PC reboots inexplicably during encoding with DVD rebuilder

My PC reboots inexplicably while encoding a movie with DVD Rebuilder using CCE basic. This happens with the last 3 versions of DVD Rebuilder (0.66a, 0.67 and 0.68). This happens about 20-30 minutes into the encoding job. The CPU temp goes up to 55 C during the job and holds there throughout. The CPU usage is only 72-78 %. This is a 3.2 GHz Intel Northwood CPU with 1 GB of OCZ Platinum Rev. 2 RAM. The power supply is 520 Watts. This is a brand new system - 1 week old. This did not occur with my old system at all. I used DVD Rebuilder several times without a hitch on my old PC. Any ideas out there, please ?

If I had to guess I would say this is one of two things most likely: 1. A bios setting that is a little too aggressive. For me I get these random reboots when I put my computer in "Turbo" mode in the bios. I have a msi k8t neo fis2r mobo. 2. Bad or incompatible or cheap ram. This is more likely the case. With new computer and ddr ram, getting the exact right ram is more important than ever. I suggest running Prime95's torture test on your computer overnight and see what happens. I would say that most likely your problem is hardware related. Just out of curiosity exactly what kind of computer do you have?

In response to "The Seeker": My PC is an ASUS P4C800-E DX Mobo with a 3.2 GHz 'C'processor. I included 1 GB of OCZ Platinum Rev.2 RAM (definitely not cheap and compatible with the Mobo because I scoped it out at Anandtech first). I haven't overclocked because I just got the system a week ago, and I don't think I'd gain much from this CPU by OC'ing anyway, BUT, I haven't had a look at how the supplier tweaked the BIOS either. (I'll take a look there next). I plan to update the BIOS to the latest and set the "default" or "fail-safe" settings just to get back to a clean starting point in the BIOS. The only other component I have that might play in this is an ATI Radeon Pro 9800 128MB Video Card, but I think it's compatible with this system too. The only time this PC reboots itself is while running DVD-RB (about 20 minutes into the job), so I'm thinking it must be related to something DVD-RB stesses while running the encoder (in this case CCE). CPU ?

Another thing you might check. Disable your screen saver during encodes. CCE is a real cpu hog when it is running and if your screeensaver tries to come on at a peak moment can cause this to happen, also your e-mail program if it is running in the system tray. Had this happen to me a few times when I forget to shut them down. Easier to check this than to start reconfiguring your computer

DD51: Yes, I did get the temp reading from ASUS Probe. I will run the test again with Everest Home Edition. I used BIOS version 1019. My case should have good ventilation. I got the Coolermaster Stacker. It has a 120mm intake fan up front blowing across the hard drives, a 120mm exhaust fan out the back, and, a 80mm fan on top blowing straight down over the Mobo. I did notice in the BIOS my CPU Heatsink fan was set to the lowest setting (11/16 of full speed) by default. I will use the "Q-Fan" feature to adjust that up to a higher speed. Also, I will pull the heatsink tonight and ensure there is enough goop spread evenly over the CPU. I haven't done that before but I had a guy at work show me the tape they put on some cpu's for the heatsink and he found that the tape only covered about 2/3 of the surface area of his CPU. I wonder if mine might look about the same? Once I have the heatsink checked, the fan tweaked and Everest Home set to monitor I will do another test run with DVD-RB. Hopefully I can get the temp down under 50C consistently (even lower because I have not yet OC'ed). Just curious, where did you get the Max temp figures for these CPU's? I looked at Intel's site and they have some Thermal Info for their processors but the chart only showed "Max Case Temp", "Max Recommended Fan Inlet Temp", and "Processor Thermal Design Power(W)". No Max CPU temp???

One more thing I noticed that I'm wondering about - My CPU usage was showing only 73-78% while using DVD-RB on this machine, not 100% as I have seen on other machines while using DVD-RB. Is it possible my PC is throttling back on the processor because of the heat buildup?

Thank you DD51 and dannyv for your latest posts. I checked my CPU-Heatsink conductor and it was a tape substance but it appeared to be applied fairly well. I was able to rub this off with my finger quite easily. I haven't yet applied the new compound (I had to go to work :)). However, before I did this I ran another couple of tests with DVD-RB. The first test (with default BIOS settings) failed about 10 minutes into the job with a blue screen (1st one of those so far). I have 1GB OCZ Platinum Rev. 2 RAM and I understand it requires 2.75V which is a little higher than normal, so I decided to specify that voltage in the BIOS for the DRAM Voltage. I ran DVD-RB again with this change and the job completed successfully BUT the CPU temp ran at 53-54C throughout(for an hour). I also noticed my CPU fan speed is a constant 2576-2596RPM; it never goes higher. I have noticed the fan on my PC at work increases from 3100RPM to 4100RPM running the same job (DVD-RB)and the temp held at 54-56C throughout, so it seems the fan increases speed in an attempt to provide more cooling at the heat builds up but it still managed at an even higher temp?? I also found this article at which shows even higher temps for this processor without problems. Now, I'm not as convinced the CPU temp is the actual cause of my problems even though I would like to get it cooler to prolong the life of my CPU and increase it's efficiency. So, if I get the best heatsink/fan setup I can get with perfectly applied compound, that is all I can do to address the CPU heat. Maybe there is another problem such as an incorrect BIOS setting? DD51 - any possiblity you can give me some of the key BIOS settings you are using for this Mobo? - You have the same Mobo and your processor is the same with just a small difference in speed.

54-56 celcius really isnt that bad considering the processor is under heavy load for a while. I would just make sure you get good thermal compound on your processor and maybe a little faster fan and try that out. Run some test apps like Prime95 which totally stresses your computer to the max. Will do 100% cpu usage and use all of your ram running calculations for as long as you want. It really is a good test of system stability.

I would like to thank everyone for their input regarding this matter. I now realize this situation is no longer a DVD-RB matter but a cooling matter and/or a BIOS setting matter and this Forum is probably not the appropriate place to address this concern, so I'll drop the subject here and pursue the solutions suggested and if necessary I'll follow up in a more appropriate Forum. Any suggestions for good hardware/bios related Forums? :)

Just a note to let everyone who helped me out with this heat issue the final outcome. I put the new heatsink compound on as instructed and ran DVD-RB again to test. The CPU heat actually dropped 2 degrees Centigrade throughout so that was an improvement, but still 52C, hot for a Northwood processor. Then, while monitoring with "Everest" I flipped through a couple of the other screens and discovered that my supplier put in a PRESCOTT processor, not a NORTHWOOD processor as I spec'd. No wonder it runs hotter than a Northwood! But it actually runs pretty cool for a Prescott. :). Anyway, my Northwood processor is on the way. As far as the system crashes are concerned, they stopped after I tweaked the BIOS and set the DRAM Voltage to 2.75 to match the requirements of the OCZ RAM. Thanks all.