A7N8X DX freezes

[Steve]

Here are my specs:

Allied 400 WATT PSU
Atlhon XP 2500+
A7N8X Dx Rev 2.0
1 gig Corsair Ram (2x512)
2 SATA WD Raptor drives RAID 0
128 MB 8500 LE ATI Radeon
Win Xp Pro

BIOS 1007

Absolutely nothing has changed in the last 9 months I built my computer but
since around Christmas time my computer started freezing up every now and
then and nothing funky shows up in the event log. Sometimes it won't happen
for days but when it does happen it will require a hard reboot. It will
freeze a couple more times shortly after I log in (it can sit for hours at
the log on screen) but after the 3rd or 4th reboot it will typically cure
itself. I tried everything, swapping out RAM, putting in my old Duron 800
CPU, put in my old PCI Voodoo video card. I got so fed up with it last month
I figured it had to be something software wise and I did a clean install of
XP. I Still have the same problem. I even bought a IDE HDD and installed XP
on that thinking maybe it was my SATA drives... sure enough same porblem.

Anyone else have this problem? How did you solve it. What other info do you
need from me to help troubleshoot this???? I am at my wits end here and I am
ready to take a sledge hammer to my machine pretty soon!!!

Thanks in advance for any info/help

 

[KB]

A decent PSU to start with as "El Cheapo"ones can cause problems even though
400W or so...........
I had a no known name one, changed it for an Antec and all my probs went
away.
Just because a psu may be 400 w does not mean it can cope.
Try that first, different ram if you can second.

 

[Steve]

I bought the Allied because it was supposed to be a quality brand. If I
remember right.. it even had the AA (AMD Assured) stamp on the box.

I already tried new RAM but I'll give a go with swapping out my PSU. I'll
chew someone's a$$ off at the place where I got my PSU if that fixes my
problem,

 

[AJ]

Here are my specs:

Allied 400 WATT PSU
Atlhon XP 2500+
A7N8X Dx Rev 2.0
1 gig Corsair Ram (2x512)
2 SATA WD Raptor drives RAID 0
128 MB 8500 LE ATI Radeon
Win Xp Pro

BIOS 1007

Absolutely nothing has changed in the last 9 months I built my computer but
since around Christmas time my computer started freezing up every now and
then and nothing funky shows up in the event log. Sometimes it won't happen
for days but when it does happen it will require a hard reboot. It will
freeze a couple more times shortly after I log in (it can sit for hours at
the log on screen) but after the 3rd or 4th reboot it will typically cure
itself. I tried everything, swapping out RAM, putting in my old Duron 800
CPU, put in my old PCI Voodoo video card. I got so fed up with it last month
I figured it had to be something software wise and I did a clean install of
XP. I Still have the same problem. I even bought a IDE HDD and installed XP
on that thinking maybe it was my SATA drives... sure enough same porblem.

Anyone else have this problem? How did you solve it. What other info do you
need from me to help troubleshoot this???? I am at my wits end here and I am
ready to take a sledge hammer to my machine pretty soon!!!

Thanks in advance for any info/help

I just had that on that board and thought I would go nuts. Kept
cleaning the inside of the case and removing software. Turned out the
fan locked up on the video card. Put another fan on and that fixed it
right away.
Since you swapped video cards it seems the only thing you didn't do is
try another PSU. At the very least I would look at voltages and maybe
even log them. I believe the 5v is the one that can really cause
trouble.
Also might want to run Memtest overnight in DOS or remove one stick
of RAM at a time.

 

[DaveW]

You might want to try installing a high quality power supply next.

 

[Steve]

I said it in an earlier reply... Allied is on the AMD Approved list. I paid
over $50 for it so I did not skimp when it came to my PSU. I am going to buy
an Antec PSU next. I hope that it cures everything but the way my luck is
going I doubt it.

 

[dave AKA vwdoc1]

Does Best Buy have the Antec 350 PS on sale with a rebate this week?
Did you just try 1 of the ram modules? Then try the other, possibly in
different slots if doable?

You should be able to try another PS to test DaveW's theory. ;-)
Did you do anything with the BIOS lately?

Just throwing out some ideas! Good luck!
later,
dave

 

[Ulf]

It is probably NOT the PSU.
To me, it sounds as a memory fault. But can you be more specific on exactly
when the fault occurs, i.e. when gaming ow working with office or when idle?

I would go for the following approach to isolate the fault.

Do a clean install of the OS with only the MB, CPU, Graphic card and one
memory module. Install only the program you need most. Run this for a couple
of days. If the problem still remains.
Can you load a motherboard monitor to check the health of your PC?

But don't run out and buy a new power supply.

 

[Steve]

It is probably NOT the PSU.
To me, it sounds as a memory fault. But can you be more specific on exactly
when the fault occurs, i.e. when gaming ow working with office or when idle?

I would go for the following approach to isolate the fault.

Do a clean install of the OS with only the MB, CPU, Graphic card and one
memory module. Install only the program you need most. Run this for a couple
of days. If the problem still remains.
Can you load a motherboard monitor to check the health of your PC?

But don't run out and buy a new power supply.

There seams to be no rhyme or reason when it locks up. One way I can get it
to lock up for sure is if I do an online virus scan from Trend House call.
This will happen on my serial ATA RAID install or my IDE install. I know I
don't have an infection since the first thing I did after a clean install of
windows was try to the online scan. I thought then it was maybe my on board
NICs (tried them both) so I disabled both of them and tried a USB nic and a
PCI nic. Same deal. I ran memtest all night and everything passed with
flying colors. I have an extra HDD that I am going to install Windows 2000
on and check to see if maybe it's something with XP that I am not
configuring right but what can go wrong with a clean install that goes
through without a hitch? I really am at the end of my line. I really loved
this setup when I first got it... now I am dreading it. This is about the
100th machine I have built and I never had problems like this not even with
my Abit KT7A RAID board which is one of the most difficult boards out there.

 

[Ulf]

It really seems strange.
Did you do anything to the hardware just prior to the start of these
problems? Anything that can have triggered this behaviour?
Are you overclocking your system?
Can you get the system to lock up if you don't have any NIC
enabled/installed at all?

 

[Steve]

It really seems strange.
Did you do anything to the hardware just prior to the start of these
problems? Anything that can have triggered this behaviour?
Are you overclocking your system?
Can you get the system to lock up if you don't have any NIC
enabled/installed at all?

The system is not overclocked at all. Just 3 days ago I even exchanged the
stock AMD CPU cooler for a Thermaltake cooler. That didn't help a bit and
just my my machine louder. I switched back to the stock cooler.

As far as what can trigger the lock up... like I said I can be surfing or I
can be reading e-mail or just using Word. No rhyme or reason.

I'm going to exchange the PSU even though the one I have is a very good
quality unit. I'll post and let you know if that is the difference maker.

 

[Paul]

The system is not overclocked at all. Just 3 days ago I even exchanged the
stock AMD CPU cooler for a Thermaltake cooler. That didn't help a bit and
just my my machine louder. I switched back to the stock cooler.

As far as what can trigger the lock up... like I said I can be surfing or I
can be reading e-mail or just using Word. No rhyme or reason.

I'm going to exchange the PSU even though the one I have is a very good
quality unit. I'll post and let you know if that is the difference maker.

It could be the processor which is failing. Either that, or something
could be wrong with the Vcore regulator circuits around the processor
area.

First off, get a copy of Motherboard Monitor (MBM) or Asus Probe, so
you can monitor supply and Vcore voltages. Use only one of these
programs, not both at the same time. Both programs are equipped to log
voltages to a text file if you want a permanent record.

Next, get a copy of Prime95. That is a good way to give the processor
a workout. The processor will get hot, and perhaps you'll see a
correlation between the use of Prime95 and your freezes. Note that it
is OK for the Vcore voltage to vary, as a certain amount of "droop"
is planned for in the processor datasheets. The VID voltage is
basically the value at close to no load, and when Prime95 is running,
you might see a 0.1V drop in voltage. (Check the datasheet for your
processor, to get the exact allowed figure.)

If you pass Prime95 without problems, then the next suspect is the
video card. I like to run 3DMark in demo mode, as it will give the
video card some test traffic and can be left running all night
if necessary.

HTH,
Paul

 

[John M]

I have the same motherboard and have only seen "strange" behavior when
I had added a new USB mouse and the COP (ASUS' cpu overheat
protection)was keeping the CPU safe when it saw dangerous levels of
power. Basically it worked fine the first night because it was
already running and hot. The next day it wouldn't run because it was
cold. The "strange" and frustrating behavior was the motherboard
keeping my CPU from overheating and burning up. Also I have seen
really strange behavior (random reboots) when the drives are failing,
and you have Western Digital drives so that doesn't surprise me.

Hope this helps some.

 

[Steve]

I have the same motherboard and have only seen "strange" behavior when
I had added a new USB mouse and the COP (ASUS' cpu overheat
protection)was keeping the CPU safe when it saw dangerous levels of
power. Basically it worked fine the first night because it was
already running and hot. The next day it wouldn't run because it was
cold. The "strange" and frustrating behavior was the motherboard
keeping my CPU from overheating and burning up. Also I have seen
really strange behavior (random reboots) when the drives are failing,
and you have Western Digital drives so that doesn't surprise me.

Hope this helps some.

Actually John this happens on my SATA RAID set up (WD) and my IDE set up
(Maxtor) so it is not the drives.
I have built and repaired many machines and I have seen Maxtors fail more
than any other brand I have dealt.

I think I narrowed it down and so far so good.... The only thing that
changed since the time it started locking up was I hooked up an Iomega
external CD burner. If that is the cause of this then all I have to do is go
out a buy a new one but it still makes me wonder why it should have issues.