AMD CPU... having problems.. help please

[ghosty]

I am in VERY desperate help.. I have been looking for help everywhere and well I finally arrived here I hope someone can help so here goes.

Latley I have been having problems with my Counter-Strike freezing RANDOMLY during gameplay. I start off by reinstalling the game. That didn't work. So I tried updating drivers for vid/sound card. That didn't work. Then I defragged, deleted a bunch of programs, cleaned up with norton win doctor. Still that didn't work freezing continued at random times during gameplay. I was then told it was probley a heating issue. So here are my specs:
-AMD Athlon XP 1700+ (I can not be sure EXACLTY if its a 1700+, I bought it and was told it was a 1700+ but my computer is rreporting it running at 1.1 ghz. A 1700+ runs at 1.46 ghz as I see from the AMD site. Another question is how can I be SURE that its a 1700+)
-ATI Radeon 8500 64 mb
-256 mb pc2100 ram
-windows 2000 professional
-ak77 pro A mother board
-Maxtor 40GB 7200rpm ata133
-Aopen KF45C case with 300w Aopen power supply
Now I have a heatsink with fan on top of the cpu chip like it should be.. its a 60x20mm fan. good copper heatsink with thermo compound underneath. As well a tiny fan on the bottom of my video card. BUT I do not have a fan at the back of my housing. Does this pose a problem?
Now I was thinking of getting two 60x20mm fans and putting them at the back of my housing to get better airflow... BUT here comes the twist.. I use a hardware monitor software.. and everytime I freeze up I reboot and quickly put on the monitor.. the temp of the cpu is recorded at 35 degress C. This is a good temp. So what is going through my head is either the monitor is wrong(yet it was supplied with the mobo) or the heat is not an issue.. or would the temp of the cpu cool down that fast after a reboot?

Anyways I am looking for ANY help you can give me.. thanks!

-Ben

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: ghosty
I am in VERY desperate help.. I have been looking for help everywhere and well I finally arrived here I hope someone can help so here goes.

Latley I have been having problems with my Counter-Strike freezing RANDOMLY during gameplay. I start off by reinstalling the game. That didn't work. So I tried updating drivers for vid/sound card. That didn't work. Then I defragged, deleted a bunch of programs, cleaned up with norton win doctor. Still that didn't work freezing continued at random times during gameplay. I was then told it was probley a heating issue. So here are my specs:
-AMD Athlon XP 1700+ (I can not be sure EXACLTY if its a 1700+, I bought it and was told it was a 1700+ but my computer is rreporting it running at 1.1 ghz. A 1700+ runs at 1.46 ghz as I see from the AMD site. Another question is how can I be SURE that its a 1700+)
-ATI Radeon 8500 64 mb
-256 mb pc2100 ram
-windows 2000 professional
-ak77 pro A mother board
-Maxtor 40GB 7200rpm ata133
-Aopen KF45C case with 300w Aopen power supply
Now I have a heatsink with fan on top of the cpu chip like it should be.. its a 60x20mm fan. good copper heatsink with thermo compound underneath. As well a tiny fan on the bottom of my video card. BUT I do not have a fan at the back of my housing. Does this pose a problem?
Now I was thinking of getting two 60x20mm fans and putting them at the back of my housing to get better airflow... BUT here comes the twist.. I use a hardware monitor software.. and everytime I freeze up I reboot and quickly put on the monitor.. the temp of the cpu is recorded at 35 degress C. This is a good temp. So what is going through my head is either the monitor is wrong(yet it was supplied with the mobo) or the heat is not an issue.. or would the temp of the cpu cool down that fast after a reboot?

Anyways I am looking for ANY help you can give me.. thanks!

-Ben

Try running Prime95 or HotCPU Tester to determine if the problem is really with the CPU or with other software. Might need to reformat. Btw, you do indeed have an Athlon XP 1700+. In your BIOS, set your FSB to 133mhz and ur RAM to run Sync. That will jack you up to the 1463mhz. The CPU should cool down a few degrees, but it should not cool down 20C between shutdown and booting up during a reboot. Its always advisable to have proper case ventilation.

 

[ghosty]

Ok sweet. thanks for the help.. I tried jacking my FSB up in my BIOS but it won't let me go past 117... any suggestions on that one?

As well one of my friends mentioned that it could be my soundcard... is a soundcard possible in freezing your computer at random times?? my card is a Diamondmax S90


Thx

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: ghosty
Ok sweet. thanks for the help.. I tried jacking my FSB up in my BIOS but it won't let me go past 117... any suggestions on that one?

As well one of my friends mentioned that it could be my soundcard... is a soundcard possible in freezing your computer at random times?? my card is a Diamondmax S90


Thx

Woah, dont tell me thats a KT133 motherboard you got there. If that is the case, no dice in jacking it up to 133mhz, but putting it at the highest under 133 shouldnt harm it, then run the memory async. The soundcard is a possible problem. Try disabling the soundcard in Device Manager and then running CS to see if theres a conflict there, or take out the soundcard temporarily then running CS.

 

[ghosty]

Right I will try the soundcard thing tomorrow morning

mmm KT133 mobo?? How exactly do I tell. It says on the box AK77 Pro(A)-133 and says something in the manual about "VIA Apollo KT266A Chipset"

so can I put it up to 133??? or the highest one that I can possible?

and now after setting it to either one how do I run my ram Sync.. or aSync..

thanks alot I will let you know about the soundcard tomorrow

 

[Jeff7181]

I had similar problems when I got my GF4 with an older motherboard... it was a KT266 chipset, but I heard on the Via forums that via chipsets can't always maintain voltage to power hungry componants (AMD CPU's and high end video cards). So they suggested I increase the vcore... my BIOS at the time allowed me to increase voltage in .025 steps, so I increased it .025 volts and viola! No more freezing.

By the way, that was a Palomino XP1700 I was using, spec for voltage is 1.750, Motherboard Monitor reported as low as 1.69 when the video card was being used at the same time, so once I increased the voltage to the CPU, it never dropped below 1.73 and that took care of the freezing/random reboot problems.

 

[ghosty]

interesting... I will keep that in mind.

I did a quick test last night without the sound card.. no freezing. but I only play for about 15 minutes. I will try again for a longer period of time like around 45 minutes and see what happens. If the sound card does the trick great! If not I will look at upping my voltage.

But either way I am still wondering exactly how to go about getting my AMD Athlon XP 1700+ to the 1.46ghz that it should be running. I read the post above me about setting up my FSB to 133 and running my ram Sync. But how exactly do I tell if its a KT133 mobo cause if it is then above it says I cannot put my FSB up to 133..

I am gonna run tests of sound and try voltage I will let you know

 

[Nats]

Look at your mobo manual or manufacturer's website
if its a KT133 no dice running the FSB at 133. If its a
KT133A or higher you might need a better power supply.
Try using 3dmark2001 se and set it to loop, to test for
stability. Although your best bet is you have an under-
powered CPU or a flaky generic PSU.

 

[ghosty]

In my manual it says.. "The AK77 Pro(A)-133 is AMD Socket 462 motherboard (M/B) based on the ATX form factor featuring the VIA Apollo KT266A chipset"

Does this mean I can set the mobo at 133 FSB? It doesn't seem that this is possible through the bios.. BUT I can set it manually on the board through the jumper settings.. it has the option to do so. If so then I will set it at 133 and then run my RAM Sync... but I am not sure how to do this.


I shall be testing many things tonight off I go to school now.

 

[bgeh]

Originally posted by: ghosty
In my manual it says.. "The AK77 Pro(A)-133 is AMD Socket 462 motherboard (M/B) based on the ATX form factor featuring the VIA Apollo KT266A chipset"

Does this mean I can set the mobo at 133 FSB? It doesn't seem that this is possible through the bios.. BUT I can set it manually on the board through the jumper settings.. it has the option to do so. If so then I will set it at 133 and then run my RAM Sync... but I am not sure how to do this.


I shall be testing many things tonight off I go to school now.

yes, you can set it to 133mhz fsb
then your athlon xp 1700+ will report correctly as a athlon xp 1700+

 

[ghosty]

I took out my sound card.. computer seems to be working fine :0

Guess the old sound card was the problem. But still I am unsure how to run my ram sync as BigJ2078 as explained that I should do if I am planning to put my FSB to 133.