System instability due to bad power supply/motherboard ?

[Hawkeye_(BEL)]

Hi,

First the specs of my PC :

• el cheapo higly integrated BX-mobo from Siemens with a proprietary BIOS
• Integrated Ati Rage 4Mb
• Integrated sound
• PII-350
• 64Mb Ram
• Voodoo2-12Mb PCI
• 10Gb HD
• el cheapo 200W PS

For some time now (actually since some months after I bought it), I'm experiencing extremely unstable system operation.

My computer sometimes locks up for no apparent reason, sometimes on the desktop, mostly when playing games. The funny thing is, my computer is still working. When a lockup occurs in a game or on the desktop, I have no input anymore to my system, but MP3's keep playing, and inserting an auto play disc results in a pop up screen of that cd.

I have to shut of my machine in order to get it running again. This happens as well in Linux, Win98 as Beos 4.0. So it isn't the fault of the operating system.

Now, what could be the cause of these lockups ? I don't think heat is an issue, because it even happens when it freezes outside. I've underclocked my V2 to 85Mhz (couldn't go any lower, default is 90Mhz), and my CPU isn't overclocked (due to that crappy BIOS, I can only select 66 or 100Mhz FSB ).

I also don't think it's the memory, because I've let a small program test my memory overnight and it didn't give no errors.

I suspect the motherboard or the power supply. I don't have any other mobo's to test out, and also no power supplies. How can I test both my motherboard and my power supply to see if they are still functionating ?

If I have a faulty motherboard, I'm thinking about replacing it with an Aopen AX64Pro Via Apollo 133A. Any thought on that one ?

I appreciate any input...

 

[frostgiant]

Just connect it to a multimeter and let it run for a while. See if it drops out or anything.

 

[jblondi]

If you read your post im sure you will find your problem. It sounds like you are overloading your system. Win 98 "says" it can multitask but it really cant. Winamp takes a huge chunk of memory, and trying to play a game on top of that is going to hose things. I can only suggest to upgrade the ram, and maybe that will help a "little". The only thing I would do is run one program, like your game, for hours, and if it still is unstable then you have problems. My next guess would be your 4mb vid card. You are probably asking too much from it with winamp, and a game at the same time. Hope this helps.

 

[Hawkeye_(BEL)]

jblondi,

thanks for the input, but you misunderstand i think. I'm not running winamp while playing a game.

Playing Diablo II or QuakeII (not even 3) results in random lockups. Sometimes after 5 minutes, and sometimes after an hour. I use my V2 for gaming BTW. I've never been able to game more than an hour

I disabled everything in msconfig, and the only programs running when starting a game are systray and explorer. Doesn't sound like overloading to me...

I'm going to buy a new motherboard next week, and see how it ends. I'm still puzzled with the reason of this problems though.

 

[The Reaper]

Hawkeye, I'm having the same exact problem to the tee. I'm going to order a Emermax PS from Russ this weekend to see if it's a PS problem.

 

[Hawkeye_(BEL)]

Reaper,

I just received my new motherboard. I'm going to install it tomorrow. I'll let you know what it does to stability.

 

[The Reaper]

Cool Hawkeye, I'll also keep you informed of my progress. Right now I'm limping by, so I'm ordering a new PS today. One thing that helped me was to clean my cpu's pins and socket with LPS.

 

[Hawkeye_(BEL)]

Reaper,

I installed my new mobo. Everything is running great now. I've played QIII for about 1.5 hours, and it didn't crash . I really think this was my, and maybe your problem. Of course, I'm going to test it in this comming weekend. I'll keep you posted !

 

[The Reaper]

New PS is on it's way. Expecting it sometime this week. I'll keep you posted. As for the mobo, I was hoping to get another cpu upgrade for the bx6 r2. I'd hate to get another mobo if I don't need to.