Computer crashing problems.

[simontoyou]

Months ago, my computer was PERFECTLY fine (other than it constantly being at around 65 degrees celsius... but even then, my comp was running smooth). Then just recently, I had this problem when my computer would just crash when I played games. Games such as SimCity4, Q3A, and CS. It would just freeze, mouse wouldn't move, sound would be at a constant hum, and I wouldn't be able to go back to desktop. My computer would run fine doing anything else - which includes browsing the web, playing java games, watching por- I mean movies.

What I tried to do was switching PSU's. I used a crappier PSU than what I'm currently using and it froze, BUT I was able to shut down (blindly - I just pressed the windows button + up + enter + right + enter. It wouldn't show desktop).

My comp specs -

AMD athlon xp 2100+
GeForce3 ti500
M-audio Revolution 7.1 sound card
MSI k7n2 motherboard
mushkin 512mb ddr pc2700 ram
350w generic power supply

It would be much appreciated if anyone would help.

 

[Grimmett]

Well,
Running your xp 2100 at those temperatures for a month could cause your freezing. 65 degrees Celsius for a constant temperature is very high. I had the same CPU you did about a year ago and I made sure it never got above 55 degrees. It only reached those temps when I was overclocking and playing Doom3 or something. If I had to guess, I would say that the CPU may be damaged. If you were overclocking, you may think about running memtest on the ram as well. The CPU, ram, and power are the main causes for computer lock ups.
Griz

 

[simontoyou]

I clocked down my cpu to a athlon 1700+ and did memtest, nothing wrong.

 

[Grimmett]

If memetest86 found no errors, then I would assume that maybe your CPU became damaged. One thing you might try is downloading a program called Prime95. It is a stress testor for your CPU, ram and power. Do the High heat test and let it run for about 6 hrs. If you get errors or your computer freezes or restarts, I would say your CPU became damaged from running hot for so long. If you don't get any errors, I would say that maybe it is a driver problem or perhaps spyware.

 

[simontoyou]

Well, after running Prime95's torture test, my comp crashed. So I'm guessing it's the cpu. I guess i'll buy a new cpu in the late future, thanks for helping out.

Oh, and would you happen to know any good case ranging below $100? Preferrably around $60.

 

[Grimmett]

Hey no problem man.
It may sound like a hassle but you may try the CPU in another motherboard to be sure. But, its probably the CPU. I have an X-Blade case, it was pretty cheap. I got it from Here Check them out. Peace

 

[jterrell]

Antec Black ATX Mini Tower PC Case with 350W Power Supply, Model "SLK1650B" -RETAIL

The 350 watt psu is better than any generic 420 watt one. Antec underrates.

http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=11-129-150&depa=1

 

[jterrell]

You might check the hot deals section here for an xp chip on the cheap.

 

[simontoyou]

ah, thanks for those links guys. I'll look into it right away.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: simontoyou
Well, after running Prime95's torture test, my comp crashed. So I'm guessing it's the cpu. I guess i'll buy a new cpu in the late future, thanks for helping out.

Oh, and would you happen to know any good case ranging below $100? Preferrably around $60.

I would do a reformat/reinstall before buying a new CPU. If the CPU did get too hot and run unstably it may have corrupted/fouled up your OS.

Fern

 

[VirtualLarry]

I have a sneaking suspicion that the CPU isn't damaged. 65C, while high, isn't outside the range that AMD specifies for "max operating temp".

Also, the CPU should start crashing/corrupting data, at a temp. point below that which it would start to get damaged.

The fact that the display froze up, but the system still responded to keyboard commands, doesn't point to the CPU, it points to the video card, or some system driver, either the AGP GART driver, the video driver, or something that is interacting with it.

It's also possible, that while the temps may not have been high enough to kill the CPU, they might have been high enough to cause flakiness and data-corruption, which could well lead to crashes/freezes eventually, due to a corrupted OS install. Fern makes a good point about that.

I might (if you have a good backup of your system, or a spare HD) try underclocking your system by a bit (thus reducing heat as well), and do a fresh clean OS install, and then Prime95, and see if it still fails, while underclocked. That could indicate whether or not the CPU (or the mobo) have actually failed.

I don't remember, because I never owned one, but didn't GF3's use a lot of power and generate a lot of heat? It could be the GPU overheating too, and causing an error. Although that wouldn't explain Prime95 failing, since it doesn't use the video card at all.