Computer Freezes, Powers off spontaneously

[CrucialCarl]

Specs:

Nvidia Geforce 4200 (also tried 4600)
Asus a7v8x mobo
1.5GB DDR

Computer was running well for nearly a year. Suddenly when I try to run any heavy apps (games: Wolfenstein, Everquest) the computer will load up the game, and almost immediately after I start playing, the computer will just freeze. Or it will power itself off and I will have to hit the power button to get it back on.

Also, sometimes when I turn it on I get the vocal error "system failed cpu test". I cant trust this because with all the ASUS boards I have, there have been weird errors like this that usually were not the issue.


any clues?

 

[amdskip]

Bad stick of memory or a bad power supply meaning its not good enough for your setup would be my guesses.

 

[CrucialCarl]

I swapped the power supply for one that I know works.. and that didnt solve the issue..

I'll try troubleshooting memory next.. thanks

 

[Bassyhead]

Check your heatsink. Could something have gotten loose?

 

[CrucialCarl]

Heatsink was coated in dust.. cleaned that out...


(my brothers PC), after talkign to him more about the problem:

It only freezes or shuts down when he runs something 'heavy'.. such as a game..

he can use windows and media player and aim and java and IE all day long, no problems.. but as soon as he runs a game.. the game loads appropriately and then freezes or shuts down..

thanks all

 

[cheap]

Most likely a power supply problem. My cousin ran into same thing before. Every time he would click on a server to join in All Seeing Eye, his computer would shut down the moment the game tried to load. He has a 2200 AMD and a Radeon 9500 which requires a power source from PSU. He had a cheap 400watt PSU that came with the case, he replaced it with a good quality 500watt psu which cost how much he payed for case and psu alone and the problem went away. So try a good quality strong PSU, not cheapo stuff.

 

[CrucialCarl]

Replaced the power supply with another one that was exactly the same model. Still the same problem. Ordered a new PS, hopefully it will work.

 

[jfunk]

Check your temps, mabye heatsink is not seated properly.


j

 

[ghostshooter]

CrucialCarl, have you solved your problem yet? My computer has started to experience the same problem when running games. Interestingly enough, it hasn't ever done it until the last few days. The computer would be running fine when running IE, Office, etc, but when I start to play games (Starcraft, for example [don't laugh, I love this game ]), it would either just shut the program down, or completely shut the computer down, like I hit the power button. A friend of mine suggested that I reformat the HD and reinstall Windows XP, which I did, and it hasn't helped. Ironically, now, when I try to run Norton Antivirus full system scan, it crashes too. The only thing I have done different this week is removing an accessory fan (it plugs into the harness, and is mounted in a PCI slot area by a screw) because the motor was wearing out and the fan was getting awfully loud. So, to date: I've formatted the hard drive, reinstalled Windows XP, reinstalled all of my normal programs. I'm at wits end. What to do next?

Thanks in advance

Ghost

P.S. I was a long time lurker, and have gotten 99.999% of the info I needed just by reading past threads. Great forum.

 

[lucky9]

Only time this sort of thing happened it was memory (no enough in my case, doesn't look like that's it here). Disk have plenty of space? Defragged? (had to ask) The PSU is next.

 

[Mem]

Run Memtest86 from here ,this`ll test your memory,you said you replaced the PSU with a similar model but is it a quality PSU like Antec,Sparkle,Enermax etc?

As to heat well if you`ve cleaned out all the dust from all fans/heatsink etc try running it with the case open and an external big fan blowing in,this`ll rule out heat problem.