The only way my System won't freeze, is if I lower CPU speed

purple buzz

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3 months back my PC started freezing.. i had to lower CPU speed. a month ago I find out my Video Card is bad (ASUS AH 3650).. i replaced it with a BIOSTAR GeForce 5500... no more freezes and I'm running my CPU at my regular maxxed speed..


1 week later (today) my PC freezes again and back to the same problem. now the only way i can run my PC is just like before... if I lower my CPU say from 2700+ to 1000mhz (133mhz and 7.5x in BIOS)

WHAT CAN I DO? it seems it was my video card but is it??? my old ASUS card wont even run at low CPU settings now.. it freezes either way. did my new card die? is my motherboard screwed up? i posted in so many sections but nobody seems to know what is my problem.


my spec:

ASUSTek Computer INC Mobo (A7N8X Deluxe)
AMD Athlon XP: Thoroughbred, Socket A 2700+
3 gigs of RAM (Corsair 2 sticks regular of 1 each, and the 3rd XML)
BIOSTAR GeForce 5500
PLANET WL-8310 Wireless Card
200G Seagate (Master)
500GB Wester Digitital SATA
LG DVD Writer
Coolmax AP-550X Power Supply
WinFast TV2000 XP Expert WDM TVTuner
 

Upendra09

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just as i thought it seems your PSU is failing.

coolmax isn't really reliable for a brand, it is most likely the PSU not being able to deliver enough power to run at 2.7 ghz

and you don't 550 watts for taht, a 450 watt should be fine look corsair, seasonic, silverstone, OCZ, PC&PC, seasonic, antec

how do u know the old graphics card was bad? and why did u buy a similar graphics card? should have gotten something better
 

someguy7

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It may likely be the psu as stated but check all of your temperatures before you go out and buy any parts. You may just be overheating. Especially on a cpu that old. Dust/bad case air flow...

Also Upendra09 his model number is 2700+ Its default clock speed is not 2.7ghz. It is low in the low 2ghz range. 2-2.2ghz. The fastest athlon xp was somewhere in the 2.3ghz range I believe. I'm to lazy to actually look it up though.
 

purple buzz

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ok, thanks guys. is there a program that lets me check the temps in my PC parts? ill look in BIOS for vcore but give me some time.. my internet is going down daily as well :(

also, i do have a better video card coming in mail (GeForce 7600 GS) but im afraid to even put that thing in my PC now cuz I'm afraid it will die too. i wanna resolve this issue before anything.

and as far as buying a new computer... I DONT EVEN HAVE A JOB! i gotta worry about my rent and spending my savings on that instead of spending a G on a new PC. thats 2 months of rent man...

p.s. it was a software issue too. i had to replace a different hard drive cuz my old one had XP on it for so many years with so much crap on it, i couldnt even scan with antivirus without it stopping on certain files. so its a hardware issue now....
 

purple buzz

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guys, how are the Rosewill PSUs? will I need single or double +12V

this one I found is single BUT it puts out 41A on it! and GeForce 7600 GS only requires 20A (my PSU is 18A) but it's single +12V, would that be a problem for my video card?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182199&cm_re=power_supply-_-17-182-199-_-Product

this one is double but it's 18A http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182031&cm_re=power_supply-_-17-182-031-_-Product

im kinda afraid to buy anything under 20A on +12V rails...

p.s. my 2700+ speed is actually 2.17ghz :)
 

purple buzz

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straight from the BIOS while running at 166mhz 13.0x (Auto) @ 2700+


System Performance - Optimal
CPU Vcore - Auto (says 1.650v in grey)
DDR Reference Voltage - 2.6v
AGP VDDQ Voltage - 1.5v
FSB Spread Spectrum - Disalbed
AGP Spread Spectrum - Disalbed


CPU Temps:

MB Temperature - 35 C/ 95 F
CPU Temperature - 50 C/ 122 F
VCORE Voltage - 1.68v
+3.3 Voltage - 3.32v
+5 Voltage - 4.91v
+12 Voltage - 12.48v

CPU Fan Speed - 2721 RPM
CHASSIS Fan Speed - 2537 RPM
POWER Fan Speed - 2020 RPM
 


For old cpu, the specs look fine and those idle temps look fine (there lower than my cpu and it's only 5 or 6 years old), So i'll have to agree with the psu will be the problem.

For a new PSU i would get an antec earth watt 500.
http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=NjU=
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007&cm_re=PSU-_-17-371-007-_-Product

As for the dual and single 12V rails, This may help clear things up.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3990

 
core temp will not work with the althon XP and im not sure if real temp can read a cpu that is that old either.

EDIT:

From what i seening, real temp cant use the heat sensor on AMD cpus.

The only thing i can say that may work is Speedfan. although it may get confusing due to speed fan will not show directly what senor is the cpu. (issue is with Athlon xp and Intel P4 and before.)
 

purple buzz

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neither worked

Core Temp didnt display anything and Realtemp said the processor 2700+ is not supported... restarting windows to lower my CPU speed back to 1000mhz
 

purple buzz

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SpeedFan said I get 11.80V on +12V rails. is that good/bad? there was some other info but I forgot cuz I ran it a few days ago. But if you want me to run it again let me know ill restart my pc and reboot it with 2700+ speed for it.