Computer freezing/crashing need some serious advice.

[Bumnah]

Okay. I just build a new computer and I'm getting constant problems.
System specs:
Dual processor AMD Mp 2000+
ASUS A7m266-d motherboard
1 gig of Crucial Ram
ATI All in Wonder Radeon 8500 DV
Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum
400 Watt power supply.
D-Link ethernet card.
Adaptec 2940U2W Dual Channel Scsi Card
Scsi DVD
Scsi CDR
Segate Scsi 10,000 RPM drive.
Western Digital Caviar 9 gig 5400 rpm IDE drive (only ide device in the system)

Problems I'm getting.
Bad DVD play back
DVD crashes
Sloppy audio on DVD playback, and I'm thinking EVEN MP3 playback could be bad.
Random crashing of the system playing any game.
Constant system crashing
I have some error logs saved, but they don't say much.

I have updated my Mother board BIOS
I have updated my SCSI card bios
I have the latest drivers for everything except for the motherboard. Don't know if drivers are available for the motherboard (gotta checkup on that).

I was thinking my SCSI card could be causing my problems cause when I tried to reinstall Windows 2000 Professional. I got an I/O error right at the beginning (but right after it copies the basic drivers needed).

So I pulled all the SCSI stuff out.
And I booted up my system with just a 2 gig Western Digital drive (ide), and a very very old CDROM drive (ide). I got it to start installing Win2000 at that point. During the installation it errored out, and gave me the blue screen of death. It also said something about a memory dumb.

So i removed the Audigy card, and my ethernet card. It installed win2k.

I then tried to install my Video card drivers, off the ATI cd, and it keep failing. Wouldn't let me install any of the drivers or software on the CD.

I did get it the install the drivers by going through Device manager, but just drivers no software.

Any help on these problems would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rjcoolpix880]

Have you considered that it may be too hot in there?

Use Motherboard Monitor to see how hot your running.

 

[Markfw]

You didn't say anything about the exact memory configuration. These are "general" suggestions that I have. Use only one memory stick and see if the problems go away. If that works, then add memory sicks one at a time, checking the system in between for stability. Also, if you have over 512 (or maybe it is 768) meg of memory, some OS'es have a problem dealing with that. Also, depending on how many sticks of memory you have on some motherboards, you have to use registered memory. Since the IDE test failed, my first guess is that SCSI is not the main problem.

 

[Bumnah]

I'm using unregistered DDR ram.

2 512 meg sticks.

from the motherboard specs they said I can do 2 gig of unregistered and 4 gigs of registered.
i have tested the chips by themselves, but to no avail still got crashes.


I did not follow you on the IDE part though. My ide stuff allowed me to install win2k, it was my SCSI stuff that gave me my I/O error.

As for the cooling.

I'm running Thermalright copper heat sinks on the chips with Panaflow L1A fans. The fans are 80 mm fans on each cpu.
I'm using arctic silver 3 thermal paste.

I have a Blizzard 360 case from frozencpu.com it has 2 120MM on the side blowing in, and a 120 mm fan blow hole on the top.

The Panaflow fans are blowing down on the cpu's, since the 120 mm fans above them are blowing down in to the case also.

I have another fan venting from the back, and the power supply has 2 fans also. About 8 fans for cooling all together.

System does run a bit hot though.. under full speed i've seen CPU0 get up to 52 degrees Celcius.

I'll look into getting more powerful cpu fans. I know this system tends to run a bit warm cause the CPU's, and the motherboard is a power hog.

But I still get these types of errors even when i first boot up. System is on most of the time, but the idel temp is like 42 - 44 degrees celcius on both cpu's, and the motherboard temp is like 35 degress celcius.

 

[Markfw]

One more thought. 400 wat PSU should be marginal for all of that stuff, unless it is the best PSU you can buy, and maybe not even then. I don't have a great or easy method to come up with a "best" number, but 400 just sounds a little low. You might try a 500-550 Enermax or one of the other high quality PSU's. If that doesn't do it, then I am out of ideas.

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: Bumnah
I'm using unregistered DDR ram.

2 512 meg sticks.

from the motherboard specs they said I can do 2 gig of unregistered and 4 gigs of registered.
i have tested the chips by themselves, but to no avail still got crashes.


I did not follow you on the IDE part though. My ide stuff allowed me to install win2k, it was my SCSI stuff that gave me my I/O error.

As for the cooling.

I'm running Thermalright copper heat sinks on the chips with Panaflow L1A fans. The fans are 80 mm fans on each cpu.
I'm using arctic silver 3 thermal paste.

I have a Blizzard 360 case from frozencpu.com it has 2 120MM on the side blowing in, and a 120 mm fan blow hole on the top.

The Panaflow fans are blowing down on the cpu's, since the 120 mm fans above them are blowing down in to the case also.

I have another fan venting from the back, and the power supply has 2 fans also. About 8 fans for cooling all together.

System does run a bit hot though.. under full speed i've seen CPU0 get up to 52 degrees Celcius.

I'll look into getting more powerful cpu fans. I know this system tends to run a bit warm cause the CPU's, and the motherboard is a power hog.

But I still get these types of errors even when i first boot up. System is on most of the time, but the idel temp is like 42 - 44 degrees celcius on both cpu's, and the motherboard temp is like 35 degress celcius.

52 C is not hot at all my northwood loads at up to 60-62C if i dont have the AC on and runs without a hiccup

i dont think u are doing anything wrong i think it could be the mobo

might i suggest the Tyan Tiger MP
one of the most stable mobos ever

also think a 400 Watt should be fine if it is a good brand IE ANTEC / SPARKLE

otherwise you should look into getting a TruePower Antec those are nice

 

[Markfw]

8 case fans, 10,000 SCSI and TWO Athlon 2000 CPUs alone take a LOT of power. A lot of people like to use 350-400 quality power supplies for ONE Athon 2000. I still think that could be a possibility. ASUS makes the best quality motherboards, BUT Tyan has been doing dual Athlon CPU boards longer than anybody else, so I don't know which way to vote on that one. With that much money and hardware invested, just TRYING a bigger power supply might be prudent.

Anybody out there got a good calculator for power requrements ???

 

[Bumnah]

I have an Allied 400 Watt powersupply.

I have been looking into the 500/550 watt Enermax power supply.

But my current power supply does have P4 support like the motherboard requires.

I think the powersupply may cause issues.

I have noticed my Seagate drive power down once or twice, but it's a 2 year old drive, and drives at 10,000 rpm I don't think have a long lives. I will look into upgrading the power supply.

But I don't think it's causing me all the errors I'm guessing.

The motherboard is something I have been fearing may be causing the problems.

The motherboard is an odd one. It doesn't not have any built in USB support. Apparently the built in USB support was having serious issues with the south bridge. So they supply a seperate USB 2.0 card. I'm thinking it could be some sort of conflict. Happening because of that.

I looked into the Tyan, but I perfere the Asus chipset.

Does anyone have some experience with this motherboard, or could give me some sort of tips on how to narrow down the problems?

Could it be cpu problems?

Man I'm really getting frustrated with this thing!
:disgust:

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: Bumnah
I have an Allied 400 Watt powersupply.

I have been looking into the 500/550 watt Enermax power supply.

But my current power supply does have P4 support like the motherboard requires.

I think the powersupply may cause issues.

I have noticed my Seagate drive power down once or twice, but it's a 2 year old drive, and drives at 10,000 rpm I don't think have a long lives. I will look into upgrading the power supply.

But I don't think it's causing me all the errors I'm guessing.

The motherboard is something I have been fearing may be causing the problems.

The motherboard is an odd one. It doesn't not have any built in USB support. Apparently the built in USB support was having serious issues with the south bridge. So they supply a seperate USB 2.0 card. I'm thinking it could be some sort of conflict. Happening because of that.

I looked into the Tyan, but I perfere the Asus chipset.

Does anyone have some experience with this motherboard, or could give me some sort of tips on how to narrow down the problems?

Could it be cpu problems?

Man I'm really getting frustrated with this thing!
:disgust:

First I would try another power supply but if that doesnt cut it I recommend going with the Tiger MP because many members can attest to the quality of this board

I do not know much about the A7M-266-d but i know that their single chip AMD 760 board was not very good from the reviews i read and there were various and performance issues with this board

TYAN has always been known for their stability and I think that is what you want right now

 

[Markfw]

OK. Here would be my plan at this point. Get the 500/550 Enermax. Remove the USB 2.0 card, the CDR, and the Audigy, and one of the memory sticks(for the moment). Go into the Bios and load the "fail-safe" settings.(I think ASUS boards allways have this) Make sure the Bios is updated. Then try to install XP2000 professional. If all goes well, then add a piece of hardware one at a time, and see how things go. Then if you make it thru the list, go back into the bios and change ONE setting at a time to speed it back up.

Oh, and I noticed that for some reason, the earlier PCB version of your motherboard does NOT support the MP2000 cpu for some reason (per AMD's website) You might check that also. Hope this helps, and good luck.

And I agree that even though I am an ASUS fan, Tyan really is the best at the dual boards.

Also, here is a paragraph from the ASUS website (another vote for the 550 watt PSU):
ATX Form-factor and Minimum 400W ATX 2.03 Power Supply

The minimum requirement for full-power loading is a 400 Watt ATX 12V power supply; minimum requirement for +5V/3.3V is 180 Watts; +12 Volts requires 15 Amps; 5VSB requires 1 Amp. Also Ensure that the ATX power supply can put out at least 10mA on the +5 Volt standby lead (+5vsb). You may experience difficuly powering ON the system if the power supply cannot support the load. For Wake-On-LAN support, your ATX power supply must supply at least 720mA for +5VSB.

 

[Bumnah]

Well I went ahead and checkout to see if my processors were supported by the motherboard. My motherboard Revision # 1.03 when I need 1.04. So I'm gonna try to pickup a motherboard tomorrow morning and see if that fixes my problems. I'll look into the power supply within' a week or two. I can't swing the motherboard, and the 500 watt power supply just yet. I'm going to actually keep the SCSI stuff out of the system for a bit. I have 2 80 gig maxtor drives coming in, and I'm going to strip them using software raid. I think I have enough CPU power to do that.

I'm gonna setup a new Raid 5 SCSI 160 setup next, with the 15,000 rpm drives. I guess I'll need the new power supply anyways. Anyways I'll post with the results if you guys are interested. Thanks for your help I really think the new updated motherboard is gonna fix my computers. Btw IE just crashed on me, and I'm running bare with just a NIC card installed so I have interent.

Thanks again!