my computer keeps on freezing!!!!!! what is wrong?

[foolanger]

i have a celeron 633 running on retail heatsink and fan on a tyan 400 botherboard.. but i keep on freezing.. especially when i'm switching between windows.. what is wrong? any ideas? the heat sink on the video card is very warm.. should i add a fan to the Voodoo3 2000?

 

[arthurb1]

You got grease on the sink? That may help...you may want a duron instead too

 

[foolanger]

can u add a fan to the retail heat sink of the voodoo 3?

 

[toph99]

yes you can. get a 486 heatsink fan or similar, and just use 4 self-tapping screws and screw them between the fins. but you need to have some good exhaust when you're using a voodoo3. what are your temps?

 

[Ultimar]

format, reinstall

 

[foolanger]

i dunno what my temps are.. how do u check? my mother does not support motherboard monitor.. the funny thing is.. i've been watching the quake 3 demo for bout 40 minutes.. and the comp is fine..but it freezes when i change windows in win 98.. any idea?

 

[toph99]

how many case fans do you have(power supply fan etc.)
is the air coming out of the case hot?

 

[foolanger]

i have only 1 case fan.. and i woudln't know how hot the air is coming out because the van blows in.. however i have the case open.. and the room temp is about 70 something degrees.. one fan in the front of the case blowing air in, and one in the power supply that it came with..

 

[toph99]

the power supply should be blowing out, is it?

after you have run something like Q3A for a while and everything is sure to be hot, shut it down fast and feel for anything which is hot, the cpu(voodoo will be very hot, so it doesn't count yet) northbridge, any other cards, hard drive etc.

if you find somethign relativly warm, you may have found the problem. if it's the cpu, a new heatsink could be put in place. if its the chipset, you could add a small fan. the voodoo i recommend adding a small fan to it as well. but do not remove the heatsink, unless you dont mind it voiding the warrantee

 

[foolanger]

the heat sink on the voodoo is not very hot.. but very very warm.. the powersupply is blowing air out that is definitely warm.. as for the cpu.. the heatsink is almost cold.. is that possible?

 

[toph99]

the heatsink on the cpu is either doing a very good job, or it isn't in good contact with the core. how is the chipset?

 

[foolanger]

how would i check the core?

 

[foolanger]

do u have icq or aim?

 

[foolanger]

i mean how would i check the chip set?

 

[toph99]

i don't have either, sorry. i don't know a whole lot about heatsinks on cpu's, so u might wanna make another thread in the cooling forum about all of this

<edit> to check the chipset, look for a large square piece of metal on the motherboard, usually near the processor. this is the chipset heatsink. it should be about 1&quot;x1&quot; or so. little larger i think.