New Athlon 64 system randomly freezes....

[aphex]

Rig:

Athlon 64 3200+
ASUS K8V SE Deluxe Mobo
512 (256x2) Crucial PC2100 Ram
80GB Maxtor 7200rpm (oldest part in the system, going on 4 years old)
Antec Truepower 430
Ati Radeon 9700
Microsoft Wireless G PCI Card
XP Pro

The rig randonly freezes. Seems to do it alot while the system stays idle (screen saver is on), but it also happens anytime it wants. While im browsing the web, while im listening to music, when im typing a document. Seems to be random from my point of view....

What could cause this? Also, what can i use to monitor my system as to see whats going wrong when the freeze occurs?

I've checked in the Event Viewer (under administrative tools), but i dont really see anything corresponding to when the freeze occurs.

 

[Aleksandar]

Check the cpu temp see if it is ok 4 an Athlon 64 3200+
and youre ram is slow Pc2100 is old for a system like that

Bytheway nice psu got the same one

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: Aleksandar
Check the cpu temp see if it is ok 4 an Athlon 64 3200+
and youre ram is slow Pc2100 is old for a system like that

Bytheway nice psu got the same one

It just froze again when i got up to get a drink... It was running at around 44C-45C earlier today..

 

[aphex]

Fergot to mention, when it freezes its done. I have to hold the power button down to get her to turn off. This may be impt, if i hit reset, the system reboots but freezes at the Asus Bios Logo

 

[Aleksandar]

nope youre cup temp is fine when this started did you install some new hardware or maby software if you remember?

 

[mechBgon]

What speed is your RAM currently clocked to, and what voltage is it running at? How's it do in Memtest86, if you've tried that yet? Memtest86 would rule out Windows issues, as a side benefit. You might also do an exhaustive diagnostic of your Maxtor using PowerMax.

Also, what slot is your wireless card in, do you have firewalling enabled on that connection and is your antivirus software and Windows patching up-to-date?

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
What speed is your RAM currently clocked to, and what voltage is it running at? How's it do in Memtest86, if you've tried that yet? Memtest86 would rule out Windows issues, as a side benefit. You might also do an exhaustive diagnostic of your Maxtor using PowerMax.

Also, what slot is your wireless card in, do you have firewalling enabled on that connection and is your antivirus software and Windows patching up-to-date?

AFAIK, its clocked to its default (never touched the settings, but lemme check).

Wireless card in PCI Slot 4 (second from bottom), connection is not firewalled (but im behind a router), running and fully updated Norton Internet Security and all critical updates installed.

Gonna try out memtest and Powermax.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: Aleksandar
nope youre cup temp is fine when this started did you install some new hardware or maby software if you remember?

only hardware i installed is the wireless card

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: mechBgon
What speed is your RAM currently clocked to, and what voltage is it running at? How's it do in Memtest86, if you've tried that yet? Memtest86 would rule out Windows issues, as a side benefit. You might also do an exhaustive diagnostic of your Maxtor using PowerMax.

Also, what slot is your wireless card in, do you have firewalling enabled on that connection and is your antivirus software and Windows patching up-to-date?

AFAIK, its clocked to its default (never touched the settings, but lemme check).

Wireless card in PCI Slot 4 (second from bottom), connection is not firewalled (but im behind a router), running and fully updated Norton Internet Security and all critical updates installed.

Gonna try out memtest and Powermax.

If I had wireless, I'd run a machine-level firewall for sure. CPU-Z from www.cpuid.com would be an easy way to confirm what the memory speed is, if you need a simple way to do a reality check on it. Sometimes a little boost in memory voltage can help, although that seems mostly to be an issue with faster modules.

 

[Aleksandar]

try mechBgon idea if all fails remove the card see if that is the problem
if not try updating all the drivers on youre comp.

A lot of things can do this we just need to narrow it down to one good luck

 

[aphex]

Dunno why i thought it was a Maxtor, its a Western Digital. Nevertheles, the PowerMax program seems to be working fine on it

I'll post the results, memtest results, and the speeds/voltages in a min

 

[aphex]

Anyone know how long the PowerMax test takes?

 

[mechBgon]

Sometimes those diagnostics can run for quite a while, like 30-90 minutes.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Sometimes those diagnostics can run for quite a while, like 30-90 minutes.

Hmmm, well its at "Run SMART Self Test...." and the little thingy is moving, but the hard drive light isnt on.

Should i quit the proggy and use the Western Digital one instead?

 

[aphex]

Hrmph, got the windows version of Western Digital's proggy to work.... Showed no errors

I then tried using MemTest but no luck, with the bootable cd in the drive, the system just keeps rebooting. For some reason, i cant enter the BIOS anymore either.

I think the two things hindering me now are my lack of floppy drive and USB Wireless Keyboard... Ugh....

 

[aphex]

BTW, i do have a USB Floppy drive, but i cant get into the bios to change the boot order.

 

[aphex]

I may have fixed it..... I turned on ACPI Power Mgmt in the Bios and it seems to be pretty stable now... No freezes in 24 hours.