keep getting hard locks in windows, no bsods, should i flash bios?

[dannybin1742]

computer installed winxp fine at 12X200 at 1.75V, thought maybe this was the problem, so i dropped it to 200X11, upped the voltage to 1.775V, still getting hard locks every time i try to run prime 95, d\it does not do it when i just browse the internet like i'm doing now, i've build many computers int eh last year, and this is the first time i've come accross this.

i have an albatron kx18D pro, pc 3200 ram, axp 2400+ mobile

update: will only run stable at 8X100 whats up with that? should i send the cpu back, send the board back or both? i tried 7X200, 8X166, 8X133 and only 8X100 is stable, i ran the others at 1.85V but i keep getting hard locks every time prime starts up, when i actually tell it to start stress testing. what is going on?

 

[shelaby]

im runnin my xp-m 2400 in an 8rda+ with 2x256mb pc3200 hyperx ram

runnin it at 11.5x200 with vcore @ 1.725 and it works fine for me, i dont use prime, i just play games and if it doesnt lock up then it is fine

 

[dannybin1742]

this chip must just really suck, it won't do 10X200 not even at 1.825V, i bought this one last week from newegg. i bought the same thing two weeks before and it does 2.533 @ 1.85V

guess its jsut luck of the draw.........

i dont' understand how i don't get bsods, it just hard locks

 

[maluckey]

Reseat the Heatsink. You may find that cures your issues. The HS/Fan should be installed on the board with the board out of the case. Care must be taken to ensure that you don't seat it wrong, or bump it after seating it. It doesn't take much to break the contact. Uneven heating of the core can cause some really loopy and unstable behavior, even if the temperatures are low.

 

[dannybin1742]

i did that twice, just to be sure, and when i got windows xp installed, i installed mbm and the temps were fine, right around 33C @800mhz 1.7V, so i'm 100% sure its not the seating of the hsf, i'm almost 100% sure that the board is bad


i mean the bios won't even flash and there are no setting in the bios for write-protect, it just freezes when i try and flash it. i rmaed it and will exchange it for the shuttle an35n ultra, which i have had a positive experience with. BTW the albatron board has no holes for mounting an have so you become limited on the cooling solutions you choose