Major PC Problems

[vizo]

alright, i am so pissed off. everything has been running fine, with the same setup for months. now all of a sudden nothing works. let me get to my specs real quick.

dfi ak74 mobo
1ghz tbird (not oc'ed)
voodoo3 3000 pci (not oc'ed)
sb live! value
maxtor 20gig 7200rpm (c)
samsung 4gig 5400rpm (d)
delta 52x cdrom (e)
300watt case
196 pc100 ram (128/32/32)
3 fans
linksys nic
dx7a
win98 1st ed

alright, now to the ****. nothing works now. none of my games work, kingpin, q3, black and white, the moon project ect.. like i said, all of these worked before this started happening. i didnt change ANYTHING (bios/settings/hardware). most of them just crash back to the desktop after a few mins of playing.
i have swapped and switched everything in my box with my other pc, except the mobo,cpu,power supply, cdrom. replaced the ram with the others in my system. replaced my voodoo3 3000 pci with a spare voodoo3 2000 agp, problems still there. maybe the poer supply is bad? its 300 watt. nothing works, im sad http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif. and, my cdrom gets way too hot, way too hot. plus its slower and louder than my delta 48x cdrom.
i switched the 20gig with a 4gig, installed win98, drivers, and the problems still are there. maybe i need to flash my bios? how does this start happening all of a sudden, nothing works even after i reformat. i have reformatted 10 times within the past week. i cant even burn with my new burner i bought 2 days ago. plus, most of my apps crash. im sad,
any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

-vizo

[Sweeper]

Sounds like it could be your power supply. Have seen many posts like yours. Although 300w power supplies usually don't go bad to often. Sounds like you have tried everything else.
Sweeper

[This message has been edited by Sweeper (edited 04-11-2001).]

[ragtop]

First, check for overheating - is your HSF operating?? What temps are you running??

Next, pull everything out of your box except for processor, RAM, and video - then see what happens. (I know its not fun to play games without sound, but you want to eliminate the sound card as a possible source of the problem).

If the "bare bones" system is stable, then start adding the cards back in one by one until the instability returns and you find the source of the problem.

If the barebones system is unstable, all thats left is the MB, processor, and power supply (you said you already tried a new video card and RAM). First, reseat everything to make sure its not just a loose connection somewhere. Power supply is probably the next thing to check, since its the cheapest to replace.

If it gets down to MB and processor, try to find a friend with a T-Bird system, or a shop that will test the processor for you.

[vizo]

yea, many others have said it was the power supply, my dad just left to go get a new 300watt power supply. but, ide imaging i will want to reformat once more, considering all my **** isnt working. ide think it'd be best if i did that. thanks guys. the temps are fine btw..

/edit/ plus, i doubt the bare bones system will be stable. ill go ahead and try that now.
/edit/ i have alos heard from others that voodoo3's dont like dx8. is this true? i tried both dx7 and 8 and the probs still were there. hmm

[This message has been edited by vizo (edited 04-11-2001).]

[This message has been edited by vizo (edited 04-11-2001).]

[vizo]

Double Post sorry http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif

[This message has been edited by vizo (edited 04-11-2001).]

[vizo]

ok, i tried the bare bones system, no luck..
still waiting for my dad to brig home the power supply. thanks.