Increasingly occuring crashes....what hardware to replace?

[88JeepXJ]

Well I've read the thread thatwas further down and it was very helpful. I have been experiencing several annoying crashes per day over the last two weeks. I had a couple random ones starting about a month ago but they are hitting more now. It is worst when I am trying to play my new favorite game (old game) MotorCity Online. At first I thought it was my OS since it was about 6 months old. I got a new(used) hd at the time so I just popped it in and dual booted win2k and XP. Well I was running fairly well on 2K for about 5 days until I got my first crash. The last few days it crashes as soon as I get into the game. So I tried my XP partition...same thing. Today when I woke up my PC had locked up again just sitting at the desktop. I have run several other apps and nothing seems to look it up...even Madonion 2002. Since money has been tight my system is pretty old. I'm running on a Gigabyte VIA KT333 chipset mobo, Tbird 1.2 that I used to OC, IBM 20GB hd, Enermax 350w psu, Geforce 2 Ultra (fan seems to be getting tired so i have placed a huge fan over it to make sure it is not overheating), SB Audigy, and misc NICs and cd roms. Where is the most likely cause for concern? Can I run a test that may tell me which piece of hardware is maybe dying? I do not have the money to replace everything old and I really don't want to spend money on somthing that is OK.
Please help
-Jef

 

[SwampsterFL]

It really sounds more like software/operating system compatibility than a hardware failure. In WinXP, to to Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools and select System Restore. In the window that pops up, select a date about 2 weeks back and let it restore to that.

Your New (old) game may need to run in Compatibility Mode to successfully run in XP. Win2K is not good with games and might always be a problem.

 

[88JeepXJ]

I'm sorry I dont agree. What is the chance three different OSes would all crash due to non hardware problems? I have been running 2000 for years without this sort of trouble. I'm virtually positive it is hardware...I just don't know where to begin.
Power supply, vid card, other? All big $$

 

[scottrico]

It sound like a power issue, but it might not be your power supply.

Here is some free things to try.

look over your motherboard carefully, looking for any cracks or broken pieces.

Try running your system with only a hard drive and video card, to see if it is more stable.

Dont run any fans off the motherboard, use the power supply.

Try switching the power conectors to the cd rom and hard drive.

Do you hear any weird sounds when your system crashes?

You said that you used to oc the processer, did you use this same motherboard? If so, try raising the voltage a little to the cpu.
(that worked for me once)

I have to agree that this does not sound like a software issue.
Hope that helps
good luck

 

[88JeepXJ]

SIGH!

Well I bite the bullet and bought an Antec True430 last night. Spent a few more dollars then if I had gone through online retailer but I would not have had it till next week at the eariest. So anyway. Replaced it last night and everything was going well. But then I played MCO and it crashed So I looked some more and saw that the video card fan had finally died....was not moving at all! So I said to myself that it couldnt just be coincidence that the fan had died at the same time i was having stability problems from somthing else so I change the heatsink and fan. I attached a blue orb replica with the double side thermal tape they provided. Fired up my system and ran a few more tests. Well this time I was able to play MCO for a long time....about 15minutes! wohoo. Then it crashed. So WTF?
I did wake up without a locked up screen saver which has happened every night for the last week...so that is better. Anyway I'm stumped. "Wasted" $80 on the psu, replaced the fan which helped but did not fix the problem, and now I don't know where to go. You think I should return the psu and stick my 350w Enermax back in or no? I could try buying a Geforce 4 and seeing if it was the vid card....Maybe the thermal tape was not good enough?

Sigh.....

 

[88JeepXJ]

OK I'm thinking it is the vid card. I'm assuming the new heatsink is powerful enough to disapate the heat under idle now, because I have not crased with the screen saver in 3 days. However it still crashes like crazy with my game. I'll see if i can maybe return the psu and buy a vid card today....but I really like the Antec! I hate being poor!

 

[corkyg]

I was going to reply yesterday - this find of crash is usually always the video card.

 

[SwampsterFL]

If the crashes have been caused by excessive heat in the video card, which is now looking like a destinct possibility given your later note about a fan failure, then the probability would be that you have heat related damage to the card. For all we know, the fan has been stopping from time to time and is the real root of the current problem.

Should you keep the new PS? Definitly!!! Heat damage is seldom confined to a single device. Unlike damage from static discharge (for example), everything has been being stressed for quite some time by your overclocking, and therefor is suspect. Bottom line is that it did give a partial fix, so it is likely it is part of the overall failure.

 

[Bitek]

I had this same prob with my comp. Increasingly unstable with random restarts, first in Warcraft3 (high cpu demand, like in your case), then in just win, then finally refusing to post. Though it was the OS at first, then turned out not to be so. Mine turned out to be a dying celly (which i had mildly clocked.) Put i my old 366, and everything has been fine since (but very very slow.) Not necc your prob, but a possiblility.

If you have a spare, try swapping them. Do this with the vid card as well if possible (first obviously). If your fan is not working, then heat sounds like a likely culprit, but if that doesn't pan out, check the cpu.