Why does my new computer crash? I'm here to learn.

[schmiddr2]

I recently built a new computer and I am using Windows XP SP3.

Here is the list of components:
Intel i3-2100 w/OEM heatsink and fan
MSI PH67S-C43
PNY Optima 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1333MHz
Western Digital SATA 6gb 500gb
Asus DVD re-writable drive
Corsair CX500
Radeon HD 6770 1gb DDR5

Now the issue. Was getting blue screens and now it just shuts down and reboots at random times. I can play video games and it has not crashed during those at all, but it will crash when doing defrag, using mozilla, right after boot up, and sometimes just sitting there.

Any ideas? I can follow directions if you have advice for checking components. I ran memtest86 and each DIMM checks fine after 18 passes.

I have also tried using Windows 7 64 bit and it gave me BSODs even faster than with XP.

 

[schmiddr2]

I had this same issue with an Radeon HD 5670, which maxes out around 60W.

The calculator says I can get by on 244W with the HD 6770.

 

[casualbuilder]

I have checked the CPU temp on reboot (in bios) and it stays under 50c; is that ok? I am using AS 5. The chip was clean and I don't know what you mean by adhesive but as far as I know it doesn't have any on it.

What is the "mobos Intel H67 cooler"?

BIOS temps are always hotter than idle temps in Windows. However, LOAD temps are usually a little higher than BIOS temps. If your system runs better on 1.14v, then that is a good place to start for stability. If you OC'd your chip, which any chip can be OC'd, you may have to increase your cpu's voltage to stabilize it. Just because it isn't a "k" series doesnt mean it cant be OC'd. Keep your temps low, and watch how much voltage you are giving it. Voltage will instantly fry a chip, and possibly other components.

 

[casualbuilder]

Your PSU is more than adequate btw...isnt that i3 2100 a 65W chip?

 

[schmiddr2]

The only change I have made in the bios is the CPU voltage. 1.136V to 1.140V .

Your PSU is more than adequate btw...isnt that i3 2100 a 65W chip?

I figured it was enough. And part of the reason I chose the chip was because it's 65W.

 

[JonnyDough]

Its actually more important to have enough amperage on the rails than to have "X watts". I could go into more detail, but there's enough info online. Google it.

schmiddr2, as far as what I was talking about with the H67 cooler:

On your motherboard there are processing chips that control things. One of these is underneath that silvery/gray block which resides at the corner of your PCI-E x16 slot and your RAM slots. It has a blue thing across it and says "MSI". Kind of hard to miss.

Anyway, stick a little fan blowing across that, and reset your bios to default already.

 

[Raiddinn]

The manufacturers suggest a certain wattage of PSU for a reason, because they think your PC will work best if that is what you use with it.

They aren't in league with PSU manufacturers to upsell products.

The calculator is really good, but it isn't perfect. For instance, it doesn't have my processor listed at all (AMD Phenom 2 x4 840).

A lot of the killer is the capacitor aging drop down box, if you ignore that you will get wattage requirements way below what you get if you use it. Your 244 quote makes it sound like you set aging to 0 which is pretty unsafe unless you only want to keep your PSU around for a year or less before buying a new one.

Put even a reasonable amount of aging on there like 25% and it will show much higher numbers for required wattage, a lot closer to the manufacturer's recommended numbers.

 

[schmiddr2]

I think I made a mistake explaining the CPU voltage change. Dang.

What I changed it from is Auto. And when set to auto the voltage varies. It can be at 1.1V or 1.136V or whatever, but it always crashes when set at auto. Why does this happen and what should the Voltage be set to?

 

[schmiddr2]

So received the new memory in the mail today. I decided to install Windows 7 64 since I know this memory is compatible. I set the CPU to 1.14V and set memory voltage to 1.492V and set the timing to 9-9-9-24.

I have not had any hickups or crashes.

 

[casualbuilder]

Set it to 1.14v. this should be good, and not too much.

 

[JonnyDough]

If your system is crashing when your voltage is on "auto" you either have a bad bios, bad motherboard, or bad CPU. Unless of course, you messed with other settings. I had suggested clearing your CMOS...

 

[schmiddr2]

Thanks casualbuilder for giving me some confidence in the setting at 1.14V. It runs great at the settings mentioned in my last post. No issues so far.

JonnyDough
I updated the bios; it was very easy.

I tend to agree with you that something is wrong if the computer will not run on AUTO. But I'm not sure how to figure this out. And I never messed with any other settings

I will try clearing the CMOS.

 

[JonnyDough]

Let us know if it works!

 

[schmiddr2]

I cleared the CMOS, it still crashed on AUTO. So I still don't know why it does this, but it's been a year and a half still going strong using the manual voltage setting. Just wanted to let people know that in my case, the manual settings work fine long term and temps are normal on stock CPU heatsink.

I use this website so much for research that I felt I should reply and choose "best answer".

Thank all.