Computer shuts down

[justin2204]

Hi all,

My computer shuts down when I'm using bios default settings. Sometimes it runs for about 20 minutes but Windows gives all sort of errors like random processes (like svchost and explorer) stop working and blue screens. When I set the "external frequency" to 100 mhz instead of 166 (bios default) it runs fine. The processor now runs at 1300 mhz stable. I have no idea how to fix this and I believe it should run fine with bios default settings which is at 166 mhz. I've never heard of an Athlon XP running at 1300 mhz anyway, it should be able to run faster.

Applying new thermal paste and another cpu fan didn't solve the issue, using different DDR ram didn't either. When the computer shuts down the power led stays on and I have to hold down the power button to shut it down and then turn it back on. I notice the CPU gets 60 degrees celcius when it shuts down most of the time although 60 degrees isn't really hot enough for it to shut down right?

The computer:

Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
AMD Athlon XP 3000 (POST tells me when I leave bios at default settings)
Nvidia Geforce 3 ti 200
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS
512 MB Ram
Dualboot Windows 98 SE and Windows 2000 SP4

Really looking forward to suggestions/help

-Justin

 

[doomraider]

Dude im not an expert at this but some advice ..is this a laptop or an desktop .. sometimes your ram frequency can slow down windows and make it shut down windows my desktop did this when i used ram frequency that wasn't supported by the motherboard .. take a look into that

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Sounds like it's the RAM causing it. Is the RAM at least PC2700 (DDR333)? If it's lower than DDR333, it could definitely cause problems, since that's a 333Mhz (166Mhz FSB) CPU.

 

[doomraider]

I needed to buy a new motherboard to support my ram because I had expensive Ram ..u could be lucky and get the right frequency ram for cheap

 

[smorizio]

http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/crucial-memory-t2028527.htm
most mb look for a 100 muiltplier for the cpu and a speed of 33 for the pci bus. without changing some settings in the bios that i listed in that link. your driving the cpu and pci bridge out of is spec time.

 

[justin2204]

Thanks for the fast replies!

My RAM is Kingston KVR400X64C3A/512 which is accordingly to this sheet http://www.valueram.com/datasheets/kvr400x64c3a_512.pdf (PDF!!) DDR400 so it isn't the RAM apparantly. Maybe the processor is damaged and it can't run at it's default speed? This is so frustrating I've never seen this problem before. BTW the pc has been on @ 1300 mhz for 3 hours now without a single error/bsod/powerdown.

Looking forward to more replies,

Justin

 

[smorizio]

try runing cpu-z and see what it reads for the cpu and mb and the bus speed.save the image and posted using photobucket or other photo sharing sites.

 

[justin2204]

Hi,

Here are some CPU-Z screenshots. I'm now running @ 133 external frequency not 100.

[img=http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/1292/mainboarde.th.png]
[img=http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/7269/memoryg.th.png]
[img=http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/6735/spdl.th.png]
[img=http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/5162/cpuow.th.png]

 

[justin2204]

Bump