU core to see if it has any physical damage. Might be your motherboard too...

[Gouki]

I'm wondering/hoping if it just needed to be cleaned...there was quite a bit dust in there. Ack.

I won't get home til late tonight...and I'm hoping that it'll run all day with no problems. Guess I'll have to wait and see. <crosses his fingers>

[jmichna]

Another component notorious for causing spontaneous reboots is the lowly power supply. Maybe try cleaning the dust bunnies out of the PS... monitor the voltages (3.3, 5 and 12v, both + and -) with MBM... swap out to another PS if available.

I use quality power supplies (mostly Enermax and Antec), yet that is probably the single most replaced component out of all the systems I've had/built.

The only things that get replaced almost as often are keyboards and IBM "Death Star" hard drives

[agathodaimon]

Have you made any other recent software OR hardware changes?

[Dax_Brandy]

it's more likely your power supply is faulty... since you are running 24/7, the power supply may be drying out, the capacitors aren't as they good as they were. change to a new power supply or borrow somebody else's PSU and try it on your pc.

[Gouki]

Just got home a little bit ago and the system was still up and running <and there was much rejoicing> yay yay...

Don't have a spare PS to switch out too...but that is a good idea, I'll keep that in mind should this happen again. I'm guessing/hoping that all that was wrong was that it needed to be cleaned. I'll keep you guys posted if I have more problems...

Thanks for the replies and suggestions!

[Sixpac_XP]

Good idea to keep the insides clean.. I always have my can of compressed air and a vaccum handy on Sunday morning to clean out my beast.

[HeadBand]

or it's last 478 legs .

Sorry.

that would be funny but its an athlon and not a socket 478

[Gouki]

Been a couple days since I last posted and no unscheduled reboots...so I guess that's all she needed was a good cleanup.

Now I just need to remember to do it more often before I start getting warning signs like I did the other day.