Athlon XP 1800+ freezing in Windows XP

[Ziggy Stardust]

Just picked up a retail Athlon XP 1800+ AGKGA Y

I installed it, and now my Windows XP freezes for no reason at different points. I borrowed my bosses T-bird 1.2 GHz (100 fsb) and looped a demo in quake3 and had no problems. I troubleshooted every component and am quite convinced its the chip. I suspected the P/S but that checked out fine.

Any ideas? Is it very rare that a new Retail Athlon XP will be defective? I'm running at 44 degrees idle (roughly).

I troubleshooted the video card and switched to an old PCI Matrox Millenium, which worked fine and I even managed to burn a copy of THPS3 Then I switched to my brother's old 250 watt P/S and the same freezing occurred.

I took the CPU back to the store but they told me to call AMD since I opened the retail package (only 2 days after purchase).

Any insight is appreciated!!!

thanks

Matt

 

[h20link]

can you list your system specs, and what programs you're usually running when it locks?

 

[DaddyB]

Please post your specs as H20 said but it sounds to me like you need more voltage to your cpu or better cooling, 1.75 is usually the default and should be ok at default speeds but maybe you have a jumper configured wrong(for the voltage) or maybe its in the BIOS... either way your running warm already so watch your temps closely if you bump up the voltage. Please post your heastsink/fan along with your specs

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Here goes,

Athlon XP 1800+ AGKGA Y
SOYO K7VTA Pro (2aa7 bios -- current)
Gainward Geforce2 Pro/450 Golden Sample
Micron 128 MB PC133 SDRAM
D-Link 538TX
Maxtor 20 GB ATA 100
YOUNGYEAR Y2K PSIV-400-1 300W p/s
Acer 6206 2x burner

IDLE: 43 degrees CPU, 32 degrees case according to BIOS
using stock HSF, also tried Super Orb which is total garbage.

I run Windows XP and it freezes, I run Quake3 and it freezes... everything freezes.

I think the video PCI/AGP inconsistency can be explained by the fact that the AGP card has a fan and is drawing current from the P/S while the PCI card doesn't. I'm gonna try another (also ****ty) 300W p/s. But I think its either the cpu, heat, or p/s

 

[OnDborder]

Did you have an XP in there before?
I read, somewhere, that in order for the SSE instructions to work, it is best to re-install windows.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

It used to be an Athlon Thunderbird 1.0 GHz (133 fsb).

Thanks for the reinstallation tip, but i'm almost certain at this point that the chip is overheating since it doesn't even get to the point in the Windows XP boot where the drivers are processed.

 

[DaddyB]

well if you think its heat try to power up your comp with the case open, see if that helps... i think you should try to turn up your cpu core voltage to 1.775 and see if that will get you into windows though. either way i suppose your gonna need a new heatsink/fan

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

My case is always open, and I always use Arctic Silver.
@1.775 my system freezes anyways.

I've been doing some reading at AMD and they recommend my motherboard for an Athlon XP 1800+, however there's a NOTE next to the REVISION, something about ECN and r014 which worries me since I don't understand it. Does that mean that only revisions 014 and up will work w/ athlon XP?
I highly doubt that since my CPU is already detected as what it should be (1800+) and can run quake3 and compute just about anything before locking up (at different times--under different situations), and even if minor bugs existed im sure a new BIOS revision would address those issues. Also, the BIOS download is only available for 1 K7VTA Pro, not like separate BIOS's for Abit's BH6 1.0 and 1.1 for example. I'm pretty sure its the chip. Anyways, I'll contact SOYO tomorrow... thank's for reading and responding.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_182_869_4348^4378|105_3_XP,00.html

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I put the old PCI Matrox Millenium II in there just for kicks and my system is now totally stable idle: 39/29 C and load: 43/30 C (cpu/case) under SETI for the last 10 mins.

Hmmmmm.

I'm tired. Can't wait to read your suggestions tomorrow.

thanks again

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Nevermind... the computer froze after 2 minutes using the PCI video card this morning. It is not stable under any circumstances.

 

[stompah]

try getting a better PSU. I have a 350w Antec PSU. Now before people go out and tell you to buy a 400w psu you should listen... You dont need it. Spend your $ on quality rather than quality. I have had 2 HDs, DVD and CDROM players, fans the whole shebang... never a hiccup. now I could be lucky but who knows. I paid $50, a bit overpriced but i dont regret it.


So get rid of your generic 300w PSU (I have had a Codegen 300w PSU running my system without hiccups but I have had two die on me so I dont stand by them). Buy a BRAND NAME PSU!!! Its very likely that the GF2 is drawing more amperage than the matrox card and is killing you system.

OH BTW your Motherboard may be AMD 'recommended' but your PSU isnt (neither is my 350w antec...lol)

 

[Fiz]

Definitely go with a new PSU. I paid 50 bucks for my enermax and I love it. I have a boat load of things running in my main system and never a prob is found. even my 5V rail is at 4.93 under load and thats with a 1.9 Vcore.

Fiz

 

[stompah]

Fiz, what wattage PSU are you running? Just to let Ziggy know.

PS. Ziggy check out www.newegg.com for PSUs they may not be the absolute cheapest but they are close and very reliable.

 

[OnDborder]

43 degrees isn't very hot. Not enough to shut down the process.

 

[Fiz]

Fiz, what wattage PSU are you running? Just to let Ziggy know.

PS. Ziggy check out www.newegg.com for PSUs they may not be the absolute cheapest but they are close and very reliable.

350W Enermax, I got it from Newegg.com. I think the price was 54 dollars or something. I have had nothing but good luck with it and would recommend it to anyone.

Fiz