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Problem with a celeron system, help!

SparkyJJO

SparkyJJO

Lifer
*EDITED AND UPDATED*

Specs first:

Syntax S651M(A) mATX mobo
Celeron 2.5GHz CPU
384MB PC2100
integrated SiS graphics (steals 16MB of RAM)
8GB WD HD
generic PSU

I have used the ultimate boot cd and run prime for 18+ hours, memtest86 for 12 passes, changed PSUs and HDs, rebuilt the thing, reinstalled windows, and I still have system freezes.

I need more ideas! What could the problem be??
 
Nope no OC, I already ran SP2004 which is prime95 with a different face to it. No errors, max CPU temps are 48-49*C according to software.
 
Did you let it run for a couple days to simulate the f@h? I saw you checked your rails, but your symptoms still sound like psu issues to me. I think you should start swapping parts beginning with the power supply.
 
Well I'm going home for the weekend so when I do I'll pick up my spare PSU and see if that changes anything.

Aha, I got back from my test and found the system had restarted and says it has recovered from a serious error. Maybe there will be an error in the logs and I'll be able to decifer it!
 
Hmm. I had the same symptoms, and it turned out to be the memory. Does your Syntax board have a decent BIOS? If so, try manually relaxing your memory timings and see if that helps. If not, try updating the BIOS to see if it will allow you to do that.

Of course, in my case I had just replaced my old DIMMs with new ones, so that was an obvious clue. If your system was doing fine, then spontaneously started having the problem without any hardware changes, it makes me wonder. Also, if Memtest passed...

I just can't think of what else it might be. Of course the PSU is an option. Can you still get that Ultra 400W free from Fry's after rebate? If so, go ahead and try replacing it.

But I'm betting on the memory.
 
Decent? Well, it is a pretty basic Award BIOS. I don't think there is much control for the RAM. There is almost nothing for the CPU. I don't know much about ram timings, even after fiddling with them I can't seem to figure out what does what - other things I can do fine but ram timings make me 😕 I just know that lower numbers means tighter timings meaning usually better 😛

The system was only up and running 2 days before it acted up. It got really really bad one day but now it has settled down to 1 crash per day. I suppose it is possible that ram being memtest stable could still have trouble...

I wonder about the PSU too, because there was a brief power drop the day it acted up. I had no lights on to tell but I heard my UPS on my main system click a few times switching from outlet to battery and back again. Really quick, and the other 2 systems that were not on battery kept running fine. However after that this celeron system froze and has been acting up since.

There is no Fry's around here 🙁 I do have a spare PSU at home, I'm gonna try that after this weekend.
 
If running WINXP go into My Computer Properties(right click on My Computer and select properties). From there go to the Advanced tab and then go to settings under Startup and Recovery. From there make sure "Automatically Restart" is unchecked under System Failure. Let me know how this works out for you.
 
Originally posted by: ColemontHD
If running WINXP go into My Computer Properties(right click on My Computer and select properties). From there go to the Advanced tab and then go to settings under Startup and Recovery. From there make sure "Automatically Restart" is unchecked under System Failure. Let me know how this works out for you.
Click to expand...

Step ahead of you, done that already 😉 No blue screen, no nothing. All it does is just screen suddenly goes black, num lock LED turns off, and that's it. Have to hard reboot (Ctrl+Alt+Delete doesn't work) to start it back up. A couple times when it did that the HD light and floppy light got stuck on, like what sometimes happens when you hold the reset button. Only thing is there IS no reset button in the case so that can't be it.
 
OK update....

Changed the PSU. Ran fine for about 36 hours and locked up again. Apparently it isn't the PSU but what else could it be then? This time though it did lock up without blanking the screen and killing the keyboard num lock.
 
Check my OP, I have done everything I can think of and this thing still is freezing up on me! More help needed, I'm at my wit's end
 
Well you've eliminated everything except the motherboard and cpu, and there's not much sense in replacing those. Sounds like the old ah heck has bit the dust.
 
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