Lockups, Freezes, Crashes, OH MY!

[Telex]

Some serious help is needed for a newbie ocer =)

I finally saved up enough money to re-build my computer from my old PIII 500mhz to a new Tbird 1.333ghz. I got a new processor, and motherboard (obviously) plus a stick of Crucial pc133 sdram. And a new 300watt Powermax PSU since I didn't think my 225 watt PSU would handle the new load. Anyway, I put it all together, power it on, and watch the thing fly! It was great...until it would randomly lockup and freeze. This was w/o it being overclocked. Well I read the boards and thought, some people say 300watts isn't enough, so I go a buy a new 350 Watt Enermax. More freezes still.

Being the computer newb I am (compared to some of you guys) I have no idea what is wrong? Could it be a bad processor/mobo? I've pretty much ruled out it being the PSU now. My temps are fine (35-40c idle and 45-47c under load, this is aircooled) I've tried upping the voltage, no luck, I tried lowering it to 1ghz, no luck.

I now some of you experience this when overclocking, and this is a sign that you might have hit your limit, or the fsb/multiplier combo isn't working. When it freezes, and I have to reboot, windows ME gets all screwed up, and sometimes the registry goes bezerk, and it has to re-identify my hardware and settings, sometimes I even have to format my harddrive and start new again. Is that even normal for lockups? That problem never happened if my PIII would lockup (which was rare, that thing was stable as a rock)

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it! I have no idea what could be wrong! Heck, it could be a software problem somewhere, again, if any suggestions, please help me out.

Specs:
Abit KT7a-raid
Tbird 1.33ghz
Voodoo5 5500
Soundblaster Live
256mb Crucial PC133 SDRAM
Netgear 10/100 Ethernet Card
3com 56k Modem
13gb Western Digital Hard Drive
350Watt Enermax PSU
Windows ME

[lemmingboy]

Had problems like that with a bad stick of RAM. Maybe grab some out of a friends computer and have a try.

you can always try underclocking it a bunch to make sure the power supply isn't a problem too! It looks like this wouldn't be an issue with the 350W Enermax and all and I don't think it is. But not too hard to check, so I would give it a try.

[ReTiCuLeX]

Listen man don't be cheap on power go with 400watt+ psu like Enermax or antec ,sparkle etc.. I have the SAME EXACT problems as you and I replaced every part in my pc including my ram . I have the same exact power supply as you also, its your power supply for sure. Im geting a Enermax 465p-VE power supply (431watts) today about 1pm est = ) for $90 at the store near me.For any one else with similar problems go get a better psu minimum 400 watts.AZZKIKER helped me and explained on the phone that the power supply is my problem.I tried underclocking my 1.4 to 500mhz and it would still mess up.Trust me man its the psu gl man = ).

ReTiCuLe G)Ds

[Telex]

I know its not the ram.... I tried my old stick of pc100 128mb in there too. It still frooze.

I'm very reluctant to spend 90 dollars now on a new power supply after I've had two already.

Looks like its time to start saving more money again.
Thanks for the advice

[mojo]

I am running a 1.2 Ghz retail at 1400 140x10 rock stable. And I'm using an Enlight 7237 case with a built in 300 watt PS. My system is also loaded to the max with device. Here's what they are:

18 GB Quantum Ultra wide SCSI 7200 RPM
40 GB WD IDE hard drive 7200 RPM
Yamaha 8x4x24 SCSI CD-RW
Aopen 12X IDE DVD
1 GB Iomega internal SCSI Jazz drive
Guillemot GF2 MX
Soundblaster Live! X-Gamer
Intel PCI network adapter
StudioDV PCI firewire card
Hayes V.90 ISA modem
3 case fans and
Globalwin CAK38 with Delta fan

All that with supplied 300 PS on the case! You don't need no stinkin 430 watt PS to run no Athlon system.

[KevDaMan]

Hi I am thinking it might not be a hardware problem I have a p3 500 and I had windows me and it crashed and froze up so much in 1 week I formatted and put windows 2000 professonal on thank god no more crashes I love it (Very Stable) so I would consider that a problem also. just to flick that idea at u hope u find the problem

[Zerodrag]

I had the same prob with 1 of my 2 systems... almost identical specs. you know what it turned out to be? not ram, not power supply, but irq sharing. i'm not too good with manually assigning irq's... so i ended up buying a cheap scci pci card and installing it juggled the irq's around and fixed my problems. i bet that if you pull one of your cards out (the sb live), itll run fine, huh? im sure you could just probably assign them in the bios... but i'm not bright enough to do that yet.

[Telex]

Heh, I'm not either zerodrag. Everyone thanks for the tips again. I'll try some of them out.

Does anyone have any guides to assigning irqs? Or know where I can get one of those scci cards pretty cheap?

[Zerodrag]

I got mine at the computer show. it's a tekram.. pretty cheap cause it has no bios (cant boot to it). around 20-30 US dollars. but try it in bios first and see if you can save the cash. good luck

[Amedeo602]

IRQ assignments should be in your system BIOS. Try looking around the advanced options....try taking out the NIC or the sound and running the system....it's probably one of those 2 components...

Or it could just be heat. These newer T-birds run hotter than hell. Try taking the side cover off the case and blowing a regular house fan onto the motherboard.

[Wa11y]

Another thing you can do is to move your cards around, if it's an IRQ problem. Try having an empty PCI slot between each of your cards. I had a Supermicro P6SBA with a P3 500MHz that wouldn't let me use PCI slots next to eachother. I could force it to use different IRQs in the BIOS, but I'd still run into IRQ conflicts. So try that.

[rudedog]

Hi There,

Don't listen to these guys telling you to replace your new hardware!!! I don't think it is your PSU or Ram at all. The power supply you have bought is an excellent choice and the same can be said for your Ram. The Abit KT7a is a notorious motherboard for the problems you have described. The good news is that most of these problems can be ironed out.

The first thing I see is that you are using a SB Live! card. There is a known problem with the SB Live and the Via 686b southbridge (used on abit kt7a). Also the SBlive does not work well with ACPI. The newer Abit KT7a bios versions let you disable ACPI in the bios but I think you will still have to re-install windows if you do disable it in the bios.

First thing to do is remove the SB live from your system and see if you still get problems. You will have to remove the software for the card before you physically remove your card or your PC will lock up when you reboot. If it is the soundblaster that is causing the lockups you have 2 choices.....

1 - Get a new sound card (Turtle beach Santa Cruz would be a good replacement )

2 - Work around this problem. (this is my advice as it means you don't have to spend any more money)

If you choose to work around it then you should really have a look at the viahardware website and in particular, Pauls unnoficial KT7 FAQ. It lists all the known problems with the Abit KT7 and how to work around them.

follow this link

www.viahardware.com/faq/kt7/kt7faq.htm

Start in the 'sound card section' and in particular, the heading 'how can I make my system stable with a sound blaster live card'

This is the BEST place you will find on the web for resloving your particular problems.


All the best

rUdedOg

[thestramel]

I agree with Rudedog. The KT7 and the SB-Live are notorious for creating stability problems. Some of the things you might try:
(1) Disable SB16 emulation
(2) Don't use Liveware drivers
(3) Disable ACPI
(4) Adjust I/O voltages a bit
(5) Soundcard should be in slot 4 and assigned its own IRQ
(6) Update BIOS and 4in1 drivers

Not necessarily in this order. Good Luck!

[kat]

300w ps is fine thats all ive ever used ,my sb live works best in slot 5 ;D

[samuknow]

Good advice from rudedog. ALWAYS use the latest drivers. And it is a good idea to not use VIA busmastering drivers. Use the MS drivers. The FAQ should give you some good direction.

Good Luck

[Zerodrag]

All I can say is i checked out that site, tried all that stuff... and it didnt work. newest drivers and all... moved the cards around.... (short of removing the sound card which also solved the problem)... maybe it was just my setup.. who knows.... try the simple stuff first (non costing) then try borrowing stuff from your friends so you can test... then that should work out.


i did everything Thestramel mentioned also except not using the liveware drivers (but why own a SBlive and not use them?)....

[AZZKICKER]

not all power supplys are created equal

a 300 aint a 300

you have to see what the 12 volt and 5 volt combined power rating is

a t bird 1.4 takes 180 watt minimum between the 2 voltage rails

listen up

im running right now 1 300 power supply
because a week ago my 1.2 t bird blew and it took OBTH of my power supplys out

one was replaced
the other wasnt

my 950 @ 1200 ran for 7 months with no problems
now with only one power supply it wont run but 1133 mhz stable

put in my newly replaced 1.2 t bird and it wont run....set it 2 1133 running fine

see how low power can kill you

a t - bird 1 gig or higher should have a name brand 400 watt or bigger power supply

name brand = antec, entermax, enlight...ect

none name brand = sparkel ( they suck no matter how much kat loves them ...heehee) , power man, future power ( all made in china by the same plant)

take it from a pioneer in the power game with amd's.......give it more power and be amazed on your performance.........