plz help, computer emergency **update

[PCNoob101]

I have a8n-sli and 2 crucialx 512 sticks of memory. Lately my computer has been freezing many times a day and when its not frozen it goes very slow almost to a crawl. I can never restart through windows XP so I press the restart button. When I do this,,,I get the black screen and the computer has long beeps with a few seconds in between each beep.

I opened it up to see if anything was suspicious. When I touched the memory sticks (because I read this might mean they are loose) they were secure but extremely hot. They have this copper colored metal piece around them and it was surprisingly hot.

Anyone have any ideas what is wrong with my PC?

ASUS A8N-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
eVGA 256-P2-N369 Geforce 6600 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI-Express x16 Video Card
Antec TRUE480 ATX 480W Power Supply 115/230 V
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Winchester 1GHz FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor
crucial 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory

(i think thats everything thats important)

 

[JohnAn2112]

Try 1 stick of memory at a time to see if that helps. Also, run memtest86 on your memory.

What settings do you have for your CPU and memory in the BIOS?

 

[SlitheryDee]

Are you overclocking and/or overvolting your memory?

Did you check your cpu hsf for dust buildup? This can cause high cpu temps and hence system instability.

 

[PCNoob101]

For CPU I have Hyper Transport Freq set to Auto. For memory all settings are set to Auto except for Master ECC Enable, which is disabled. (If those were the settings you meant. Is memtest86 straightforward to run. Ill try to google for it. Thanks for helping me.

 

[PCNoob101]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
Are you overclocking and/or overvolting your memory?

Did you check your cpu hsf for dust buildup? This can cause high cpu temps and hence system instability.

What do you mean by hsf? The computer is only about 2 months old. Not much dust in there at all.

I am not overclocking or anything.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Originally posted by: PCNoob101

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
Are you overclocking and/or overvolting your memory?

Did you check your cpu hsf for dust buildup? This can cause high cpu temps and hence system instability.

What do you mean by hsf? The computer is only about 2 months old. Not much dust in there at all.

I am not overclocking or anything.

HeatSink and Fan. AKA the thingy that sits on top of your processor.

Yeah your computer isn't really old enough to have significant dust buildup.

Memtest86 will help ascertain if your memory is in-fact causing the instability, but you'll need to put it on a floppy disk or bootable cd to run it.

 

[PCNoob101]

I really appreciate the help guys. I will run the memtest.

 

[PCNoob101]

Also, I dont know if this is related, but there is a little tiny fan below where the cpu goes (looking inside the computer when it is standing). It is down and to the right. It looks like there is a wire coming out of it and going into the MB right next to it. This little tiny fan has lately been the loudest fan on my computer. It makes a whooooshing sound like it is huffing and puffing. It is really loud for such a tiny fan. It doesnt always make this sound but a lot of the time it does. When this fan isnt acting up, my computer is virtually silent.

 

[PCNoob101]

Memtest running and so far its on test 4 and already has 24 errors. I will see if I can post a report when its finished. Altough I know nothing about this, it cannot be good!

 

[PCNoob101]

Ok through first pass and already 185 errors and counting. Something is messed up. I need help badly. What is my next step?? Pllease help me.

 

[SlitheryDee]

The little fan is most likely the chipset fan. An overheating chipset will DEFINITELY cause instability. I'd suggest replacing the fan if it's making strange noises. It's very easy to do and you can usually find suitable replacements from online retailers or local computer stores.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Originally posted by: PCNoob101
Ok through first pass and already 185 errors and counting. Something is messed up. I need help badly. What is my next step?? Pllease help me.

do as OCZ John suggested and test each stick separately, but if your northbridge is overheating it can cause memtest to error as well.

If you can, you should test your memory in another system and see if you still get the instability problems.

 

[PCNoob101]

white im running the test, the chipset fan is running quietly, but its up to 200 errors. im guessing i shouldnt bother letting it continue. what should my next step be? i think ill try swappping around the memory sticks while im at it.

 

[PCNoob101]

ok one stick already has 30 errors before first pass so i guess i shouldnt bother letting it run any longer

 

[PCNoob101]

omg just tried to replace first stick to test second one and I pretty much burnt my finger....ram should definitely not be getting this hot, im afraid other things might be getting too hot as well and it will start frying my whole system.

 

[Ike0069]

Yea, test the other stick now.

 

[PCNoob101]

ok test is running for second stick, but already 1 error within first 12 seconds

 

[Ike0069]

Can you try a stick of RAM from the system you're typing on now?

 

[PCNoob101]

The system I am typing from now uses sdram pc 2100. Would that be compatible with the other system?

The otehr stick had just as many errors and was just as hot once I touched it.

 

[Ike0069]

It will work fine, just run slower. Run 1 stick and if it has errors, then it's something on the MB.

 

[PCNoob101]

Ok I appreciate your help. I will update here once I try that.

 

[Ike0069]

it might be a good idea to put the 3200 RAM in the working computer and run memtest on it there. That would be a bette way to tell if the stick is really bad.

 

[PCNoob101]

Ok, I ran the test on this computer, which is about 3 yrs old. I tested the sticks individually and there were no errors! I only went through the test once. Getting zero errors compared to around 100 on the other PC, I didnt see a need of continuing.

Now that I think its clear that the sticks are not bad. What should be my next course of action to remedy this major problem? Does this lead to one conclusion that the motherboard is bad?? What should I do?

Thanks

 

[Ike0069]

If you get errors on Memtest, but the sticks are actually good, I don't think you have any choice but to RMA the MB. There is defintely something wrong with it.

 

[PCNoob101]

Ok, this may sound a bit newbish,,,but I got it from newegg about 2 months ago. Should I still be able to do it thruogh them,,or is my only option through the manufacturer Asus?

Again thanks for your help