System freeze

[Nor]

Hello to all, upon reading the other threads it seems this forum is good for advice and help. I therefore request the help of such knowledgable people!

My system is as follows

Asus a7n8x delux mainboard
Athlon 2600+ CPU
Gainward Geforce4TI4200 64MB
80GIG WD Caviar
Enermax 450W PSU
512MB pc2700 333mhz DDR RAM
Pioneer Slot DVD
PlexWriter CD-RW
Plex DVD-RW
Soundblaster Audigy2 Platinum
ThermalTake Aquarius2 Water Cooling System
Lian-Li PC 65 Case (all fans enabled)
Solwise sar715 router
WINDOWS 2000 Pro Service Pack 4


I have a problem with a system freeze. I boot up, everything loads up then after a wee while the system locks. I cant move the mouse or use the keyboard. There is a slight dip in PSU speed, but i can still open and close all cd drives. The system temps are fine (CPU idles at about 30 degrees and mainboard at 26)

To combat the problem i have tried the following. None of these have worked.

Graphics card swapped with another.
Hard disk utilities say hard disk is fine no errors.
Updated all system drivers including gfx, sound, and mainboard.
Disconnecting the router and cables.
I also stripped the pc down cleaned everything out, removed the water block from the cpu, removed old thermal paste and applied new. Still the problem remains.

I have altered nothing in the bios and have had ZERO

 

[Nor]

CONTINUED...

have had zero system crashes in about 8 months until now.

I have also noticed that if i restart the pc after its frozen, it will freeze even quicker again.

In addition to this i have noticed that if i shut down the system before it freezes it sometimes does not fully shut down.

Please assist in any way you can, any help would be appreciated.

many thanks

Scott Green

 

[Nor]

also in addition to this the system locks instantly if i start a 3d game of any kind such as grand prix or quake3

 

[muckshifter]

Hello Nor, welcome to PCR

... all fans enabled

... are these fans connected to the MB? If so, take them off, you really only need maybe one.

This one isn't going to be easy ... general causes of 'freezing' are CPU, memory problems, however, a drop in voltage will have the same effect and you have a lot of 'power' being consumed even for a 450 PSU. Have a look at the +3.3v & +5v rail combination on the PSU, what does it add up to ... you need a good 230watts there, if it on or below that figure try another PSU with a better 3.3/5v rail rating.

... the system you have is ideal for XP, any reason for not using XP?

 

[Nor]

The fans all keep the gfx card nice and cool really, its overclocked a huge amount so it gets hot. There are only 2 'fans' connected to my mobo, the first being the 12v pump and the second being the radiator fan connected to a chassis fan slot on the board. All other case fans are wired into the psu. As for the power consumption, the pc has been fine for 7/8 months and no components have been changed or had more added so i dont think its that.

As for not using xp, i dunno, i quite like win2k, never tried xp.

Im gonna check the rail combo on the cpu just now, ive also been advised i may need to reset the cmos to see if there has been any cpu damage at some point. I doubt this is the case but it still needs to be eliminated.

I think its possibly gonna end up being one of 2 things. A memory problem ( board was very fussy about accepting ram on build, took 3 diff deliveries of kingmax before i got one that worked) or a problem with the system board. 28/29 degrees is quite hot for a mobo isnt it?

nevertheless i have most of today to sort this problem so i will keep u posted.

many thanks

off to try ur advice now

 

[Nor]

rail combo on psu i meant

 

[Nor]

Just had a look at a few things and think i have found something interesting.

It says in the handbook for my psu (enermax eg465p-ve) on the dc output load current range table that the max output combined on +5v and +3.3v shall not exceed 200w. This is lower than what u recommended but would this not have shown its face a long time ago? i have had NO problems with the pc for 8 months.

had a flick thru the book and also found the the psu has and i quote:

the power su pply provide latch mode for over voltage protection defined as below:
dc output on +5vDC min:5.6 max:6.9
dc output on +3.3VDC min 3.65 max:4.5

i then had a peak in my bios to see what was at what and below are what it SAYS.

VCore Voltage 1.68V
+3v is at 3.40V
+5V is at 4.94V
+12v is at 12.28V

is this ringing alarm bells with you?

to me this means the cpu is buggered cos if it was a problem with the psu it would have shown face before 8 months down the line

let me know what u think

 

[Nor]

ahh this is so frustrating!

 

[Nor]

oh and just to show off a bit here is my pc

www.scott-green.com/watercooled

 

[Nor]

nobody able to help?