Computer problems... suggestions and ideas needed

[Harpo]

Ok, before I start here is what I am running: (No laughing please)

AMD 2400+ (2 gig)
ASUS A7V8X-X mobo Slot A Socket 462
512 Memory
ATI Radeon 9600 256mg
Windows XP SP2

I was having problems with Links shutting down while playing online and off. I did not have any other problems other than if I did a lot of working with pictures. Tiger Woods 04 and 07 shut down a few times also. It slowly got worse. I started a few rds here only to have it shut down 2 or 3 times in one rd. I did some googling and seen where it could possible be a memory problem. So here is what I've done so far..

1. Checked my memory with memtest 86 and memory gold. My 512 stick had over 400 errors before it shut my machine down.

2. Took my granddaughter's 512 stick out of her machine and it checked ok on my machine.

3. So I quickly ordered/got a 1 gig stick. My machine would not even get to the window screen.

4. Took the 1 gig stick and put it in my g-daughter's machiine, ran fine??

5. Did some more googling on my mobo and others had some same problems. 1 person put in 2 512 sticks and did not load. Another loaded a 1 gig stick same thing. One with the same problem got his to run putting the 2 sticks in slots 2 & 3 and another with the 1 gig got his to work in the 3rd slot. They also stated they had updated their bios.

6. I updated my bios and loaded my 1 gig in the 3rd slot. It worked enough to get me into windows but after a few rds it is now shutting down again. Trying to do a disk defrag, shut down at 3 %.

7. I loaded my bad 512 into my g-daughters machine and it checked ok .... what ..?

8. Rechecked it in my machine and over 400+ errors and shut down.

All fans are working good. The memory requirements for my slots are unbuffered non-ECC PC2100/1600 DDR DIMMs. ( PC2700 max to 4 banks, PC3200 max to 2 banks) My 1 gig is PC 3200.

Am I overlooking something easy here? I am running "Hot CPU Tester Pro 4 (Lite Edition) on it now to see what it comes up with.

Suggestions please.

Tks..

[terrell]

no laughing here. much nicer rig than anything i've ever had. but i would be posting on the mobo's forums personally.

not familiar with the slot a socket 462. but i would think it's a heat problem or overloaded power supply since you were already having memory issues before the 1 gb dimm.

[lstucz]

My first thought was that the fan had died that cools the Via KT400 northbridge chip. However, there is no fan for northbridge on that motherboard. I looked into the archives on the Asus site.

But honestly, I had been going through similar problems with Nvidia N-force 2 chipsets on my computer over the past year. I was burning out motherboards every 3 to 6 months. On mine, it turned out that there is an issue with the N-force 2 chipsets if you have a lot of programs running in the background, like anti-virus and spyware just as examples. Every time I installed a new motherboard, the problem disappeared for a few months.

It happens! Motherboards go bad. It is getting difficult to get full sized ATX motherboards for older AMD Athlon XP socket 462 processors. I know, I have been rebuilding around them for years now.

I am currently running an Epox motherboard with a Via KT880 chipset. They are not without issues, but are about all that is available that can handle DDR400 memory and with dual channel support, outside of Nvidia N-force 2 motherboards which I obviously will not recommend. That is, unless you can settle for a micro-ATX motherboard. You did not give specifics about RAM. Perhaps you can use a different VIA chipset if you are not locked into DDR400 and wanting dual channel memory.

Here is a link to the Epox store and the motherboard, directly.

http://www.epox.com/usa/index.asp
https://www.epoxstore.com/Product_Detai ... ct_ID=1095

Are you competent to replace a motherboard? Do you know someone that is? The most likely alternative is to buy a new computer. I am keeping a spare motherboard for insurance. Outside of that, I plan on upgrading to a processor using the AM2 socket next year. Probably going to use an Opteron server processor. I here goods things about them.

If you do get the board I posted the link to, make sure you upgrade the BIOS and drivers, first. There is an issue between Nvidia graphics cards and the AGP slot in the VIA KT880 motherboards. Silly me, you are using an ATI graphics card. You may not have any problems with this board.

What mine is doing is occassionally, the screen goes black for a second and then comes back. Never lost any information. However, I have no problems when playing games. The most often this happens, is when scrolling through pages on the net. The only other time, is when working intensely in PSP Photo IX. Now that I installed new drivers, it is a problem I can live with, till I can replace the processor, motherboard, RAM and video card. That is what is necessary to upgrade to AM2. I already upgraded my case and power supply and optical drives.

Sorry I could not give you better news.

If you need more info, you can contact me directly. My email addy is on my profile, as well as my Yahoo id. Just make sure you mention the Links forum in your subject line so I do not think it is spam.

By the way, [censored] good processors. I am running a 3000+ in my better machine and have a 1700+ in a spare machine. But sadly, they are becoming dinosaurs, lol.

[canuck]

when you test the 512 memory stick is it the only one in the computer during the test , and what slot is it in?
certian brands of memory will not work with other brands , even if they are the same type
ie ...PC2700 max to 4 banks, PC3200

chris

[Al_Frescoe]

Jim,

I was running a 9600XT and started to get the shut down problem when running graphic intensive programs (Flight Sim with everything on and Elder Scrolls). I thought the card might be getting too hot so I put an extra fan on it and the problem went away.

Good luck,

Al

[lstucz]

Further info on why I am sure the motherboard is fried.

When I was having this problem last fall, I ran tests with SeaTools for my 2 Seagate hard drives and I ran memory tests on the three sticks of 512mb Crucial Ballistix RAM. The hard drives had been installed new and the RAM was only a few months old. I am in a constant state of upgrading as I can afford it.

SeaTools claimed one hard drive was bad and the MemTest claimed one stick of RAM was bad. Switching sticks of RAM with each other still showed third slot bad. Not just one, but two problems at same time? Not likely. The one thing that all components have in common is the motherboard. I even had a problem of the computer shutting down on Start, which I thought might have been power supply problem. The exact same power supply is working great since replacing the motherboard.

I won't claim to be a computer expert; but, have been building and repairing my own computers for years now. Any time I have ever contacted anyone for technical support, I have already tried everything that they suggested to me, before I contacted them. So far, I am still batting 1.000 for figuring out the problem on my own and making the correct repair the first time.

However, I am a Maintenance Technician with backgrond education and experience in electricity and electronics. Part of my job is diagnosing mechanical and electrical problems with machinery. I also build new machinery (mostly robotics) designed by my superiors. Sometimes chips do funny things when they go bad. One time they will test good because they are experiencing a good connection at that moment and then, when they heat up they will test bad. Sometimes, I have even seen humidity play a part in whether or not they worked for the short term.

Good Luck!

[Harpo]

Canuck, I only had the one stick in slot 1.

Al, I was also thinking about the 9600 card and will try using my old card in my wife's machine to see if that makes a difference.

lstucz, I have build a few machines now including the one I have now so replacing the mobo would be np but hoping to do that as my last resort next to a newer faster one. I noticed not to many places still have a socket 462 for sale. Also I'm getting a bad link to the store link you posted.

After running the Hot CPU Tester Pro for the required 6 hrs it showed everything running without errors. That is with the old 1 stick 512 PC2700 memory that checks bad on my machine.

I will try the different graphics card next.

Tks for all the imput guys.

[Grant_M]

Jim. I still think the power supply may be the problem, or at least part of the problem....

It may be something you want to try & replace before opting for a new video card. The best part about a PS replacement is when you do buy (or build) a new pc, the PS will most times be useable with the new rig....If you spend the money for a quality part with wattage powerful enough for next gen video cards...etc...

PC Power and Cooling make VERY high quality units that are future proof with very good warranties. This for instance is a nice choice.

http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewpro ... ?show=S75Q

A faulty power supply can and will slowly frazzle the other components in your pc.

best of luck to you pard

[lstucz]

Also I'm getting a bad link to the store link you posted.

I will try the different graphics card next.

Tks for all the imput guys.

The links are working ok for me, clicking from the fora. They are a little slow, but working.

Here is a link for another board with a VIA KT600 chipset. It is refurbished, though. No SATA or dual channel support, but for $30 it will work with what you are currently running. And, It may not have the same issue that my board does.

https://www.epoxstore.com/Product_Detai ... ct_ID=1111

Please post your final outcome for us. Curious to know what corrects the problem.

[Harpo]

Hi guys, I'm back with my results/report and I'm

After looking at asus's mobo forum and doing some googling I couldn't find my exact problem. I was getting ichy to play some golf. I tried to play the Muriefield tourney and got a shutdown on the 2nd or 3rd hole. I left it alone for an hour and was able to do a resume. Got thru another hole and then got a slow then fast meter and snaped early to no-mans land. Shut down again next hole. Came back again later and another resume. Nasty meter again and I bailed.

I then took off the cover again to see if I can do something to fix this problem. Turned her on and all fans were running. Shut her down and double checking that the memory was seated good. One side is close to the graphic card. Everything ok. Grabed the flashlight to look for anything that didn't look right. Some dust here and there which was normal. (I'm guessing) I stuck my finger into the fan on the cpu chip to wipe a little dust off one of the blades. When I did this the fan started to turn a little from the little force to clean off the blade. Then I spotted something. What the .... I then took out the 4 screws holding on the fan and removed it. The heatsink was blocked completely with a layer of dust. When I looked to see if the fan was turning I never bothered to see what was beyond it. I removed the dust, fired her up with the memtest86 disk and the memory check out great. I have played a few rounds in practice now and have had no shutdowns. Amazing what a little dust can do. I then heard a call from the wife from the other room. "You can take my machine apart now and clean it." I feel like a dummy but happy that was all it was. Thanks for all the help guys.

[terrell]

wow, congrats, jim. good troubleshooting. i'm sure this clunker will die before long, so i'll be consulting with you on what i should do with (to?) it. (8

[lstucz]

Dang, Jim. It is amazing what dust build-up can do. I just hope for your sake, that it holds up, now. If that was the whole problem, then let's hope that it did not cause any long-term damage which will show up again shortly. Upside? Most motherboards are made to shut down if the processor gets over heated, so that may have been protecting the processor from long-term damage.

Doubtful you would get that lucky if it was the northbridge chip that had the problem. That is why I try to choose mobos that use passive cooling, now. No chance that a fan dying wil put me out of the game.

Strange, that it caused your memory to test bad. On the bright side, now you have a gig or gig and a half to run, so performance should be improved.

Glad your back in the game. Thanks for the update.

[Grant_M]

Great to hear you've got the problem licked Jim! Happy hacking

[Danno]

I have the same "problem" on my 2400+ on a K75SA mb. Keep the dust out of the CPU heatsink and you should be good to go. They tend to not like running too hot.