Bad CPU, RAM, or motherboard?

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arz

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I am currently running Intel Core 2 6600 with 2 GB of Ram on a 775 Dual-VSTA motherboard. I've been having problems with the computer freezing and restarting at random intervals, and whenever I try to update my .net framework. I also encounter problems whenever I try to run bitorrent with restarting. I originally thought it was a faulty hard drive, but I've encountered these problems on three seperate hard drives.

I ran Prime95 blend test and it fails in one minute. Memtest passes with no errors after one pass, and I have been currently running Prime95 with small FFT's for one hour with no errors.

I am not overclocking anything.

Is there any way to definitively tell what part of my system is failing?

Thanks!
 
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kulwant

kulwant

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Arz,

Sounds like a dodgy power supply.

Random freezing and restarting sounds like a hardware problem.

Prime95 blend loads the CPU up and will draw a lot more power than the other tests do so a weak PSU will drop voltage and lead to system instability. Try another PSU to rule out PSU problems.

The Dual VSTA board uses a VIA chipset - make sure you are using the latest drivers.

Also check your temperatures (try BIOS h/w monitoring to start with). An overheating Northbridge or Southbridge (usually no temperature sensor on SB either so measure case ambient temps to ensure it's low) can lead to random crashes. Run with the case cover off (dedust if necessary) to see if that helps. Is the thermal compound on your CPU Heatsink good? If it ain't ur CPU may have been fried already.

What's ur OS?


 
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arz

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Windows XP.

Funny you should say that... My hard drive's have been running a LOT hotter than normal. They're too hot to touch longer than 3 seconds. My hand starts burning. I had to buy a hard drive fan just for my new hard drive to keep cool.

I've had this CPU for three years and have yet to encounter any problems with it.

Thanks!

EDIT: Also, my video card is hot to the tocuh when I am just browsing the internet... I guess that's not normal!
 
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zimmalox

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probably dust clog-up in the system... but you need to try different RAM cuz RAM usually is the most likely prob in that situation... i highly doubt its your cpu though... get windows 7 :)
 
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kulwant

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That doesn't sound right. The only hard drives that get too hot to touch are 10,000rpm and above ones and those should never be run without cooling anyway.

If your drives are 7200rpm and they're running hot, something's wrong with your case ventilation or mounting. The drives are not getting warped/squeezed by the drive enclosure are they? Also, increase airflow through your case. If all that heat from ur HD's and gfx card is building up in your case, you will lose stability - especially anything involving the southbridge - it has no temperature sensor (usually) and no thermal protection it can be hard to tell it's overheating.

Crashes when accessing the disk are a sure sign your southbridge is overheating.





 
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arz

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I only have one 7200 RPM hard drive and it's pretty cool (it has it's own HD fan underneath it). Before I installed my HD fan, my previous 7200 drive was also getting very hot. The other two drives that were getting hot were not 7200 RPM. On was a IDE that was seven years old and the other was a SATA that was only three or so years old. They're even hot when they're copying files from one drive to another while not containg an OS.

When I touch any part of my motherboard, it doesn't feel terribly hot.
 
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kulwant

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Install Speedfan http://www.almico.com/speedfan442.exe and report back with all the temps it reports.
 
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arz

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GPU: 49-52C (changes, theres a little flames symbol when it becomes 51)
Temp1: 35C
Temp2: 47C
CPU: 45C
Local: 41C
Remote2: 43C
HD0: 36C
Core0: 51C (flame symbol, changes by two degrees between 49 and 51)
Core1: 49C (flame symbol, changes between 47 and 49)

then...

Fan2: 2033 RPM
Fan1: 1053 RPM


EDIT: some temperatures keep going up and down one degree.


EDIT: Core0 shot up to 48/50C while running vuze while Core1 was 47/48
 
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kulwant

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If those are idle temps, your CPU is running hot. Is it an E6600 or a Q6600? Are you running the stock CPU heatsink and fan? Did u install it yourself, if so did you use decent thermal compound (e.g. Arctic Silver 5)? I'd expect the 6600 to idle at around 30 odd Deg C. If you've pulled the Heatsink off and not renewed the thermal compound when reinstalling, parts of ur CPU will overheat and cause crashes - possibly even burning up parts of the chip.

 
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arz

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Definitely a E6600. I removed the heat sink and fan yesterday and it look like it could use some silver. It is the stock heatsink and fan, and I had someone install it who worked on computers for awhile. I haven't replaced the silver in 3+ years since I installed it though.

How much silver am I supposed to apply to the surface of the chip?

EDIT: The GPU is now at 55C when idle.... could it be the power supply that's making everything so hot? I only have one fan that cools the entire PC while the GPU, CPU, and HD have their own fans.

Should I see the temps when I run a Prime95 blend test? That typically fails within a minute.

Both cores are now at 51C and GPU is 55C... Why is the GPU so hot?
 
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arz

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Just put some new silver on the CPU

I ran Prime95 blend test and the cores shot back up to 50C whilte the CPU is at 39C. The test did get a lot further than it did last time though.

EDIT: Prime95 just failed! After I closed the test the Cores dropped back down to 40C but the GPU is still hot when idiling, it's at 51C while I am not even doing anything.

Does anyone still think it can be the power supply?
 
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arz

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With side cases off, it fails (woker 1) after a couple of minutes. Cores shoot up to 50C. With the cases off while idiling, the cores drop to 35C

Here are some pictures of inside my case. See if you can spot anything wrong:

http://i.imgur.com/FuLMV.jpg
My main cooling fan is to the left. The CPU fan is in the back. The hard drives are behind the wires (probably why they were getting so hot, not much air flow)

Closer shot of main computer fan (with video card below it):

http://i.imgur.com/467v5.jpg
 
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amdfangirl

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I think it could be.

Nothing is at critical temperature for anything to majorly malfunction, although constant usage of a computer at such a high temp is not a good thing.
 
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arz

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Just but a Dynex 400 W PSU. Ran Blend Test with the case open and temps aren't going above 43C! Everything seems to be good!

EDIT: 1024k blend test passed on both cores, I've never gotten this far before.
 
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arz

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Well.. I thought I was out, but it's not over yet... I just installed Fallout New Vegas and it crashed after 5 min. Tried to play again, an hour later the computer freezes. Play again and the computer restarts. I get BCP code 19. I don't see my temperatures getting all that high while running Fallout. Any ideas?
 
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