Dear God, PLEASE HELP!!!

[Novaglarion]

Ok, so i'm assuming you aren't God, but hopefully you can help.

Here's my problem, i have 4 identical systems that are all experiencing the same issue. The PCs are randomly freezing and locking up. When they do the display is "weird", it's kind of blurred. This seems to be random, it will work for hours sometimes, other times after a few minutes. I've installed all the newest drivers but nothing seems to help. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.


PUNDIT-AE3 - 0505 BIOS
AMD Sempron 3100+ Palermo 1600MHz HT 256KB L2 Cache Socket 754 Processor - SDA3100BABOX - Retail CPU Fan
Kingston ValueRAM 512MB (2 x 256MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 8 6K040L0 40GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA133 Hard Drive
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model SHW160P6S05

Also, what is the correct HT Data Width for a Sempron 3100+? i have it at 800Mhz and 16x16 Bit?

Thank you!

 

[thescreensavers]

reformat,bad ram,incomptible ram,what power supply

 

[Novaglarion]

Thank you for the reply,

I've reformated one of them and it's still happening to that system.

Per Kingston's site the ram is compatible, and the chance that all 8 DIMMs are bad are slim to none.

The power supply is one that comes in the barebones case, it's 275W. I took a 430W power supply from another system and hooked it up, it still locked up.

Here's the link to the barebone on ASUS site: Pundit-AE3

Do you have any ideas on what diagnostic application(s) i can use to see what might be causing the issue? Also, i checked the CPU temp after one of the lock ups and it was at 109F so i don't think it's a temp issue. Do you know if the HT Data Width I have it configured at is correct?

Thanks again!

 

[rasczak]

where exactly does it lock up, and what are you doing at the time of the lock ups?

are they all using the same video card/drivers?

 

[Pabster]

Lockups almost always point to a power supply issue.

RAM would be next.

What power supply(ies) are you using, and keep in mind that the watt rating alone doesn't mean diddly squat. A solid 350 watt supply is better than a crappy 430W one.

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

Strange that all 4 are doing that. Update BIOS?

 

[spherrod]

Have you tried one of them with the bare minimum connected (hard drive, memory, VGA) and seen if it's ok?

 

[Novaglarion]

@jpbelauskas - They lock up doing different things. One time it happened while I was on the internet. Another while installing windows updates. Trying to print, there doesn't seem to be any consistency in the lock ups. The four were originally ghosted from an image that I created on one of them so they are identical hardware and OS. I've installed windows from scratch on one of them and it still locks up.

@Pabster - the power supply I used to test with was an Antec 430W TruePower. I don't know offhand the make of the ones in the systems. They were included in the barebones kit. It's a slim line case so a normal PSU won't fit; I just hooked it up open case and worked on it until it crashed (about 25 min)

@djmihow - The 0505 version is the latest BIOS and is supposed to be compatible with the Sempron 3100+ since 0303. ASUS CPU Support Site
AMD Sempron 3100+ Processor Details
After digging on ASUS site I did come across a BETA BIOS 0603 that I?m going to install when I get home.

@spherrod - the Video is on board. I?ve removed the DVD drive, disabled the onboard audio and LAN, but that didn't help. I'm going to try a PCI and AGP video card I have and disable the onboard tonight.

Does anyone have any idea about the HT Data width question? (What is the correct HT Data Width for a Sempron 3100+? I have it at 800 MHz and 16x16 Bit?)
I played around with it last night and when I change either the FSB from 800 or the bit to 8x8 or other combinations it locked up a lot more frequently?

Thank you to everyone for your help with this issue.

 

[Harvey]

If you're in one of the hot regions of the country, you may be getting a lot of spikes or fluctuations on the power mains from heavy use of air conditioners, refrigerators, etc. Have you checked your line voltage? Use an AC voltmeter to confirm that it's not near or below a minimum 115 volts AC. Even if it's above mininum, if it's close, that could be the problem.

Do you have a surge protector or, better yet, a UPS on each system? Even if the voltage is within the normal range, you could be getting some serious spikes, and if you're anywhere near lightning storms, they could cause some potentially destructive positive spikes on the line.

You should have some line conditioning in any case. Try it, and if it solves the problem, you're home. If not, you'll have something you need, and you'll have eliminated one of the possible causes.

Good luck.

 

[Novaglarion]

@Harvey - I thought that might be the case as well. The systems are hooked up at a friends Beauty Salon. I took one home to see if it did it there and it did, while hooked up to my UPS.

Thank you

 

[amdskip]

I would try some different memory and no way would I be using those 275w generic power supplies, garbage if you ask me. I would next start trying a different video card and then drivers. Let us know how the video card swap goes.

 

[Novaglarion]

@amdskip - Where would i find a power supply that would fit in this case? It's not the standard PSU size. It's made smaller to fit in the small case... About to swap the video card. Will update you after i see how that goes.

 

[stevty2889]

I would recomend running memtest on the systems. It does like it could be incompatible ram.

 

[nova2]

when you get to it, do us a favor, run the newer version of memtest+ and not the older non-plus version
thanks.

http://www.memtest.org/

 

[Novaglarion]

OK, sorry it's taken so long to get back to you all. I had to take a break from this problem before I ran over the PCs with a steam roller.

I ran Memtest with both DIMMs installed and received 3 errors in test #8. I then tested each individual DIMM in each slot without any errors. I then tried some RAM from a HP and received no errors in any test in any configuration. I installed and ran Sandra's memory benchmark with both Kingston DIMMs installed and it crashed the same way as it has been. With both the HP installed it didn?t crash. I then installed only 1 of the Kingston DIMMs and it didn?t crash. I switched back and forward between 1 and 2 DIMMs and it only crashed when both were installed. To me it looks to be a compatibility issue with the RAM when running in dual channel?

I called Kingston and got a case # and am going to do the same with ASUS on Monday when they are open.

Thanks to everyone for your help. I will most definitely keep you apprised of the situation and outcome of this?

P.S. If by chance they are not able to resolve this issue for me, is anyone interested in buying 8 slightly used DIMMs of Kingston Value RAM? =)