is this a hardware problem or a windows problem?

B

bilsmaks

n00b
Joined
Sep 19, 2003
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im having troubles keeping a stable system, i had a kt333 soyo dragon ultra platinum with an amd xp 2000+ 1.7 ghz cpu, and everything else worked fine, for xmas i got an amd 3200 barton 2.2 ghz chip and i went out and bought a new motherboard, i bought a dfi lanparty (not a bd board despite the ugly ass box, hey it was cheaper too :D) anyrate i get it all installed and windows has a problem staying stable, i reinstalled windows just to make sure that i could give it a fresh copy and it seems to hang all the time, i know its not a ram or video card issue, cause all my stuff works fine with the kt333 board still...can someone please help?
 
That's really vague. When does it hang/lock up? Did you reformat, or just use a "repair" installation? Are you sure you didn't accidentally short something on the board to your case's mounting area? (etc. etc. etc.)
 
IS this also happening when not OC'd? Memory timings ... tried looser ones ..?
 
Try reformatting...

could also be something bad on the board or bad memory...
 
thanks for the responses guys ive really been having one hell of a time with this one, all the other hardware other than the motherbaord and cpu, were from my old computer, i know all the other hardware works fine (including the memory) because if i put everything back in my old mobo and cpu, it boots works fine, i know the cpu works fine because ive tried other motherboards (that ive bought and returned) and they all detect it perfectly fine, pretty much the only thing i have not fully done so far is totally formatted and reinstalled windows (which i will try today when i get home), and no i have not overclocked it...yet :D it lets me login to windows, and then i can listen to mp3s or talk on aim and then it just seems to freeze and i have to reboot :( this is bugging the shit out of me i dont know what is causing this! thanks for your help guys!!!
 
If the spec is in your sig ... your memory might be having a hard time keeping up @ PC3200 speeds ...
 
yes everything is seated correctly, and i have tried updating windows, im now actually formatting my c drive and reinstalling windows, to see if that improves, and i know the memory (pc2700) works fine with my board...well ill let ya know how the formatting goes...thanks for the help so far, hopefully this will fix it.
 
Originally posted by primea
If the spec is in your sig ... your memory might be having a hard time keeping up @ PC3200 speeds ...
Click to expand...
Huh. I missed that.

Does your board have a 6:5 or 3:2 memory async setting? Unless you have enthusiast-line memory, PC2700 RAM usually won't make it all the way to 200MHz.
 
Exactly what I was thinking.

Your proc is running on a 400 MHz bus and your mem is only rated to 333. Unless you have some killer mem on your board, it's not going to get up to 400 without a lot of errors.

You have a few choices
1 get better mem pc3200

2 change your mem async settings from 1:1 to either 6:5 or 3:2 like Stiletto said

3 underclock your sys bus to 333
 
well my board supports pc2100 (i think) pc2700 and pc3200 ram...im still messing around ugh...
 
Try disabling all the onboard peripherals you are not using (com, printer etc)

try turning off "fast writes" on your video card if it even supports it. also try changing to 2x AGP in smartgart, that card probably would not benefit from 4 or 8 x agp anyways.
 
Originally posted by bilsmaks
well my board supports pc2100 (i think) pc2700 and pc3200 ram...im still messing around ugh...
Click to expand...

your board will support it ... but most AMD boards like to run the FSB in sync mode ... which means you are overclocking your PC2700 to PC3200 ... w/c may be causing your problems ... try underclocking your CPU to 333FSB, and see if you have the same problem(s) ... if you do ... then it's the mobo ... if it became stable, then it is your RAM ....
 
im not sure where the setting is in the bios to change my cpu speed to 333, i dont even think i can change it to 333. im pretty sure the bios is phoenix or award though...what am i really looking for in the bios in order to change it to 333? thanks for your help so far guys!!
 
Originally posted by bilsmaks
im not sure where the setting is in the bios to change my cpu speed to 333, i dont even think i can change it to 333. im pretty sure the bios is phoenix or award though...what am i really looking for in the bios in order to change it to 333? thanks for your help so far guys!!
Click to expand...

Serioualy man, shut off the PC and spend some time reading the manual, and learning how to configure a motherboard. Everyone's giving you good advice about changing the memory ratio, and your not understanding it.

On a side note, when the hell are people going to learn that memory doesn't just run at it's rated speed...it runs at what you set it at in the BIOS (if it can handle the speed). There should be a license to obtain is people are going to build their own PCs.
 
ok guys time for a new update, i bought 1 gig corsair twinx pc3200 ddr400 ram, and im testing it, so far so good? well ill let you guys know..thanks again
 
You always have to reformat when you install a new motherboard with a different chipset. I'm talking full blown, reinstall all programs type reformating. That should be your problem.

About the RAM...is RAM boots, it is usually stable for mediocre tasks like surfing the web. If your system is "randomly" shutting down, maybe the CPU is reaching a max heat temp and shutting down automatically.
 
well i did totally reformat, and im still having the issues, i bought some new ram (corsair xms pc3200 2x512) and its still giving me problems, at this point i think it might be the power supply because im having isssues getting the system to even boot, and when it does, after awhile of like talking on aim or web surfing the computer just seems to freeze, so im going to go buy a new psu, and check to see if that helps...if not, im out of ideas, ive tried so muchl, thanks for all your help guys.
 
When you say having trouble getting it to boot, do you mean simply initially powering everything up and POSTing and going through the boot process, or it is getting errors when it should go to the Windows XP splash screen? If it's the first one, then it could be the PSU. What kind do you have already, and how old is it? It wont hurt to buy a new quality PSU, but if that is not the problem then you just wasted money and time.
 
well my power supply was a 400 watt, its like 2 or 3 years old for me (a friend gave me it) so than today i went out and bought a new power supply, a thermaltake 480 watt, and got that installed and xp still randomly freezes (like ill be on aim and listening to winamp, and it just freezes and then my mobo beeps (constant) until i shut it off, ive reseated everything, ive bought a new motherboard (the dfi lanparty) instead of the (kt400 soyo dragon ultra plat) i bought new ram (corsair pc3200 2x 512) and its still not stable in xp, even thought i have reinstalled xp after formating my c drive, i even reapplied arctic silver to my cpu and made sure everything was pushed in and seated correctly, screwed down everything and i still dont know :( your help has been great guys!
 
What are your temperatures ... seems like overheating ...
 
are those temps read through the CPU diode? Your troubles point to overheating ... what are you using to read those temps ...
 
Either overheating, or a software bug. You've repeatedly said your system crashes when running AIM and Winamp. Try running AIM and listening to music with Windows Media Player to see if it's just some software incompatability. If it is, don't sweat it - those parts you bought are good parts and will last a while.

Overheating can also be caused by some other component in the system, like the northbridge. How hot is it inside the case?
 
Originally posted by primea
are those temps read through the CPU diode? Your troubles point to overheating ... what are you using to read those temps ...
Click to expand...


well i bought a brand new thermaltake volcano 11 and its spinning at like 4800~5100 rpm, you really think its overheating?
 
boot to your BIOS ... then check the temperature there ... let it run a couple of minutes and watch the temps ... your heatsink might not be seated properly ... did you use thermal paste?
 
Originally posted by DJDishwateR
Reseat the heatsink. Put some good thermal paste on there if you have any.
Click to expand...

ive done that, used arctic silver...at anyrate, i picked up a new motherboard over the weekend (check the sig) and shock of shocks lol it hasnt frozen yet, well except for when i tried to burn a dvd, but i just had to update the ide drivers and all is good! hasnt frozen since (i didnt even reinstall windows) thanks for your help on this one guys....two shotty mobos ina row what kind of luck is that lol thanks again guys!
 
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