Odd Stability Issues

Lately my computer has been crashing quite often. Usually it's during a computer game but sometimes it will crash right after it boots. I tried reducing the overclock almost entirely, that didn't change anything. I tried reinstalling windows xp and it crashed during that. I ran both Prime95 and 3DMark, sometimes it was stable for a few minutes and then crashed, other times it crashed immediately. One of the things I noticed when testing with Prime95 is that the CPU temp didn't even go over 40 celsius before my comp crashed.

Here are my specs:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Rev. 2
Athlon XP 2500+ at 1.9 GHz and 1.75V(used to run 2.2 GHz at 1.8V)
2x512 Micron mT at 2.5-3-3-11 and 2.7V(used to run 2.5-3-2-11 at 2.8V)
9500 Pro w/ bios flashed to 9700 Pro at 276.75/270(stock) plus VGA Silencer Rev. 3
ISO Switching PSU at 550W(+3.3V at 28A, +5V at 36A, +12V at 18A)
Western Digital 120GB HD

I'm thinking it might be my HD since I've used it for 2 years and it has been on for days at a time being written to. Is there any way to test if the HD has degraded. Or could it be my PSU? I'm horribly lost. I'm going to take apart my computer to clean everything right now. Anyone have any ideas?

Have you run memtest to make sure one of your sticks isn't bad?

I doubt the HD is causing prime95 to crash. I would suspect it's either ram or cpu. Drop everything to stock and see if it goes away. Be sure to run memtest86 as Feydd suggested.

Ran memtest for about 1.5 hours with zero errors. I then refitted the heatsink on my cpu and ran prime95 max heat test. Comp froze almost immediately. I've had my comp for 2 years now, maybe it could be the thermal paste that needs to be replaced? I'm baffled because even when I ran prime95, the temp on my cpu still only ran up to 40 celsius before my comp froze.

Is it possible the PSU is to blame, maybe the something isn't getting enough power? The cable setup on the PSU is horrible, there are two main cables. One is very short and can only reach my CD, DVD and floppy drives. On the other one is my HD, video card, and 6 fans. I don't know, is it worth cleaning and replacing the silicon paste on my cpu?

Edit: The odd thing is that recently it's only been crashing during strenous activity like games or stress tests. I can listen to music or watch videos with no problems.

My Two Cents

I doubt the HD is causing prime95 to crash. I would suspect it's either ram or cpu. Drop everything to stock and see if it goes away.

Click to expand...

Like Gnufsh I doubt it is the HD it sounds to me like a PS,CPU or Memory. But you are correct it could be the PS and I would test that. I recommend you trying another power supply to test it.

PSU is obviously what is wrong now. My rig used to lock-up during intense gameplay till I got a PSU with more watts.

Thanks guys, I'll order it tomorrow.

get one rated at around 400 watts, that should be enough.

480-500 Watts is always nice, allows plenty of room for future power hungry upgrades...Just thought I'd mention it...