Computer Shuts Down / Memory Problems

[aceman817]

My friend brought over his clone PC for me to look at yesterday. He says it is shutting off after being on for several hours and then makes beeping noises. Here are the main specs:

Abit NF7
PNY 512MB DDR 333
Seagate 200 PATA
Deer 300W PSU
ATI 9500 Video

So far I have not been able to duplicate this problem. The BIOS settings appear to be stock. The hard drive passed DFT but the memory failed MemTest86+ 1.65. I have a new stick in there now and am re-running MemTest. I noticed that there is no 12V connection to the mainboard because the power supply doesn't support it. Is it really needed? He is running with one CDRW drive, hard drive, floppy, and a berg connector to the ATI AGP card. Any other tests or suggestions are greatly appreciated. If this MemTest passed, I was thinking of running 3DMark or something similar to try a burn-in.

Thanks,
Al

 

[KGB]

Defintely try it with a better power supply and yes... you need to use the 4-pin 12V connector.

That Deere 300W will not put out enough reliable power.

 

[aceman817]

Thanks for the reply, KGBMAN. The new stick of memory that I tried failed MemTest as well. I called ABIT and they said the processor is running hot. It is idleing around 60C with the stock HSF and an exhaust fan. I reapplied Arctic Silver 3 and will let it run for an hour or so in the BIOS monitor screen. I'll see if I have a better power supply to test it with as well.

 

[aceman817]

After being on just a few minutes, the CPU is already up to 59C. I'm more familiar with Intel CPUs, but that seems very hot. How can this be?

 

[KGB]

Is that 59C under load? What processor are you using?

That temperature isn't necessarily out of order.

 

[aceman817]

It's an Athlon XP 2700+. AMD's site said that temp is ok for idle. I guess it runs hot. I think I should get the memory problem under control and run a burn-in. I wasn't able to duplicate the problem that he described (shutting down and beeping) but maybe it only happens under load.

 

[aceman817]

I put in a new 350W PSU with a 12 volt connector, a new stick of 1GB DDR memory, and the system still fails MemTest86+. Any ideas of what I can try?

 

[aceman817]

The original MemTest86 program on the UBCD 3.4 ran fine with no errors in 4 passes. I also ran the Windows Memory Diagnostic from the UBCD and it came up fine after 8 passes. This makes me wonder if it is an incompatibility with MemTest86+ or if this program is finding a problem that the others are missing.

 

[KGB]

What are the versions of MemTest86+ you are using?

To be sure, go HERE and get the latest release.

And yes, those Athlon XP's do run hotter than most.