Lockup problem ! Please help !!

[technodrill]

I've had problems with my pc since I baught it more than a half year ago.
These lockups occur mostly when I play games, when I play mp3 files or when I
run programs to make music.
This is what I've been through:
When I baught my pc it was a AMD Athlon 1.3 Mhz My pc kept locking up multiple times a day.
The temperature was too high I placed another cooler wich did not fix the problem.
So I decided to switch my mobo and processor to Intel Pentium.
STILL the problem wasn't fixed. They said that while working on my pc... my audio
card started smoking ..it was broke so I got me another audio card.
later my HD broke so I baught me another.

People told me to test my pc with other cards so I switched my cards with
cards from my other pc wich never locks up. I switched all the cards ( graphics card, audio card, ethernet cards,... )
... my pc was still locking up very often! I even switched my rams with another ram. No positive result.
A friend told me it might be my mobo that was causing trouble so I AGAIN changed my Soltek mobo to an INTEL mobo.
They said Soltek IS in fact Intel is this true? Anywayz I changed to a REAL Intel mobo but now it still doesnt work.
Sometimes my pc even locks up while booting. I don't think it could be the drivers cuz I've tried about every driver available for my cards
including the latest ones. Even when I format my disk and then install Windows without even installing my cards... lockups occur.
It's been about 7 months now that I'm having trouble with my pc. I am getting desperate !!
What could the problem be?

I have a
PIII 1 Ghz Intel Desktop Board
Geforce 2 GTS 64 mb DDR
Gamesurround Fortissimo II
2 x Ethernet card
TV-Card
40 gig Hd
Windows '98

If there is any more info that you need in order to help me.. ask me.

[gsxr750]

how about PSU. poor psu can't deliver enought power to the system and could cause look up.

for exampler psu with 300w peak mean that it will output 300w for a amount of time then slow down and back up. to 300w.

humm do u overclock the processor?

Just a thought.

[Staz]

Have you checked out the PSU yet?

If you PSU cannot supply enuf power you will get instability problems durring graphic and cpu intensive activities.

[technodrill]

Yes what I fergot to say is that 3 months after I baught my pc .. my power supply died. So they switched it with a new one.
Could it be that they lied? or could this new power supply be broke too ?

[Staz]

It could be that they put a 230W PSU or a generic one in there.

[David]

treat yourself to a nice new 350W or 400W PSu - I hear Antec and Enermax are good.

Also - you have 2 Ethernet cards. Make sure they are configured properly and don't conflict.

Anything else - well those are the only things that haven't been changed :D

[technodrill]

First of all Thanks for helping me guys ! I really appriciate this ! ;-)
Ok... I just checked my power supply and this is what is written on it:
Model: 300ATX
155V/230V 7/4A
60/50Hz AC1A/0-5A

(I hope I typed this correctly)

Is this a good power supply for my pc ?
And... how much does a new power supply cost?

I'd switch my power supply with my other's pc power supply but I do not know if this is a smart thing to do. It says something like "Danger" and "explosion if not replaced correctly"... scares me a bit if you ask me.

Is there a way to test my ram memory? I'm still not sure if my 256 ram* is ok.

I'm sure my processor is not overclocked.

If my ram and my power supply would seem to be ok... then I believe that the only cause left should be the processor.. ?
..or could the BIOS settings be wrong (never messed with BIOS before tho).

[technodrill]

anybody?

[Newbie_Doo]

Moved to General Hardware. Can someone help this poor soul?

[gsxr750]

If you looking for memory test then check this site. you could get one.
http://www.zdnet.com/feeds/cgi/framer/hud0002500/hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/search.html?Utext=memory%20test

about the PSU that u post. how about get some program like tweakUI or sisoft sandra. It will tell you have is the Amp on your +5v line and +12v line.
for AMD CPU the +5v line should have atleast 25A (25amp)
sisoft could be download here.
http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,10615,102350,00.html

Good luck.


Fold on Brother

:beer:

[technodrill]

Thanks for your reply gsxr750 ;-)
Tho I can not download anything from that zdnet.com site you gave me. :-( I already have SiSoft Sandra 2001 but I do not understand that much about computers. So where can I find this info about volts and stuff in SiSoft Sandra?

[turd]

that 1.3 will run real hot, what kind of heat sink and fan do you have on it?

have you looked in your bios and checked out your settings cause you could try stepping it down to say 1100, and stepping down your vcore to say 1.75, which should slightly cool down that thing and see if the stability increases, of course this is just a short term thing that may or may not point at heat, i think that if the system does then become stable, then yes these steps did cool it down a little and that was probly it, if not it could still be cpu heat and you did not cool it enough.

I would give my guess as the cpu is running too hot