Friends computer is unstable- Can you solve the problem?

Sempron 2500+
GA G7N400 Pro2 Rev2
Kingston Value RAM 2x256 2.5
PCI MX400
80GB SATA Seagate
Sparkle 350W PSU
Cheap Ebuyer $15 case
Window XP Home (tried stock, SP1, and SP2 all separately after formatting and reinstalling)

Temps: 37 Chassis, 59 CPU (kinda toasty, under load)
Cooling: 3 case fans, 1 stock AMD cooler
Voltage: Excellent
Everything is running at stock

Memtest ran overnight and his kingston passed. The problem comes when he does stuff on windows. Play games, install software, even installing windows- the computer will BSOD. But it does fine when idling. It's difficult to diagnose the problem since I'm not physically there (I have to do everything over AIM).

He is convinced it's the motherboard. He told me he dropped the motherboard (while in the box) off the counter he was working on. But I'm leaning toward the possibility of heat, a driver problem, or even maybe a simple bios update.

So do you think it could be the temps? I will also add that this is his first build... so anything can be going wrong here.

Can you run SETI? Or any other processor straining program?

I'm having him run prime95 for a while to see what happens.

prime95 is memory based is it not?.. I'm not 100% sure though.
I'd try stressing the processor to see if you can induce a crash.

Prime95 stresses the cpu to find prime numbers. You might be thinking of memtest86.

EDIT: Yep, I guess you can stress test RAM among other things with prime95.

EDIT2: Ross you are a dork

I'm not as experienced as most on here, but what HS is he using, and what size are those fans? How is his airflow in the case (hard to tell over AIM, but maybe ask him how the internal cable organization is). Also, is he using AS5? To attempt to test drivers, try disabling everything individually (well, as much as possible) then do whatever it was he was doin when it was overheating.

Hope you get it all figured out.

I doubt it's hardware related ... unless P95 shows something.

I'd lean towards drivers. Get him to try to update all his drivers and do all Windows Updates.

Will do.

BTW- What temp do semprons (I think it has a thorton core) start to become unstable?

YoMatta said:

I'm not as experienced as most on here, but what HS is he using, and what size are those fans? How is his airflow in the case (hard to tell over AIM, but maybe ask him how the internal cable organization is). Also, is he using AS5? To attempt to test drivers, try disabling everything individually (well, as much as possible) then do whatever it was he was doin when it was overheating.

Hope you get it all figured out.

Click to expand...

He's using a stock AMD heatsink with those crummy pink thermal pads. I told him to scrape off (without scratching the aluminum) the pad and apply some AS5 instead, so he ordered some tonight.

As far as the drivers, we are going to work on that asap.

^bump^

It sounds to me like Overheating,

my Athlon XP would cause lockage in my old cheap case, even though I had 3 Case fans and a Volcano 6+ on it. I would get temps all the way up to 58 or so. Moved to a case with better airflow, as well as applied REAL thermal paste properly(ASCeramiqu), and I never had another problem.