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Completely unstable system

DMystikaLD

Gawd
Joined
Apr 14, 2003
Messages
603
I have the following system:

P4 2.8E @ Stock
ABIT IC7-G Max 2 Advance
2 x 512 MB Corsiar XMS PC3500
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128
Soundblaster Live Audigy 2
2 x 36 GB Raptors, RAID-0 16k Stripe
ATI TV Tuner VE
Windows XP Pro Corp

Anyway, I just got back to college and now my computer is completely unstable. I mean, it locks up after 5 minutes of logging in -every single time-. Also, my temps with my fans on @ stock in the BIOS is 68C, which doesn't seem to be making sense, but im not really sure if that's the issue or not. Tried to install Hardware doctor, didn't want to run -- gave me some runtime error.

I really have no idea what's going on -- Hardly anything is installed on the system so I'm really doubting it's software. I'm going to try to re-format anyway and see if that'll fix the issue but my guess is this is hardware related.

I'm going to take out things and toy with it but has anyone had these problems and if so how did you fix it?
 
check the heat sink, properly seated, new grease.

did u ;eave it with a friend, they may have fudged it?
 
and of course just try 1 stick of mem at a time as a starting point. I don't know much but I do know memory is one of the first places to look.
 
No one touched it but me.. was working great yesterday... I'm quite confused. I'll try motherboard monitor. thanks.
 
if in BIOS your CPU reads as 68c then that is obviously your problem. 45c is what is should be at while in idle. check the fan on your heatsync, it sounds like that may have taken a shit. make sure its properly seated with some thermal compound on there. also check BIOS to see if your computer is being overclocked, it so take it down a few notches.
 
afirawker said:
if in BIOS your CPU reads as 68c then that is obviously your problem. 45c is what is should be at while in idle. check the fan on your heatsync, it sounds like that may have taken a shit. make sure its properly seated with some thermal compound on there. also check BIOS to see if your computer is being overclocked, it so take it down a few notches.

No offense, but I've never seen 45C idling with my fans on low EVER. It's always at least 47 and that was only the first few days.. it's sort of been rising ever since. Also, this room is extremely warm (dorm). I'm idling at 58C in the bios. The chip has been working fine since early last semester.

Also, I would know if my computer is being overclocked, and it's not. My ram timings are fine, and the voltages are all set to default besides the memory which is at 2.8. The power supply voltages are not varying too much so I know it's not my PSU.

As of this morning the cpu heatsink is doing fine, so are all the other fans on the system. I went to format and it locked up at "Starting Windows." in the setup portion, not even 5 minutes after rebooting.

This is definately a hardware issue somewhere. I highly doubt it's the cooling but I will check that.
 
I really don't think it's the ram. I mean, if it's locking up even during the windows setup, only 5 minutes after my computer is turning on, but it's not locking up in the BIOS -- doesn't that sort of point to my raid array taking a shit?
 
DMystikaLD said:
No offense, but I've never seen 45C idling with my fans on low EVER. It's always at least 47 and that was only the first few days.. it's sort of been rising ever since. Also, this room is extremely warm (dorm). I'm idling at 58C in the bios. The chip has been working fine since early last semester.

Also, I would know if my computer is being overclocked, and it's not. My ram timings are fine, and the voltages are all set to default besides the memory which is at 2.8. The power supply voltages are not varying too much so I know it's not my PSU.

As of this morning the cpu heatsink is doing fine, so are all the other fans on the system. I went to format and it locked up at "Starting Windows." in the setup portion, not even 5 minutes after rebooting.

This is definately a hardware issue somewhere. I highly doubt it's the cooling but I will check that.

just noticed you have a presshot haha. i do know on AMD systems which themselves have been known to run at higher temps are running at a "critical temperature" for anything over 60c. my AMD system goes up to around 53-54 degrees under stress. are you running on a stock hsf or another one? download speedFan and check temps in windows. lockups and such can be directly caused by heat problems. run memtest86+ to rule out the possiblity of RAM causing the problem but i dont see it as being a likely cause.
 
I can't even run memtest.. it locks up before I can even open the thing. CPU temps were fine in windows -- nothing out of the ordinary. They were at the same temps that they were at when the system was stable.

My part list is in my profile -- I'm not using a stock HSF.

Update: 2 x Raptor drives now un-raided. Still locks up at starting windows.

Got a strange error message on startup... said windows couldn't determine what type of computer I had. Told me to choose "other" or "standard pc c-type 486." I've never seen that before so it seemed quite odd.
 
DMystikaLD said:
I can't even run memtest.. it locks up before I can even open the thing. CPU temps were fine in windows -- nothing out of the ordinary. They were at the same temps that they were at when the system was stable.

My part list is in my profile -- I'm not using a stock HSF.

and if you mean 68c was normal then ill bet that has been doing damage to your CPU the whole time. presshots have been a mighty problem with their heat problems. I would suggest trying another hsf with some artic 5 silver on there. probably the cheapest part to replace and would be my first guess for these lockups.
 
still locks up..

i removed my raptors... testing a DEFINATE functioning 200 GB WD drive.
 
Requiem said:
What is 68C?

i know this isnt the problem but i think youd like to know about this problem...

abit boards read cpu temps 8-12C higher than actual. i know this because i have an ic7g also but you can goto the abit forums and there are many other people that will say the same thing. there is a bios release that is supposed to correct this problem on prescott cpu's. upgrading to the latest bios may fix this problem a little.
 
Just as a comparison, I have a P4 2.53 that idles at 31C and Im hard pressed to get it above 50C, and this is in a fairly warm room. Even though you have a prescott proc with a slightly faster speed idling at 68C sounds really, really high. I was under the impression that the damage point of a processor was around 75C, so like someone said if that is your true temp the proc has probably been taking some damage all along.
 
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