Freezing troubles.

[ThanksInAdvance]

Alright, I have been having massive troubles lately. My computer will freeze completely when to run certain programs (mainly games, but sometimes my virus scanner) and when it freezes I will have to reboot but it will freeze during the reboot (before it loads windows or during it's loading time.)

I used to think it was my graphics card (I had recently gotten a new nVidia Geforce4 MX440 because my old one [The kind with the fan] was soon going to burn out) but I switched it with my older one (whcih DID run fine) and it still didn't work. Next I tried the ram and I switched my ram with the ram on my mothers computer (same kind of ram). No luck.

The computer is not over heating (I've been paying very close attention) and everything is plugged in. The power supply is new so there is nothing wrong with it.

Any help is appreicated.

P.S. I am thinking it is my motherboard so if I need a new one can someoen tell me which would be compatiable with the hardware I currently have? Here is a list.
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.40GHZ
nVidia Geforce 4 MX440
Maxtor 6Y080L0 (Hard drive)
WDC WD800BB-00CAA0 (Hard drive)
HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8400B (Cd rom)
LG DVD-ROM DRD8080B (DVD Rom)
Soundblaster card (Creative AudiPCI (ES1371,ES1373) (WDM))
512MB SDRAM PC100 NON-ECC UNBUFFERED 168-PIN



Thanks everyone.

 

[NuNuNYC]

I would double check your temperatures on your computer. Go into BIOS and check your CPU and motherboard temperatures. They should be fairly low, 40º C. Some go as high as 70º with the stock HSF, which I'm kind of wary about. Gaming and virus scanning utilizes the CPU at its full clock speed, thus putting the max voltage through the CPU, thus heating it up dramatically. Definitely check your CPU temps, as most computers now a days either freeze or shut down to prevent burnouts.

But if you must get a new motherboard, I'd stick with Asus. Just a little more information for you. You have a Socket 478 motherboard, so you have quite a few choices, but I'd stick with either the Asus P4C800 or P4P800 motherboard, depending on your budget.

Any more questions? Feel free to PM me or wait till I bump into this thread again

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

I would double check your temperatures on your computer. Go into BIOS and check your CPU and motherboard temperatures. They should be fairly low, 40º C.

I second that. Especially if you're using a windows software heat monitoring utility.

The power supply is new so there is nothing wrong with it.

Are you positive its not the power supply? The psu tends to be the least understood and most overlooked component. Many generic power supplies simply will not provide adequate power for P4/Athlon based systems. Although some may not agree, consider a HIGH QUALITY psu with a minimum of 400 watt rating as the absolute minimum requirements for your system. Your system specs don't mention brand or output rating of your new power supply. More reason I would not rule out your PSU as the source of your problems.

Gaming and virus scanning utilizes the CPU at its full clock speed, thus putting the max voltage through the CPU, thus heating it up dramatically. Definitely check your CPU temps, as most computers now a days either freeze or shut down to prevent burnouts.

Still, in your case, the first culprit for the problems you're having still sound like heat. Is your heatsink stock? Do you have a minimum of 2 case fans? (One intake at the front and one exhaust at the back?) If not, consider improving cpu cooling and case airflow. Its certainly cheap "insurance" for extending the life of your system. For me, this would be an "automatic upgrade" anyway. If it doesn't take care of the problem, then start seriously reconsidering your powersupply.

 

[NuNuNYC]

You could always check the voltage lines and see how stable each line is if you know what you're doing. It's also in BIOS, but it's best to check when running in Windows so you can see how the volt lines fluctuate as you run your programs. Motherboard Monitor is pretty good at that.

DetroitSportsFan has a point about the PSU. No name brands have unstable volt lines, and that could pose the problem. I highly doubt it's your case temperatures though as it doesn't get that extremely hot, just a few degrees, but you can always leave the case panel off when doing your testing to get some extra air in there, just for these tests.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: ThanksInAdvance
Alright, I have been having massive troubles lately. My computer will freeze completely when to run certain programs (mainly games, but sometimes my virus scanner) and when it freezes I will have to reboot but it will freeze during the reboot (before it loads windows or during it's loading time.)

I used to think it was my graphics card (I had recently gotten a new nVidia Geforce4 MX440 because my old one [The kind with the fan] was soon going to burn out) but I switched it with my older one (whcih DID run fine) and it still didn't work. Next I tried the ram and I switched my ram with the ram on my mothers computer (same kind of ram). No luck.

The computer is not over heating (I've been paying very close attention) and everything is plugged in. The power supply is new so there is nothing wrong with it.

Any help is appreicated.

P.S. I am thinking it is my motherboard so if I need a new one can someoen tell me which would be compatiable with the hardware I currently have? Here is a list.
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.40GHZ
nVidia Geforce 4 MX440
Maxtor 6Y080L0 (Hard drive)
WDC WD800BB-00CAA0 (Hard drive)
HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8400B (Cd rom)
LG DVD-ROM DRD8080B (DVD Rom)
Soundblaster card (Creative AudiPCI (ES1371,ES1373) (WDM))
512MB SDRAM PC100 NON-ECC UNBUFFERED 168-PIN



Thanks everyone.

Is a bluescreen happening? Do you have any files in c:\windows\minidump directory?

 

[ThanksInAdvance]

Bluescreen isn't happening and I have no c:\windows\minidump directory

As for the powersupply, it is a new ATX Switching Power Supply, 430 Watts. Runnoing on 115 Voltage (if I put it higher the computer wont boot at all)

As for checking the heat in the BIOS I do not know how. From a young age I was told to never mess with the BIOS so I didn't!

And right now the case is off. In total I have 3 fans, one on the board itself, one for powersupply and one intake at the front.

I will look at the temperature if someone helps me out !

Thanks

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

As for checking the heat in the BIOS I do not know how. From a young age I was told to never mess with the BIOS so I didn't!

Is your system proprietary such as a gateway or dell? Or is it home built/local shop built? Accessing the bios differs depending on the kind of system you have. Either way, it should tell you during the post. On my home built systems, hitting the delete key during start-up gets me in. We're not asking you to make bios changes .... just merely check the posted temperatures. It should be called something along the lines of "system health." Once again, hard to say for sure since different bioses list it differently. Access your bios and browse around until you find it. Take your temps there on a cold system and then again after your system freezes and you have to reboot. Compare the temperature differences. Most systems will have a cpu temp around 40c to 45c with no load. Under load conditions, it could get up into the low to mid 50C temperature ranges. If your bios shows it to be hotter than that, temperatures could be the source of your instability.

You said you have an intake fan, but not an exhaust. I'd add a 5 dollar pci slot exhaust fan and locate it in the first PCI slot below your AGP video card. This will help airflow through the case as well as provide extra cooling for your video card.

Report back please because there are other causes for the symptoms you're describing. Heat/voltage issues just happen to be the most common.

 

[Fern]

The power supply is new so there is nothing wrong with it.

Every NEW part should be considered suspect until proven good. I've gotten too many "new" parts that didn't work properly.

BTW, I hope it's not a Powmax PSU

Fern