Computer locking up at random, need suggestions.

RabidWeasle

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Feb 13, 2003
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My system will lock up at anytime, i can be playing a game, reading forums or just listening to music. Ive switched out my sound card *cause it usually plays static through the speakers when it locks up* and my video card. It still does it but when i have my other video card in (Ti4400) it seems to crash a LOT more. right now im using my old radeon 32MB PCI. I read in these forums that power could cause that and im hoping that someone can help me with this, for +3.3, +5, +12, -12, -5, what voltage should it not be going under, even for a short time. Im going to check my RAM with memtest then ill post if its fine or not. maybe its my MB? maybe its my HD..who knows, I NEED TO FIX THE CRASHING THING!!! cause when it crashes, it usually takes my xp profile with it. and that sucks... heres my specs
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AMD XP1800+, cooled by volcano 7
ASUS A7V266-E/AA MB
mushkin 512MB DDR PC2100
Evga Ti4400 128MB (switched out with a radeon 32MB PCI at the moment)
Codegen 350W PS, came with case
SB Live! value
Creative 52X CD-ROM, USB HP CD-RW+
Windows XP Pro
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OH! my MB temp is 91 F, and my CPU is 120 F, prob gets a little hotter, but i dont think its a heat prob. idk... thanks for the replies in advance
 

RabidWeasle

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Feb 13, 2003
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i have built in sound, so i took my Sound blaster card out and used the onboard audio. Which, when my sound card is in, is disabled in the bios, so they arent conflicting. i checked my CPU temp right after my comp crashed and it was 125 F...maybe it is too hot. Im thinking its either heat or the motherboard itself... but my case side panel is always off...maybe i should pry off my heatsink/fan and clean the cpu and re-apply thermal compound? ive had this comp since june, but i only started having lock-ups since maybe october or november. i just reinstalled XP yesterday, cause when it crashed, it wiped out my c drive...again...
 

umheint0

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Feb 18, 2003
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Are you overclocking? Those temps seem pretty bloody high for stock, really really bloody high. You should also try getting a new PS, as that one may not have the balls to power your system.

Also make sure your seated the heasink correctly and that you have some good thermal paste on there (arctic silver 3 is the best, by far).

Try running Prime95 and if you get any errors, there is something wrong with your processor. Run memtest86 to see if there is something wrong with your ram.

XP 2500+ Barton @ 2241Mhz
A7N8X Dlx
2x512MB Corsair PC3200
MSI GF3Ti 500
16x DVD-ROM
2x80GB 7200RPM Maxtor
Onboard audio