Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (
More info?)
"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
news:nospam-0205050934530001@192.168.1.178...
> In article <7uadnS9gZ5a3i-jfRVn-jQ@giganews.com>, "Jess Fertudei"
> <not@this.juncture.com> wrote:
>
> > Asus A7V600-X Sempron 2400 333, 256M PC2700
> >
> > Built this several weeks ago with same Graphics card and Win98SE drive
that
> > came out of son's old machine after doing a 'remove' of everything from
> > Device Mgr in Safe Mode before pulling from old machine. Installation
went
> > well and has run well for weeks but today his kid's game started giving
blue
> > screen VxD error and stack dump screens that have (with the exception of
> > once) allowed him to continue after pressing any key (restarted anyway).
> >
> > Asus Probe shows CPU temp to be at about 47C and MB to be at about 33C.
Is
> > this too hot?
> >
> > He had a few total freeze issues before, but the graphical accelerator
> > reduction trick worked fine until now (and he's used it a fair amount
since
> > then). Might it be a Win98 issue or hardware?
> >
> > Thanks for any thoughts.
>
> There are a few things you can try, to isolate the problem.
>
> When the computer goes to the blue screen, write down the
> error numbers and the name of any software module involved
> with the error. You can either search for the error number,
> driver name, or error message, on groups.google.ca or at the
> Microsoft Knowledgebase. That may identify a particular piece
> of hardware (if it is always the video card driver), or will
> indicate memory, if the error message is always in different
> pieces of software.
>
> The first test to run on a new computer, is a memory test.
> The memtest86+ program is free, and is available at memtest.org .
> Execute the program while in Windows, and the program will
> format a blank floppy for you, with the test code on it. When
> you boot a computer from that floppy, memtest runs standalone.
> Run it for two or three passes - to be acceptable, the memory
> must be error free. If errors are being printed on the screen,
> you either need to slack off the memory timing numbers, reduce
> memory clock speed, increase Vdimm voltage from 2.5V to 2.7V
> (if that adjustment is available).
>
> Passing this test, means there are no obvious faults with the
> memory. Memtest also tests the processor and power supply, to
> some extent, so it can also indicate that other parts of the
> system are reasonably healthy.
>
> The second free test to run, is Prime95 from mersenne.org .
> That program has an option called the "torture test". The
> "torture test" runs a known calculation at 100% processor load,
> and is a good test for the processor, memory, and the
> Northbridge. It is still possible for memory related problems
> to show up at this stage, so if you see error messages in
> four hours of testing, then the processor, memory, Northbridge
> or even the power supply could be at fault. When properly
> adjusted, the program should not show any error messages.
>
> When running Prime95, you can make good use of Asus Probe
> at the same time. Just before starting the "torture test",
> fire up Asus Probe and check the voltages on the power
> supply. Start the "torture test", and note whether any
> of the voltages is dropping more than 5% below nominal.
> For example, the +12V should not drop below 11.4, the +5V
> should not drop below 4.75V, and so on. It could be that
> the power supply from the old system is not strong enough
> to run the new computer (I like to see a 25 amps rating
> for +5V on the power supply label, for computers that use
> +5V to power the processor - seeing which rail of the
> power supply droops in Asus Probe, will give you a good
> idea of where the processor power comes from).
>
> For telling you stuff about video, I like Powerstrip from
> entechtaiwan.com . When you install this program, and use
> the Options menu item from the task bar popup, it will tell
> you whether AGP texture transfer is enabled, fast writes
> are turned on and so on.
>
> For video testing, I like to use 3DMark2001SE. It has a
> demo mode, that runs the same 3D demo code in a loop. You
> can leave it running over night, as a test of the video
> card and the AGP slot. If the test freezes rather quickly,
> if could be that you need to drop the AGP transfer rate
> ("AGP Capability Setting") or turn off AGP Fast Write.
> The only disadvantage of test codes like this, is the
> rather large download size. For that reason, if any of your
> son's games have a 3D demo mode loop you can run, you can
> use that for testing instead.
>
>
http://www.futuremark.com/download/?3dmark2001.shtml
>
> Turning down video acceleration is admitting defeat,
> and simply hides whatever problems are there (many modern
> games won't work properly unless the video card is working
> 100%). You want to fix these problems, either by returning
> merchandise while in the first 7 to 30 days, or using a
> warranty if past that period. Some of my adjustment
> suggestions above, are to help identify which component
> is defective - the extent to which the adjustment reduces
> the computer's performance, will help you decide whether
> you can live with the adjustment, or really need to return
> some hardware. Turning off some hardware features can make
> the computer pretty useless.
>
> If you get some more symptoms from using these
> tests, post back with your results.
>
Thanks. Lots to think about in these replies. The only thing held over from
the old machine is the drive (which passes the Maxtor tests I downloaded,
(BTW) and the video card, so if it's not over heated I guess I need to look
at the video card next. But Windows may well have issues as well...
Thanks again!
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