Athlon xp 2800+ problem

[oolceeoo]

I have a friend who has a athlon xp 2800+. He has problems with his pc restarting or shutting down when he plays games or tries to defrag his hdd or run ad-aware.

His cpu was running @ 70-75C in BIOS, so checked the heatsink and i put some artic silver thermal paste on his cpu and the temp dropped to 45-50C at idle.

He is using the stock Athlon heatsink, but he still gets restarts or shutdowns. He can't defrag or it will restart, which could point to a hdd problem, or that it could be overheating. But he has run chkdisk and used a western digital diagnostic tool that passed on all tests. He just ordered a 450W Thermaltake PSU so I don't think power is the problem. He has 4 case fans. He doesn't hear any clicking or whinning noise when his hdd is accessed. I'm not sure if this could be a heat issue with the CPU or HDD or it could be the HDD and it needs to be replaced. Sorry if this is the wrong forum for this post but I'm not sure which one it could be. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

P4C 3.0ghz
Asus P4C800E-D
GeForceFX 5900 Ultra 256MB
2x512 MB corsair dual channel pc3200
200GB WDJB HDD
Nothing OC'd

 

[TheRod]

If he have a crappy/cheap PSU, it might be the problem. And since is CPU temp. is back to narmal, you might try to push the vCore a bit (about 1.7V) and sees if this improve the stability.

By the way, what MB does he use?

You can also underclock is CPU (lower the FSB), to see if this help... Just a couple of ideas...

--
It's tricky to use words like <b><font color=green>AMD</font color=green></b> or <b><font color=blue>Intel</font color=blue></b> in a signature some users could think your are biased.

 

[oolceeoo]

he has an asus x series a7v600-x. I meant to say he already has the new 450W PSU installed. His voltages are normal. His temps are 45-50C. He just gets random restarts. I think it could be the hard drive because it is 2+ years old from an old computer he had, also because it restarts if he tries to defrag it.

P4C 3.0ghz
Asus P4C800E-D
GeForceFX 5900 Ultra 256MB
2x512 MB corsair dual channel pc3200
200GB WDJB HDD
Nothing OC'd

 

[TheRod]

If the PC fails on DAFRAG, it's probably an HDD issue. Maybe a format would correct the problem???

--
It's tricky to use words like <b><font color=green>AMD</font color=green></b> or <b><font color=blue>Intel</font color=blue></b> in a signature some users could think your are biased.

 

[DonnieDarko]

Failing on defrag can also be a cpu problem. It might restart when the cpu is underload, as it is when defrag runs.

AMD64 2800+
MSI Neo-Fis2r
512mb Kingmax ddr400
Sapphire 9800pro 128mb
10K WD Raptor

 

[oolceeoo]

Now its randomly rebooting. The CPU temp is 45C which isn't too hot. I don't think it should be rebooting when its at 45C. The voltages are normal also. His new PSU is a good one and it supplies more than enough juice for his parts. I think that the HDD is the problem, as it is 2+ years old and may have been damaged somehow. What do you think?

P4C 3.0ghz
Asus P4C800E-D
GeForceFX 5900 Ultra 256MB
2x512 MB corsair dual channel pc3200
200GB WDJB HDD
Nothing OC'd

 

[endyen]

A little more system info would be helpful. Run memtest86, and check the north bridge hs for over heating. It may need thermal paste.
If he has an Ati video card, make sure it has it's own IRQ.
If he is running a soundblaster sound card, pull it, and see if the problem goes away. SB and via have never played well together.
Check in device manager for conflicts, esp with lan.

 

[tastim]

Or possibly save yourself the hastle and buy a $70 hard drive.... or exchange the one you have.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by tastim on 07/10/04 02:02 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[pauldh]

On a new build, bumping up the memory voltage 1 notch can often cure alot of stability issues. His RAM might want more juice. DId he tweak his bios at all, or is he at default/ SPD settings?



ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 1GB Corsair XMS 4000 Pro Series, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

 

[davemar14]

I have an XP 2400+ and had the same problems. The comp would not restart during games, but would restart quite frequently when video editing. I decided to get some Artic Silver and a Thermaltake Silent Boost. My temps really changed. At idle, it used to be around 55 Celsius, now it idles at 40 Celsius. Well, now it's not running at all, cause I changed the FSB to 166, and it corrupted the BIOS, so the board is on RMA. (No I didn't fry the chip, cause I tried a different chp, with the same results.) But it sounds like almost the same problem I was having.

 

[oolceeoo]

He is using the default values for his RAM.

P4C 3.0ghz
Asus P4C800E-D
GeForceFX 5900 Ultra 256MB
2x512 MB corsair dual channel pc3200
200GB WDJB HDD
Nothing OC'd

 

[pauldh]

You might want to relax the timings more, but first I'd try raising that DDR voltage up .1v at a time up to 2.7v max and see if it helps the stability. It's easy to do in most bioses, won't hurt the ram at 2.7v or less, and can make a big difference in stability. Sure there are many other things it could be such as chipset drivers, temperatures, HDD failing, mem timings, etc. But give the DDR voltage a try.


ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 1GB Corsair XMS 4000 Pro Series, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt