bios freeze...

[ddanj]

So i'll start from the beginning. About 3 weeks ago, I noticed that my athlon 1900 was running at 1.2ghz for some reason, at 100fsb. So I went into bios and changed it to 133, like it's suppose to be. The computer hangs. So I try and reset the cmos with the jumper, and that doesnt work, then I take out the battery for couple min, put it back in, nothing, still doesnt post. LEDs show processor damage. I take out the cpu, power on the mobo, get some beeps, turn it off. put the cpu back in. Now it posts, still at 1200. Then it freezes before getting into windows. So I looked into the case and saw that I had 2 fans hooked up to the same molex lead as the hard drive, so I put the fans on a seperate molex lead, and now the the computer would get into windows, but still freeze after couple min. So I tested the ram, cpu with a friend's computer, they worked fine. Then I switched PSU's with him and ran prime95 for like 10min and the computer (mine) wouldnt freeze. So i figured it's a psu problem. So I bought am Antec Neopower 480 (as recommended in many threads). Attached only the hsf fan to it, and the mobo. Tried going into bios, fine, then tried going into the hardware health monitor screen, where all the fsb , voltage adjustments are, and temperatures, and power readings... and it freezes at that screen. It shows information on the left side of the screen, and nothing else (should be a logo, and a title, and couple other measurments on the right). Also it freezes when i run prime95 for more then 5min. So what the hell is going on? maybe the the mobo is f'd up?? any help would be appreciated...

thanx

specs:

athlon xp 1900
msi k7t 266
pny 512mb
chaintech g4 ti4200
ibm 120gb


p.s. i also ran memtest86 for an hour, to make sure ram was fine

 

[intercollector]

So i'll start from the beginning. About 3 weeks ago, I noticed that my athlon 1900 was running at 1.2ghz for some reason, at 100fsb. So I went into bios and changed it to 133, like it's suppose to be. The computer hangs. So I try and reset the cmos with the jumper, and that doesnt work, then I take out the battery for couple min, put it back in, nothing, still doesnt post. LEDs show processor damage. I take out the cpu, power on the mobo, get some beeps, turn it off. put the cpu back in. Now it posts, still at 1200. Then it freezes before getting into windows. So I looked into the case and saw that I had 2 fans hooked up to the same molex lead as the hard drive, so I put the fans on a seperate molex lead, and now the the computer would get into windows, but still freeze after couple min. So I tested the ram, cpu with a friend's computer, they worked fine. Then I switched PSU's with him and ran prime95 for like 10min and the computer (mine) wouldnt freeze. So i figured it's a psu problem. So I bought am Antec Neopower 480 (as recommended in many threads). Attached only the hsf fan to it, and the mobo. Tried going into bios, fine, then tried going into the hardware health monitor screen, where all the fsb , voltage adjustments are, and temperatures, and power readings... and it freezes at that screen. It shows information on the left side of the screen, and nothing else (should be a logo, and a title, and couple other measurments on the right). Also it freezes when i run prime95 for more then 5min. So what the hell is going on? maybe the the mobo is f'd up?? any help would be appreciated...

thanx

specs:

athlon xp 1900
msi k7t 266
pny 512mb
chaintech g4 ti4200
ibm 120gb


p.s. i also ran memtest86 for an hour, to make sure ram was fine

Try running it with your friends powersupply again, and see if it will run prime for more than 10 mins (try for say a few hours or whatever).

My best guess would be that your motherboard is a little touchy, and for some reason it doesn't like even the smallest of spikes in the power, and your friends powersupply seems to agree with it. If you run for more than 10 mins and it freezes, then you know that it's definately a bad motherboard.

 

[gigaxtreme1]

Sounds like a prime candidate for improved chipset cooling. Problems like that can often be memory related, specifically the memory/chipset interface. I would try to cool the chipset better and see if I have some improvement.

 

[TheMostWantedPolishTwin]

Sounds like a prime candidate for improved chipset cooling. Problems like that can often be memory related, specifically the memory/chipset interface. I would try to cool the chipset better and see if I have some improvement.

I've never had a problem like that but I think you should try what gigaxtreme suggested.. hows your chipset being cooled (actively? passively?)

 

[ddanj]

passivly, but i've had this computer for 2 years now... why would it just have trouble now with the chipset, after 2 years?? I guess I could try my friend's psu again, it's some kind of enermax i know that. I thought that neopower is suppose to be more stable then most...
Also i forgot to mention, within these 3 weeks, the computer clock fell off about 6 hours, donno if that means anything.

thanx again

 

[gigaxtreme1]

The thing with microchips is that they suffer from electro-migration or electron tunnelling. A current leak that causes heat to the chip will often expand and create a tunnel which becomes more available as a chip heats up and resistance is created by overheating in the primary circuit. Chips die, better cooling can give them more life.

 

[The_Mage18]

The board is failing. 2 years is a pretty good life considering how much complexity is in motherboards. Yeah a 486 Motherboard runs for 5+ years but it also doesn't have anywhere NEAR the complexity or features of even a basic modern motherboard.

It's time to get a new motherboard. Hell, use it as an excuse to upgrade.

 

[ddanj]

arrgh... I guess i'll have to wait for my next paycheck... I wasn't planning on upgrading till xmas. Is it ok if I just buy another board(don't have money for new ram and cpu) like it? or is '2 years on the shelf' effect that as well(dont see how)?. any recommendations ?

thanx for the help