Problem of processor overheating or Ram

[AbhayD]

I bought a used PC.

Config:
Graphics card: 9600 Pro
Ram = 768
HDD = 160GB
Processor: Athlon XP
The motherboard is an asus but I didn't remember the exact model.

I had great difficulty to launch a series of continuous beep at startup and nothing, no display that come up. After trying several things, I identified the problem came from the ram. 1 of three strips worked, the other 2 either prevented the start up when I put them in slot 1 or restarts the PC if I put them in slot 2, behind the functional ram. In short, I am left running with 256, which is quite low. I install XP pro, my printer, my scanner, word, excel and software library, avira +. Everything seemed to work.

But later on I was left with:

- Problem of overheating of the processor putting in automatic safety
- Power supply problem: what should we check?
- Ram problem? Is that possible?
- Graphics card? (it was changed by the seller immediately before the sale)

What else can I check?

[Killen]

With the strip that works, try different slots just to see whether it is the strips that are dead or the slots. You can use Memtest86 to test the RAM strips in different slots. If one of that does not works, then you buy a strip of 1 GB and see!

Then check the CPU temperature with the help of Speedfan. The radiator could be affected during transportation etc.

Finally, power supply is also suspect if it is a noname, it will remain suspect until you are sure of the rest.

[AbhayD]

I tested the 3 strips on slot 1. But only one worked (if the pc does not start). So for me, the other two are broken. Besides, I wanted to set slots 2 and 3, it would crash the install of windows. However I can put my single strip on any of the slots?

Recently I got the bug this morning after about 1/2 hours of operation. The computer was turned off properly, so a command thing stopping windows and shutting down the system. Then it would not restart directly. I have cut the power supply and reconnect it to go back.

For temperature, it does not seem catastrophic (not above 31 ° C in fan speed). But, in the bios, the temperature specified for the cpu was higher (starts at 35 and then increases regularly).

[Killen]

May be that there is not (enough) of thermal paste on the CPU and so it stops? And so when the computer is too hot, it gives the security warning and stops and reboots your computer (sometimes it may even shut down to save your hardware devices).

[AbhayD]

What is curious is that the processor does not heat (34 °C it seems reasonable to me right?) and not even it seems to warm. I made a Memtest86+ on my single strip, and there is no error.

And the error occurs even rather cold (about 10 minutes one quarter of an hour after the first boot). Then it does not reproduce (I made 1 hour and a half without issue, and yesterday, more than 4 hours without bug either).

What are the processes that cause Windows shutdown properly?