New system problem

[Home Built]

I just built and loaded a new system and I'm having some real stability issues.
Some times it just locks up for no apparent reason and at other times it just reboots on it's own.
I'm not familiar with the Bios on the MB but when I start the machine or it reboots I get 13 POST Codes,
None of the codes seem to affects the reboot or halt the process.

Post Codes are: 3F,51,52,53,5D,5F,65,67,,75,85,8B,8D,95,AND 96.

The System:
Chaintech 7NJL6 w/NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra400+MCPS ATX Motherboard
AMD Athlon XP2700
Pine XFX GeForce FX5200 128MB AGP Video Card
PNY 512K PC3200 Memory
WD 200 Gig w/ 8Mg Buffer
XP Pro / Office XP Pro

Everything is new and the operating systems were fresh installed.
I use this system for word processing and some light gaming so I need it to be very stabile.
I would appreciate any help.
Thank You

 

[amdskip]

What power supply (brand/model) are you using? Have you done all your windows updates and do you have antivirus installed?

 

[Harvey]

First, check to make sure you have the latest BIOS for your motherboard. The note in their info about installing or recovering Win XP may relate to your problem:

Version : 2.0
Date: 2004/08/04
Note :
Feature : 1. Support AMD Sempron CPU 2. Support Win 98SE Notice: The v2.0 BIOS is not consistent with v1.0 BIOS, Update the V2.0 BIOS, need to install or recover OS (Win98, WinME, Win2000, WinXP

If you already have BIOS ver. 2, a few basic possibilities come to mind. It could be your RAM, one or more of your new components or your power supply is inadequate or intermittant. If you bought the whole system from one vendor, they may not charge you to run a diagnostic test on it. If not, you'll have to test all the possiblities, yourself.

To test your RAM, download either MemTest86+ or Docmem. They're both free, but for Docmem, you have register with their site unless you can find an alternative download site.

You didn't give the make, model or specs for your power supply, but testing it is basically a matter of getting ahold of another one and plugging it in. If the problem goes away, you'll know.

Testing plugin cards is another case of plug and try. You should be able to plug in almost any other known good nVidia card without disrupting the way your drivers are setup.

If the problem continues after you've tested everything else, suspect a flakey motherboard. The good news is, everything is new. If something is flakey, somebody owes you a replacement.

 

[Home Built]

It's a brand new Just-4-PC case with a 425 watt power Supply. Since it only reboots when I am running programs could it still be a power supply problem?

The Bios is Ver.2 (08/04/04).

The last time it rebooted on it's own Microsoft Error Reporting directed me to the Invidia web site for a driver update. I installed the driver but am still have the same problems.

 

[AsusGuy]

If you are showing POST codes (power on self test) than you may have a system hardware problem it could be your motherboard or memory or your CPU and PSU you will need to check them all.

 

[mechBgon]

1) cheap PSUs = increased likelihood of instability. Get a good aftermarket one from a trustworthy brand like Fortron, Enermax or Antec.

2) Lock your memory to run at the same speed as your CPU's frontside bus, which means 166MHz in your case.

3) Raise the memory voltage to at least 2.6 volts. PC3200 memory generally is designed for at least 2.6 volts, not 2.5 volts like mobos tend to dole out when they're left on AUTO settings.

4) Not exactly related, but make sure your system's secure. See the Ongoing prevention stuff here. Hitting Windows Update and Office Update is a good start, but there are more things you can do to arm your system against malware. Spend a half-hour and really get it tightened down

 

[Home Built]

I'll have to check into getting a better PSU.

I locked the Memory at 166MHZ in the Bios. It was set at BY SPD (200 MHZ)
There isn't support for changing the voltage of the memory.

I just ran Memtest86 through 1 cycle and it had no errors.

I already have all the updates for both my XP and office XP.

Besides what Microsoft supplies with XP I also use EZ-Armor Security Suite with firewall and antivirus.
I use Ad-Aware SE Personal to keep it clean.

Is there a program to test my XFX Video Card?

 

[mechBgon]

Run Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer and I'll bet a you come up as Severe Risk, unless you're exceptionally insightful on Windows security

Good luck on the issue with the video card, I would get the new PSU before spending too much more time on troubleshooting.

 

[kuljc]

if you got spare parts.. try the switch and test..

take the working part from whatever comp it's in

switch it w/ the one in the new comp

run the comp see if it's stable, and if it is you've got the bad apple.

 

[Home Built]

Ran memtest86: No Errors
Ran 3dmark03: scored 143 not great
Ran pcmark04: scored 2363 not great
Ran Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer: Only things not checked were because my wife and I are both set up as administrators and some shared folders. Not too bad here (even though it froze up on one of the runs).



I'm going to order a new Enermax PSU from Tigerdirect but would appreciate input as to what wattage my system will need. besides what I have listed above, I also have a DVD-Rom and a DVD-Burner. Will a 400 watt be plenty or should I go bigger.

You have all been very helpful and it is greatly appreciated.

 

[mechBgon]

Right on, good to see someone has their security tight You can make it even better by running Limited accounts for daily usage, this kept my mom's WinXP SP2 system out of trouble recently. Despite Norton 2004 with up-to-date definitions, ZoneAlarm Pro and all patches, it was Limited accounts that kept it from being infected, in the end. Eventually Norton's definitions began to recognize the keystroke-logger install file (it failed to install due to the restrictions of a Limited account) and then it did get quarantined.

Tigerdirect has earned a dismal reputation, I would order from someplace else. Enermax 375W with dual 12V rails at someplace else

 

[Home Built]

I have 5 kids (ages10-18) so I currently have 4 systems running out of my Belkin router. I try to keep up security on them all. The new system I'm working the bugs out on is the only one that has my wife added as an administrator. All other accounts are limited. I try to do my best.

The bad rep you spoke of with Tiger Direct. Is it because they get seconds (inferior products) from major manufacturers or just their service? The reason I ask is because all the components for the last 4 systems I built came from them. Maybe the $9.00 Chaintech MB is the root of all my problems?

The Power Supply you gave me the link to is cheaper at Newegg. If I add a bigger Video Card will I need a bigger PSU than the 370watt? That would be about the only thing I would be upgrading on this rig.

 

[mechBgon]

Wow, we're going to have to clone you for your security savviness Ten copies of this model, please!

Tiger Direct earned a bad reputation partly because of a scam where they began charging peoples' credit cards for ...what was it, long-distance calling cards, I think. Their feedback at ResellerRatings included stuff like "THIEVES!!!!" and so on. They will never get a dime of my money after pulling stunts like that So that's my editorial for the day.

The latest video cards, and the motherboards that use ATX12V four-prong square plugs, both are looking for significant power on the 12V line(s) in particular, and that's something Enermax has figured out. So the 370W model there has more 12V amperage than some companies' much-higher-wattage units and that's why I suggested it, in case you ended up with some fire-breathing 6800GT looking for a great deal of 12V power. If you wanted to go up the scale a little, it couldn't hurt. They have a 420W version here for $70.

The motherboard could be the issue. If the memory needs more voltage and cannot be given it, then you're stuck. If you wanted a basic nForce2 board that's proven to be really tractable and reliable, the Shuttle AN35N Ultra gets my vote... lots of them bought, not many complained about. That's the best endorsement of all, in my book I use one at home and my little sister has one too. They do feature memory-voltage adjustment, but no SATA or RAID.

 

[Home Built]

Thanks for the compliment on my security. I really try to keep things up to date.

A $300+ video card isn't in "MY" future. Maybe one of the kids will want to do a video upgrade down the road but what I have now is more than I really need. With building a new system for each of the kids this year I needed quantity more than performance. That's why I was watching Tiger for good deals.

I put a Shuttle AK32VN in my first rig. Nice easy board to set up with no problems.
I also built 2 systems on Soyo K7VME Boards over the summer with no problems.
This Chaintech 7NJL6 system is the first system to give me any problems. I figured it was a $70.00 board with $60.00 in rebates. It's no wonder they were trying to dump them.
I'll look into the AN35N.

Here's a question. I bought three 128 mb AGP video cards.
Pine XFX GeForce5200
Chaintech Geforce FX 5200
PNY GeForce4 MX4000

Which of the 3 cards do you feel is the best one and which is the worst?

 

[mechBgon]

The FX5200's should be the best, partly because they support DirectX 9 features where the GF4MX family supports DX7. Unless one 5200 had more video memory than the other, they ought to perform the same.

 

[Home Built]

Thanks for the Video card info.

In the morning I'm going to switch power supplies from one of my other machines to see if the stability issues follow the power supply. Then I'll try the video cards.

I just noticed something on both my Soyo and Shuttle rigs. When I bring up this website it will log me on and let me browse to through the forums, but it wont open up the individual posts and it also doesn't show any author icons. Is there something I need to download or do to these machines to browse this site?

 

[mechBgon]

That's a new one The Forums should work normally with a stock off-the-shelf Internet Explorer or Firefox installation, other than needing Flash for some of the advertisements.

 

[Home Built]

Ads are showing up normaly but for some reason the icons pages are loading slowly and it opens where normally you would see the author icons, all you get is red squares with x's in them. When you click on a post it opens to a blank page.

Any ideas? Anyone?

Thank You in advance

 

[mechBgon]

Got any parental-control software or any filters on your router, perhaps? Do these open ok in their own web page:

http://forums.anandtech.com/i/authorsicons/cheetah.gif

http://forums.anandtech.com/i/...orsicons/canoworms.gif

and the whole shebang:

http://forums.anandtech.com/vi...p;formname=profileform

 

[Home Built]

The links open fine on the new rig but don't load on the two olders machines. I'm going to try Internet Explorer Repair Tool to see if that helps. I'll let you know.

 

[Home Built]

Update on my original problem:

I swapped in a 400watt PowerUp Power Supply from one of my other machines at 9:00 AM and have run the new computer through many tests and programs all day long (10 HRS). No more freeze ups or shut downs.

I ran 3DMARK03 last night and got a score of 143. I ran PCMark04 and scored 2363. After tweaking some settings in the bios today I reran both programs again. 3DMark03 scored 954 and PCMark04 scored 3079.

I'm not sure if this is an acceptable score but it is a big improvement.

Thanks All

 

[Home Built]

Had to change some settings in my EZ Firewall. Now the forum pages load perfect.
Thanks all for your time advice and patience.

 

[mechBgon]