This is a rather unusual problem and haven't seen a post about it anywhere before but hopefully someone can help me.

If my machine runs at 100% CPU usage for any length of time, it shuts down. My processor is an AMD Athlon XP 3000+ running at 2.1GHz. My motherboard is an Asus A7N8X-X and I have 512MB RAM. I'm running Windows 2000 Professional and Mandrake Linux. This problem occurs with both operating systems.

If, for example, I'm importing music from a CD into iTunes, my CPU usage goes to 100% +/- 5%, my screen shuts off first, and then my machine turns off. When I push the "on" button, it starts, doesn't POST and shuts down. If I push the "on" button again, it POSTs but my CPU speed is 1GHz. I can go into the BIOS and exit immediately and my CPU speed is back up to 2.1GHz. Same thing happens in Linux. If I'm running some code that takes up a lot of CPU time, the whole thing goes down.

For a while I thought it might be the CPU overheating but I downloaded the Asus Probe and it shows my CPU running at 50C +/- 10C. Someone suggested that my motherboard jumpers could be set incorrectly but I'm not sure if this is it or not.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what could be causing this? It's really affecting my work as I can't run any proper programs.

Open the chasssis
Clean out the dust bunnies from HSFs, power supply and fans. Including video HSF.

Get the latest chipset and UDMA driver. Check UDMA settings.

Do you overclock? If yes, don't. Use default CMOS settings.

Inspect the HSF to make sure it is running properly. Install extra chassis fans for inbound and outbound air flow.

Switch to rounded cables for devices: www.sidewindercomputers.com





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Tyan Thunder K8WE
Dual AMD 280 Opterons
8GB NUMA enabled DDR333 2.5-3-3-7 RAM
PCI-X SCSI RAID
http://69.14.190.80

Download and run Speedfan. Then run the cpu at 100% and see what temperature it gets to before shutting down.

List your complete system, including power supply.

I take it that is a 400fsb xp3000 (10.5 x200) and not a 333 model (13x166)

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MSI K7N2 Delta2 LSR|35w XP-M2400 11x214 1.62V|2x512MB OCZ EL 2 2 2 11 2.9V|9600XT|Seasonic 350w
Abit AN7|XP-M2800 10.5x227 1.62V|2x512MB Mushkin XP4000 2 3 2 11 3.2V|9600XT|Seasonic 550w
Asus A7V600|XP-M2600 6-11x202 1.6V|2x512 Crucial PC3200 2.5 3 3 9 2.7V|PCI 32MB gfx|Corsair 450w

I think there is a problem with my thermal sensor because I checked the CPU temp with both Speedfan and MBM5 and they register a temperature of around 95C. Asus Probe detects it at 54C.

I reseated the HSF and added a thermal pad for good measure. Cleared out dust bunnies too. I don't overclock, I can't even get my CPU to run at the speed it's supposed to...

Full spec list:
Asus A7N8X-X Mainboard
AMD Athlon XP3000+ 2.1 GHz
Corsair Value PC3200 512MB
Q-Tec Midi tower ATX 6024MD w/350W
Radeon 9600 PRO EZ 128MB AGP