New Custom Built Computer Keeps Crashing.

[aesthete18]

Hi all, I got a new custom built system about a month ago and since then its been crashing now and then when I use youtube, and only youtube. I haven't really pushed my pc's power since it's new so I'm afraid there might be more problems later. I'm using Windows Xp and the specs are:

- Kingston 4GB PC10600 DDR3 1333
- AMD ATHLON II A6-3500 Triple Core APU 2.1GHz Processor
- Gigabyte A75M-S2V Motherboard
- Trend Sonic TSCS130-BB 450W ATX Casing
- Western Digital 500GB 7200RPM 16MB 3.5inch SATA6.0 Caviar Blue HDD
- Logiech MK100 Classic Desktop
- Samsung 22x SH222 SATA DVDRW Drive

Another forum told me that I get a new PSU but I want to understand what's the problem and if it's really necessary since it's only youtube that's effected by it. Also, someone on here posted http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine, I want to use this calculator but I know where to find the specs that it's asking like CPU sockets, PCI cards, fans, etc. Can anyone tell me where to get this information or is there a guide to find this info on my comp? Mainly, I want to avoid bring the CPU back to the retailer, so if I can get some information on the problem and how to approach it, that'd be great. Thanks.

P.S. I also got a new game, that crashes often stating a "crash dump error" but I've read of many people having this problem, so I'm not sure if it's related to my current issue or it's just the game issue.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

For socket you enter single Cpu, you only have one processor, even though it has multiple cores,
Pci cards, anything in there like soundcards or network/wireless cards?
Graphics cards self explanatory of course
And hard drives/fans etc you can see when you look inside the case,
But personally, if I bought a new Motorcycle and was having problems a month in, I'd be down the shop that sold me it, politely requesting they sort it out,
Moto

 

[aesthete18]

I suppose you're right, I should be back at the shop asking them to sort it out. I probably would have to resort to that eventually, but until then I want to get my facts right first. Since I installed the OS myself and I'm not at all computer savvy they will probably just weasel their way out of it.

Also, I've seen way higher specs run on 450W and I just calculated my requirements at 294 to which I'm sure I added some extra things since I'm unsure. I'm at a loss.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

aah, ok,
All drivers updated I assume?

Ok, first thing is check your ram is ok with memtest, free to download and simnple to use, run one stick at a time
I prefer the hands on method of booting with each seperate stick, I find it a faster way to rule out dodgy ram,
put one stick in, boot up and use as normal, if it doesn't crash then you know the ram is fine, if it does, remove that stick and check all the others,
Moto

 

[aesthete18]

Okay did the memtest, no errors. But when the computer rebooted, I got a notice on desktop saying that the windows has recovered from a serious error. Not sure what's that about. What's next?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Does it say what the serious error was?
did you try the one stick booting into windows?

A quick google isn't giving anything for that psu, if you have another known good psu you can use to check the system with then swap it out,
last option is reinstall O/s with all bios/drivers up to date,
after that its back to the shop as it shouldn't be freaking out so soon after purchase
Moto

 

[geekapproved]

The cpu socket you enter is "FM1".

Not sure how you got 294w, I calculated 196w.

If it's only YouTube, I wouldn't worry about, it's obviously not a psu issue.

You say it's "crashing", you mean the computer is crashing or your browser is crashing? Simply using another web browser may fix your issue.

 

[pat]

I would try to get more voltage to the RAM.

 

[geekapproved]

I would try to get more voltage to the RAM.

YouTube requires a voltage bump on the ram? LOL

 

[inanition02]

Has anyone ever actually tried WinXP on that APU? I imagine most people using it are running Windows7.

Try uninstalling catalyst and making sure you have the version AMD says for WinXP when you re-install...

 

[pat]

YouTube requires a voltage bump on the ram? LOL

... I guess that the video is buffered into the APU register, and that RAM is absolutly not needed..


As the OP said: "P.S. I also got a new game, that crashes often stating a "crash dump error" but I've read of many people having this problem, so I'm not sure if it's related to my current issue or it's just the game issue."

So I would say that maybe the RAM is not getting proper or stable enough voltage, especially if the PSU is a low quality one that was included with the case that may only be able to deliver 300W of stable power. Upping the voltage may help to stabilize the system, but that may be only a temporary cure. Maybe getting a better PSU will help.

 

[inanition02]

... I guess that the video is buffered into the APU register, and that RAM is absolutly not needed..


As the OP said: "P.S. I also got a new game, that crashes often stating a "crash dump error" but I've read of many people having this problem, so I'm not sure if it's related to my current issue or it's just the game issue."

So I would say that maybe the RAM is not getting proper or stable enough voltage, especially if the PSU is a low quality one that was included with the case that may only be able to deliver 300W of stable power. Upping the voltage may help to stabilize the system, but that may be only a temporary cure. Maybe getting a better PSU will help.

Wouldnt only a faulty voltage regulator on the mobo do that? I mean, any psu can put out 1.5-1.6 volts for RAM...watts are different.

 

[pat]

A psu don't put out simple voltage. The regulator on the motherboard dispatch correct voltage where needed, but sometime, if entry voltage is not of good quality, the regulator has to work harder, and when power hungry parts (CPU, video,...) ask for more, then the voltage may fluctuate. This fluctuation can cause all sort of instability, and especially with RAM. upping the voltage a bit don't harm the RAM, but may prevent it to go lower than expected.

I've seen lot of Gigabyte board needing a bit more voltage for RAM. Especially when coupled with less quality PSU. When I got my latest Gogabyte, and knew that I was going to use it with 4 module, for 16 gigs, I did not bother to test it a stock voltage. I went into BIOS, and set it at 1.55v, instead of 1.5. Rock stable since the first boot, never bothered to look back if it could run with less.

 

[aesthete18]

Woah! okay let me see if I can clarify some things.

Motopsychojdn: No it doesn't say what error, it's that windows error thing that has "send to microsoft" or "don't send", and there was like 7 or 8 of it, I just kept clicking don't send. As for the stick, you mean run memtest with only one RAM stick in at a time right? I only have 1 4gb RAM stick so i just ran it as it is.

I should also clarify that I can't open my casing cause I when I asked the shop guy if i can add my own graphic card he said yeah but it would void the warranty if I open it.

Geekapproved: Yeah i used FM1 as well, but I think I may have added some unecessary things which made it 294W. With regards to the crashing, it hangs and then the computer goes to the blue error screen, something about physical memory dump or something but it changes each time. I tried using Chrome when I just got the PC, it happened there as well, so I tried Firefox which I'm more familiar with but same outcome. It is only Youtube so far, as I really haven't utilized the power of the PC yet and when I did with the game it crashed too. I'm worried it might happen with other softwares as well like Fruity Loops (music software) as that takes up quite a bit of RAM.

Pat: I have no idea how that works so I'll have to read on it but even if my PSU is giving only 300W, my PC only needs around 200W, shouldn't it be enough? And yeah i think the crash with the game is related to this, cos I was reading on the fixes for the error, it was noted that if the computer is crashing while browsing, multitasking, etc to the blue screen this will obviously crash your game as well.

Inanition02: You're talking about the graphic driver right? That's not a bad idea.

The thing is I'm not really sure how to approach this with the retailer, I mean if there's really no other solution and the problem persists, I would have to go to the shop but they might just say "oh you installed you're own OS so we've not responsible". I don't know much about computers so the shop guy was the one who chose the hardware, so if I say I want a replacement for the PSU cause this one is not enough power, they'll just be like "yeah 450W is more than enough for this pc". At this point, I can't just go "Oh no, cause youtube crashes every three days or so, so I think I need more power" or can I?

 

[aesthete18]

A psu don't put out simple voltage. The regulator on the motherboard dispatch correct voltage where needed, but sometime, if entry voltage is not of good quality, the regulator has to work harder, and when power hungry parts (CPU, video,...) ask for more, then the voltage may fluctuate. This fluctuation can cause all sort of instability, and especially with RAM. upping the voltage a bit don't harm the RAM, but may prevent it to go lower than expected.

I've seen lot of Gigabyte board needing a bit more voltage for RAM. Especially when coupled with less quality PSU. When I got my latest Gogabyte, and knew that I was going to use it with 4 module, for 16 gigs, I did not bother to test it a stock voltage. I went into BIOS, and set it at 1.55v, instead of 1.5. Rock stable since the first boot, never bothered to look back if it could run with less.

I wouldn't dare meddle with that stuff, unless I'm sure it's safe and know the steps. I mean, if the entry voltage is not good quality causing the regulator to work harder and the voltage to fluctuate, won't that be damaging to the hardware in the long run?

 

[inanition02]

Inanition02: You're talking about the graphic driver right? That's not a bad idea.

In your computer, because you have one of the new AMD Chips, the CPU and the GPU (graphics card) are combined into one package, called the APU. It has the graphics processing circuitry on the chip and uses the system RAM for video memory.

These APU (as the combinations are called) were developed for/using Win7 - so I don't know that they've thoroughly tested WinXP. But if it's only crashing in Youtube and games (flash videos like YouTube use the graphics circuitry/memory) then you might as well start with that subsystem. So, if memtest comes up clean, then I'd look at the drivers. Certainly before you start upping memory voltages. The driver you want to look for is called either the Catalyst control center or the Vision control center, depend on version. Check AMD.com for the right version for your hardware and WinXP.

Is there a reason you went with XP over Win7, btw?

 

[inanition02]

A psu don't put out simple voltage. The regulator on the motherboard dispatch correct voltage where needed, but sometime, if entry voltage is not of good quality, the regulator has to work harder, and when power hungry parts (CPU, video,...) ask for more, then the voltage may fluctuate. This fluctuation can cause all sort of instability, and especially with RAM. upping the voltage a bit don't harm the RAM, but may prevent it to go lower than expected.

I've seen lot of Gigabyte board needing a bit more voltage for RAM. Especially when coupled with less quality PSU. When I got my latest Gogabyte, and knew that I was going to use it with 4 module, for 16 gigs, I did not bother to test it a stock voltage. I went into BIOS, and set it at 1.55v, instead of 1.5. Rock stable since the first boot, never bothered to look back if it could run with less.

The word is "doesn't" rather than "don't" - anyhow, I've been building computers quite a while and have never had to up the voltages on RAM except when overclocking. Including Gigabyte boards with 4 sticks of RAM. And while you're right that there is generally no harm (maybe a bit more heat created), if someone's not comfortable changing the settings they can change the wrong thing and actually do damage.

 

[aesthete18]

In your computer, because you have one of the new AMD Chips, the CPU and the GPU (graphics card) are combined into one package, called the APU. It has the graphics processing circuitry on the chip and uses the system RAM for video memory.

These APU (as the combinations are called) were developed for/using Win7 - so I don't know that they've thoroughly tested WinXP. But if it's only crashing in Youtube and games (flash videos like YouTube use the graphics circuitry/memory) then you might as well start with that subsystem. So, if memtest comes up clean, then I'd look at the drivers. Certainly before you start upping memory voltages. The driver you want to look for is called either the Catalyst control center or the Vision control center, depend on version. Check AMD.com for the right version for your hardware and WinXP.

Is there a reason you went with XP over Win7, btw?

Yup it's Catalyst Control Center, I installed the driver from the CD but I'll uninstall that and find the XP compatible one. I'm using XP because I've been using XP all the while and I'm happy with it. The shop guy offered Win7 with installation but the cost was putting me over my budget.

The youtube crash is quite random so it's hard to test but the game crash is frequent. I'll install the driver and try the game.

 

[pat]

I wouldn't dare meddle with that stuff, unless I'm sure it's safe and know the steps. I mean, if the entry voltage is not good quality causing the regulator to work harder and the voltage to fluctuate, won't that be damaging to the hardware in the long run?

That's the purpose of never going cheap about PSU. A cheap PSU may die and take away the other parts of your system.

If you don't mind to read: A PSU test, or when a 750W unit cannot do better than a 460W

So, maybe your 450w is no better than a 300w.. or maybe less! still not convinced? Read here to see a 400w performing as a 280w PSU

So, if you think about it, your RAM, or even the APU maynot be gettig the necessary power they need.

 

[pat]

The word is "doesn't" rather than "don't" - anyhow, I've been building computers quite a while and have never had to up the voltages on RAM except when overclocking. Including Gigabyte boards with 4 sticks of RAM. And while you're right that there is generally no harm (maybe a bit more heat created), if someone's not comfortable changing the settings they can change the wrong thing and actually do damage.

Thanks for the correction. Too bad english is not my native language! maintenant, si tu peux continuer cette discussion en français, sans aucune faute, c'est correct, If not, then shut off!

 

[geekapproved]

confirmed it's Xp compatible.

 

[aesthete18]

Just managed to get some time to play the game and although there were still few crashes it is significantly less. I uninstalled the driver and AMD's autodetect provided me with the more compatible driver I think. Youtube hasn't crashed either but it doesn't load sometimes and the page also doesn't load sometimes but I can live with that. No blue screen crashes so far and I'm content with it. Will report back if the crashes come back.

Thank you guys for all the help and feedback.

 

[aesthete18]

Best answer selected by Aesthete18.