system crashes - motherboard failure

[saessy]

perhaps anyone here can remember me.
i posted here about a month or so, because my system got instable.
it worked totally stable for 1.5 years, but now it crashes every day about 3-5 times.
my system config:
- asus a7v with via kt133 chipset
- amd athlon 900
- 2x 128mb (and 1x 512mb) ram
- 60gb ibm hd
- elsa gladiac gts (geforce2)
- sb live soundcard
- accton networkcard
- cdrom and cd-writer
- 250w power supply

1. the first problem was my computer hanging up with black screen from time to time. i removed the 512mb ram. that worked stable for a few weeks.
2. but then my computer crashed again, and also crashes relatively often. and something strange happens:

on bootup, during the ram checking - it checks all the ram and then continues checking again from 0mb - an endless loop.
also sometimes my hd attached to a ata100 isn't recognized.

i tried all 3 ram-blocks seperatly, i removed everything but one ramblock, the hd and the gladiac - nothing changed.

could that be a motherboard failure? has anyone experienced the same?

thanks a lot, simon.

 

[Guest]

Are you sure that the mem counting is an endless loop?

Try entering BIOS and looking for "Quick power-on self test" If this is disabled, the system will count the RAM 3 times, rather slowly.

Also, check your connections to the hard drive, I've had some issues with connections to HDD's that caused crashes sometimes and failure to detect the drives sometimes. Maybe try different power connectors or even IDE cables.

Also, check your MB Manual for the voltage settings for your memory (Jumpers). If it is more than 2.5v then try 2.5v, if it is more than 2.6 it might be prematurely roasting your memory.

Hope this helps.


- Is an Intel/Intel setup any better? -

 

[saessy]

you were right - no endless loop, just counting the mem a few times. but you don't wait 512mb to count 3 times

i checked my mb manual, and it says that my ram works with 3.3v. and no word mentioned about adjusting the voltage, but i dont't think my pc133 sdram works with 2.5v

i will try to connect my hd with the normal ide cable, it could be the ultra ata 100 cable that causes trouble.

thanks, saessy

 

[Crashman]

Normally I would expect the soundcard, since that chipset was problematic with the Live series, but since it ran OK for over a year, I'm thinking it's probably the power supply. Or dust.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[khha4113]

check your MB Manual for the voltage settings for your memory (Jumpers). If it is more than 2.5v then try 2.5v, if it is more than 2.6 it might be prematurely roasting your memory.

His mobo is using SDRAM (PC100 and PC133) with voltage 3.3V. Voltage 2.5V used for DDR-RAM.

Good or Bad have no meaning at all, depends on what your point of view is.

 

[Black_Cat]

A 250 watt power supply with an Athlon and a GForce 2? Random crashes? Hmmm...

I can't think of a good signature so I'll use this one.

 

[upec]

I also think the cause of the ramdon crash is under powered PSU.

 

[arsend]

It very may be the Powersupply, but just to let us know, what OS are you using? If it is a 9x based Windows, having that 512 may also cause problems. Also Windows tends to have need of a reformate every now and then to clean up its registry, this in many cases can also increase your preformance and I highly recommend it for all 9x based OSs.

If it works for you then don't fix it.

 

[saessy]

the os is winxp.

 

[saessy]

well, i don't think its the psu, because the system worked stable for one year.
the crashes result in a black screen, sometimes with half of the screen in some gray. no windows bluescreen and no automatic restart.

 

[o1die]

Your power supply could indeed be going bad. I would get a good replacement within your budget. I found a codegen 350 watt at 800pc.com for only $30 with shipping. Or you can get a top notch 400 watt sparkle, enermax, or antec for about $80.