ASRock P4VT8+ Freezing..$5 buck reward :)

[andrewy3k]

I have a problem with my rig and I think it may be my motherboard, I wrote on this forum ( http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=113561 ) and the guys on that forum said it was a mobo problem so I guess I just want a second opinion..

so basically my prob is that my computer wil just freeze randomly.. before I explain any further here are my specs..

*********************
ASRock P4vT8+ MOBO
P4 3.2 GHZ HT 800 FSB
1 GIG ddr 400 (1 strip)
2x HD's
2x Optical Drives
550/W PSU
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 256MB
*********************

So basically my problem is that my computer will just freeze randomly no matter what I am doing.. I could be gaming, on the net, burning, ect..

Some senerios were that I was trying to insatll diablo 2 and it froze, so I kept tryign and it keept freezing so I thought maybe it was my optical drives.. so i took them both out.. then while watching a movie it froze again.. so because the movie I was watching was on my secondary Hard Drive, I took that out.. still nothing.. it froze again while I was surfing or somthing..My comp is very well cooled with 10 fans plus a thermaltake CPU cooler.. I have a powerful PSU.. I have tried taking things out like the optical drives and my extra hard drive. the gyus on the forum posted above say its a mobo problem but I wanna be sure before I blow some money.. the only thing I have not tried is to replace my vid card or switch the slot my ram is in..I have no clue.. also the people on this other baord said the reason they think its my moob is because I installed a custom thermaltake CPU heatsink/tower cooler and I took offf the exisiting heatsink bracket to insall it.. and they are saying I could have ruined some cucirty while I did this.. This is a new rig I uilt and I have been having problems since I built it.. should I try another vid card/move my ram around or just get a new mobo? If I do try a new vid card or move my ram I wont ven noe if it fixes the problem till like 7 hours latter because sometimes it dosent freeze for that long..

hope someone can help..

thanks.. and like it says in the title whoever can help me solve the problem I will paypal them 5.00 bucks..

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by andrewy3k on 11/30/04 05:11 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[schuy1]

Do you have a extra stick of ram you could use that you know 100% is good? If so I would try that first, I had similar issues with a giga-byte board and once I swapped some memory out of my system that I knew was good then everything went smoothly. Hope it helps!

 

[andrewy3k]

no i dont have replacement but the memory is brand new.. i will run memtest just incase..

 

[Crashman]

I don't know if you have a board problem, but the board is trash so I wouldn't even be trying to use it. In fact, for the price difference between a 3.0C and 3.2C you could have purchased a top quality board. In fact, if your budget really was tight you could buy a Gigabyte GA-8ISXT-FS, which is a very good i865PE board, for as little as $32.

It's fairly obvious you don't know how to build a modern system. After all, you need a pair of RAM to run Dual Channel mode, which gives you a significant performance boost, you might as well have bought a P4 2.8C and gotten your performance back by using dual-channel. And the Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB (standard version) has memory clocked 50% faster than the 256MB (standard version).

So you're building an expensive computer with so many comprimises it should perform like a well-built midpriced computer of last year. And it's almost next year.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[andrewy3k]

First of all I didnt ask your opinion on if my board was good or bad.. secondly this is my first build so if I did make mistakes thats why, I do regret buying this board you think I dont?.. thirdly I bought the 1 gig strip of ddr 400 becasue this board I have only supports one strip of ddr 400 ram (max 1 gig).and last I bought the 256 radeon because I got it for dirt cheap..

 

[andrewy3k]

also ran windows memory test with no problems for 2 hours I dont really think its the ram.. It says "passed 24" meaning obviously the test that were passed and there where no errors at all..

 

[jihiggs]

its a pretty good bet your mobo is bad then. your first clue should have been that the name is assrock, wtf kind of name is assrock anyway?

this is my boomstick!

 

[jihiggs]

wheres my 5 bucks?

this is my boomstick!

 

[andrewy3k]

Okay well it wasnt your comment that did it.. but I bought a ASUS P4P800-E DELUXE about 2 hours ago .. Not really because of my problem but because I did notice this ASRock Board I bought looks like a peice of crap.. if this fixes my problem then I am not paying you 5 bucks rather the person who first recommended a new board.. but hey if I am in a good mood after everything is working good I might give you 5 bucks too

 

[jihiggs]

whoo hoo!

this is my boomstick!

 

[Crashman]

You could have gotten by cheaply when returning the board. Consider the price of a 1GB RAM chip and the risk of instability (timings are more critical on large sticks):
1.) Fujitsu-Seimens recently flooded the market with some very nice OEM boards from Gigabyte, model GA-8ISXT, which cost as little as $32 and are available all over the world. That would have given you an inexpensive solid base for your system and allowed Dual-Channel RAM.
2.) Even if you had to pay a restocking fee of 15% on the RAM 2 512MB stick might have been cheaper.

With the more expensive P4C800-E Deluxe you can still try to exchange your 1GB stick for 2 512MB sticks.

I'm glad you got a good deal on the video card.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Cybercraig]

Damn! You just threw good money after bad! If your PC is freezing the quickest fix is to put a little coat and some booties on it. Put your mouse inside of a mitten. Problem solved!

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