Mystery Problem...please help

[WildViper]

SUp All,

I built a computer 3 years ago that was crashing and shutting off randomly. Well, I have been trying to figure things out and has made all sorts of changes.

The system was AMD X2 3800+ based with XP Pro SP2.

I have a completely new CPU, new board, new ram, new power supply(Thermaltake 430W) and it still does the same thing. ALso put in XP SP3. All new cables.

It crashes and reboots randomly on a brand spanking new install of XP SP3 with full format of drive. No other software loaded.

The only thing remaining from old system is : Hard Drive ..it is the Western Digital Caviar IDE 80Gig drive, with the IDE DVD/CD RW drive (NEC) and the case with its USB connections in front.

The new board is ECS GeForce 6100PM-M2 v2.0. This board worked perfectly in another computer.

This happens with and without NVidia's IDE drivers. Before even loading those drivers, the system was behaving like that.

Could the USB connections cause this issue??? Could the HardDrive cause this? or Could the CD Rom cause this?

Please help....I am about to throw away the old board (Epox 9NPA Ultra+ with the CPU and memory cause I think the problem is there...but the latest behaviour suggests something else.

Thanx

Edit: All tempratures are normal. CPU is usually around 40C, HD is around 45C and so on. Also, the RAM is on one stick (2GB now), but have changed that out multiple times


Edit 2: Specs of old system:

• Epox 9NPA Ultra+
  AMD X2 3800+ - 939 version
  Kingston HyperX 1Gig Ram (2x512) - it was Mwave 512MBx2 before
  Western Digital Caviar IDE 80Gig
  NEC DVD/CD RW Drive
  ThermalTake TR2-430W - Used to have Antec TruePower 2.0 300W
  XP SP3 - OEM

Edit 2: Specs of new system:

• ECS GeForce 6100PM-M2 v2.0
  AMD X2 5400
  Kingston ValueRam 2Gig DDR2 - ALso tried Corsair XMS(performance version 2Gig x1 chip)
  Western Digital Caviar IDE 80Gig
  NEC DVD/CD RW Drive
  ThermalTake TR2-430W
  XP SP3 - OEM

No Overclocking at all in either builds. This happens with just XP on, no other software and not even been on Internet

Edit 4: Ran Memtest and Hard Drive diagnostics. No problems. XP just seems to hang right away now.

 

[robisbell]

need exact make and exact model of all hardware, plus whether this is a full or oem version of XP.

 

[daveybrat]

Unplug the front usb ports from the motherboard and try again. Also are you using onboard video or a gaming card? If you are using a nice video card, your power supply might be the culprit as it only has a single 18A 12V line on it.

 

[WildViper]

thanx for the help. I am only using onboard video. Also, I did try the USB thing.


However,
I solved it!!!!

It was the memory!!! Even though it passed the Memtest for over 20 passes on different tests, when I switched out the memory, it works!

Wow, who would have guessed that a brand spanking new memory could be a problem..especially twice in a row?

Thanx anyways fellas!

 

[Quiksilver]

Originally posted by: WildViper
It was the memory!!! Even though it passed the Memtest for over 20 passes on different tests, when I switched out the memory, it works!

Wow, who would have guessed that a brand spanking new memory could be a problem..especially twice in a row?

Thanx anyways fellas!

Something tells me that your memory is not bad, I suspect that it needs above normal voltages for that specific ram to be stable.

 

[WildViper]

Hi,

Well how do I check that? on my ECS board I don't really get much options.

Here is the chip that I got: Crucial memory

I had an option of choosing "Auto" and that is what I had. I did notice that it was set on the lowest and not 667. Does it make a difference there?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: WildViper
I am about to throw away the old board (Epox 9NPA Ultra+ with the CPU and memory cause I think the problem is there

Don't throw them away, send them to me. 🙂