dying cpu?

elchudi

Junior Member
May 2, 2007
6
0
0
hello all(first timer here), and tnx in advance for any tip that you could give me. I have a
mobo : asus m2n-e
cpu: amd x2 3800+
memory: kingston 1gb 667
gpu: 7600 gt
disk: wd 250gb sata 2

and i`ve run this rig ok for the last year, but 5 days ago started to freeze (no reboot, no BSOD, just sits there) on windows initially, then linux, and now does it when the gpu is loading, on the bios, on boot, basically everywhere.... i`m not running it oc, but i used to 6 months ago for a short time (until i realized that i didn`t know ******, so i`ve stop)...... but sometimes i can use ithe pc for several hours with no problems..... i`ve run 13 passes of memtest86+ and no errors, superpi and no rpoblems (temps reached 60ºC, but i think that is normal, no?(amb temp 22ºc))........ i`ve also noted that GRUB(boot loader) takes a little longer than usual(2-3secs)........ so...... i think that my cpu is dying, and if so, can i do something so that it can live a little longer (underclock, disable one core, anything)?

thanks again and forgive me for my inglish
 

stevty2889

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2003
7,036
8
81
Have you looked for leaking/bulging capacitors on the motherboard? CPU's rarely will die on you, it's unlikely that anything is wrong with the CPU. Also, what power supply are you using? CPU temps of 60c are actualy pretty high for that chip, especialy at stock speeds. My 4200+ runs at 51c overclocked to 2.6ghz on the stock heatsink, so you shouldn't be hitting 60c at stock speeds.
 

Puffnstuff

Lifer
Mar 9, 2005
16,187
4,871
136
I'm thinking that his hsf isn't mounted right, dust bunnies or thermal paste issue to generate that much heat.
 

elchudi

Junior Member
May 2, 2007
6
0
0
I`ve checked and no leaking/bulging capacitors on the mobo, and i have a 550w power supply.... i will buy thermal paste and will place again the hsf. I`ve also checked the gpu, and memory on other machine and they are ok, but i don´t have another mobo to test the cpu. Will let you know if i have any improvements.
 

jhurst

Senior member
Mar 29, 2004
663
0
0
I would really suspect the PSU, especially if it is a generic one, or one that came with a case. I have had PSU's die on me and thats pretty much what happens, just random restarts.
 

stevty2889

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2003
7,036
8
81
Originally posted by: elchudi
I`ve checked and no leaking/bulging capacitors on the mobo, and i have a 550w power supply.... i will buy thermal paste and will place again the hsf.

What brand is that PSU..550w is meaningless if it's a generic PSU with a weak 12v rail.
 

elchudi

Junior Member
May 2, 2007
6
0
0
thanks for the help that you are giving me. I`ve buy thermal paste and mounted again the hsf, cleaned the dust bunnies(not much to clean), and i did find a ladybug dead on the mobo, but i couldn`t tell if it died of natural causes or by an electroshock :p (because i lost it in the cleaning process)....

today only once the machine reached the bios and it says that the voltages where:
Vcore : 1.33
3.3v = 3.40
5v= 5.16
12v = 12.17

i have taken out the psu (btw is this one (pdf alert!!) http://www.seventeam.com.tw/Backend/UpLoadPic/ST-550EAG(B).pdf ) and read the volts with a multimeter, they where
12.04v ; 5.14v , 3.38v

another symptom is that when i turn it on, all the fans start spinning, drives also, etc and do nothing more, but if i hit the reset button tries to start again but it shuts down ....

if anyone have any ideas i would be great. i am thinking to downgrade the bios to see if it works(which is a little scary because i don`t want it to frezee in the middle of an update)
 

Kromis

Diamond Member
Mar 2, 2006
5,214
1
81
Originally posted by: elchudi
thanks for the help that you are giving me. I`ve buy thermal paste and mounted again the hsf, cleaned the dust bunnies(not much to clean), and i did find a ladybug dead on the mobo, but i couldn`t tell if it died of natural causes or by an electroshock :p (because i lost it in the cleaning process)....

today only once the machine reached the bios and it says that the voltages where:
Vcore : 1.33
3.3v = 3.40
5v= 5.16
12v = 12.17

i have taken out the psu (btw is this one (pdf alert!!) http://www.seventeam.com.tw/Backend/UpLoadPic/ST-550EAG(B).pdf ) and read the volts with a multimeter, they where
12.04v ; 5.14v , 3.38v

another symptom is that when i turn it on, all the fans start spinning, drives also, etc and do nothing more, but if i hit the reset button tries to start again but it shuts down ....

if anyone have any ideas i would be great. i am thinking to downgrade the bios to see if it works(which is a little scary because i don`t want it to frezee in the middle of an update)

Gah! I hate online PDFs!
 

elchudi

Junior Member
May 2, 2007
6
0
0
still struggling with the fraking machine. i`ve tried another psu (just in case) and it did the same as before. In the bios i turned off all that i could (lan, audio, etc), and still the same. It has to be the cpu or the mobo, I will try the cpu on other mobo, but not until saturday or sunday. I`ll let you know any improvements.
 

myocardia

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2003
9,291
30
91
Which BIOS have you updated to? And which psu did you upgrade to? You know, as much as we would like to help you, we don't live at your house.;)
 

The-Noid

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2005
3,117
4
76
Check to see if the hsf is mounted on the video card correctly. If video card is overheating it will die. Other possibility is the memory. If you have two sticks, try one at a time.
 

elchudi

Junior Member
May 2, 2007
6
0
0
sorry if i did not make my self clear. The pc was ok until a week ago, when started to freeze with no aparent reason (no reboot, no bsod) on linux, windows, post, sometimes even before the 1 short beep of the post(the one that says that everything is ok) and besides it never gave me a diferent error code.

I have tested the memory (1x 1gb kingston 667 ddr2), the gpu (7600 gt) on another machine, and the psu with a multimeter and they are ok (gpu not heating, memtes86+ ok for 10 passes, all voltages within range).

I`ve put on my pc another stick of memory(also a 1x 1gb kingston 667 ddr2), another gpu (7300 le) and another psu (a 450w vitsuba) from another pc, and still the same (it freezes everywhere).

and when i mean tested/put i mean in every single combination I could try , with 1 stick, 2 sticks, with one gpu, with the other gpu, unpluging all the cables that go to the mobo(audio,usb,ide,power,lan,keyboad,mouse), with/without hd/cd, etc ,etc etc.... yes i have a lot of free time latetly :p

The bios of the mobo is the latest (version 0802), but was functioning ok (for over 1-2 months) until the machine started to freeze.

So i am thinking that it has to be the cpu or the mobo. I will be testing the cpu on the weekend on another mobo, and if it is ok, i will downgrade the bios of my mobo.

tnx people for any help/advices
 

myocardia

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2003
9,291
30
91
Try underclocking your cpu. Instead of the 10x multiplier, use the 6 or 7x, and see if it still happens. If it does, it has to be either your motherboard or psu.
 

stevty2889

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2003
7,036
8
81
Originally posted by: elchudi
sorry if i did not make my self clear. The pc was ok until a week ago, when started to freeze with no aparent reason (no reboot, no bsod) on linux, windows, post, sometimes even before the 1 short beep of the post(the one that says that everything is ok) and besides it never gave me a diferent error code.

I have tested the memory (1x 1gb kingston 667 ddr2), the gpu (7600 gt) on another machine, and the psu with a multimeter and they are ok (gpu not heating, memtes86+ ok for 10 passes, all voltages within range).

I`ve put on my pc another stick of memory(also a 1x 1gb kingston 667 ddr2), another gpu (7300 le) and another psu (a 450w vitsuba) from another pc, and still the same (it freezes everywhere).

and when i mean tested/put i mean in every single combination I could try , with 1 stick, 2 sticks, with one gpu, with the other gpu, unpluging all the cables that go to the mobo(audio,usb,ide,power,lan,keyboad,mouse), with/without hd/cd, etc ,etc etc.... yes i have a lot of free time latetly :p

The bios of the mobo is the latest (version 0802), but was functioning ok (for over 1-2 months) until the machine started to freeze.

So i am thinking that it has to be the cpu or the mobo. I will be testing the cpu on the weekend on another mobo, and if it is ok, i will downgrade the bios of my mobo.

tnx people for any help/advices

You still have not listed the specs for either PSU you tried. The link you gave after taking a painfuly long time to load, gave me a blank page...we need all the info if you expect us to be able to help. If there is a problem it's likely either the motherboard, or the PSU(not neccesarily a bad PSU, but one that is too weak to handle the load). It is extremely rare for a CPU to go bad, and generaly when they do, they don't work at all rather than causing freezing/lockups.

Also try what Myocardia suggested, and underclock the CPU to see if you are still freezing.

 

smthmlk

Senior member
Apr 19, 2003
493
0
0
sounds like what happened when my venice 3000+ was dying. very hard to diagnose, since who ever hears of cpu's dying (especially non-overclocked)? Get a second processor to try for a week or so. Thankfully, amd procs are cheap now :)
 

jhurst

Senior member
Mar 29, 2004
663
0
0
Originally posted by: myocardia
Originally posted by: jhurst
Is that a........scoreboard?

Nope, it's 15 megabit fiber optic internet service.

I really expected you to get that one, especially being from the Dallas area? Most of us who are stuck with our crappy 5mbps connections can't even fathom a service 3x faster. If you are from the DFW area, listen to the Ticket, it isn't like there are any good music stations to listen to.

 

elchudi

Junior Member
May 2, 2007
6
0
0
At last! I`ve finally tried the cpu and the mobo, and it was the mobo that was giving me issues. I had to buy a new one (a cheaper one M2N4-SLI ) and now I´m happy again. I`ll send the old one to repair, and if they tell me what was wrong i will post it.

Thank you all for the support and see you all on my next crash :p
 

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
81
Originally posted by: elchudi
At last! I`ve finally tried the cpu and the mobo, and it was the mobo that was giving me issues. I had to buy a new one (a cheaper one M2N4-SLI ) and now I´m happy again. I`ll send the old one to repair, and if they tell me what was wrong i will post it.

Thank you all for the support and see you all on my next crash :p

Just reading through this and i was about to say, it could be the mobo heh, bit late. I had the same crap with my old rig, replaced everything once until i figured out it was the mobo.

Memory generally gives bluescreens
CPU generally refuses to boot at all, or gives bluescreens
Mobo/PSU for me anyways messed things up with random freezes, some bluescreens, refusal to boot up properly etc.
 

A554SS1N

Senior member
May 17, 2005
804
0
0
Well, i've got exactly the same issues right now and at the moment I've got a new PSU ordered - I hope I don't have to buy a new motherboard too!