stupid computer keeps freezing

[[KMAC] STAN]

Its all auto these days Bellbus, so it wont be that.

[TARP2]

I had a similar problem with random blue screens on my 1.4 amd. I noticed the lockups during gaming sessions. I ended up replacing the HS cooling fan with a Volcano 6 ( about twice the cfm of the puny stock fan) and I reseated the cpu with
Arctic silver after fully removing the oem thermal pad. I also installed another 80mm fan blowing out of the case. This dropped the cpu temp dramatically, and reduced lockups from 2-3 times a session, to none. I'm convinced it was an air flow problem, and if your case is the major difference in configuration, I would give cooling a try. It can only help, and is relatively inexpensive. Maybe $15-20 .
Good luck..

[x51out]

I had the same problem, with the 1400T-Bird cooking itself under a stock-coolermaster. Glaciator2 took care of the heat-related lockups, which reminds me: AMD specs rate this processor at max op temp way over 70C, but in reality it began locking up at 50C. I will also never stop blaming Windows for most freezes; heck, I still get micro-lockups on occasion (at 512mbRAM), and I keep my system very streamlined. But from the sound of it, his problem would be heat. In my humble experience, conflicts cause system instability relatively quick.

[DavidRCT]

so which fan do you recommend i get for my Athlon XP 1700+?

[x51out]

Depends on how much you want to spend. Also, the XP line of Athlon processors DO NOT run as hot as the older T-Birds, so as luck would have it, you might not even need to dish out $33 for a Millenium Glaciator 2 (in my case). First step is downloading Motherboard Monitor (MBM 5) and setting it all up per directions to see the development of temp. Just try to get a good draft going in your case, you know, for $10 you could purchase two 80mm case fans, one for blowing in and one for blowing out. Just the other day I dropped the temp 5 degrees C just by blasting the dust off all components (and re-setting the heatsink). Anyway, those lockups of yours might be a mix of problems. To me, tweaking Windows is absolutely essential, as the default settings are often the cause of problems and unresponsiveness. What OS are you using? If XP, here is a link:http://www.tweakxp.com/tweakxp/

[TARP2]

I'd recommend a Thermaltake Volcano 7. Thats 46 cfm for about $22.00 plus shipping. We just installed one on an XP1700, and it cools just fine.Don't bother with the Volcano 7+. At $49.00 I think its overkill.

Tarp

[DavidRCT]

i don't think it's a cooling problem, the other day i took one of those room fans and opened my case and blasted the fan directly at my motherboard and after like 5 minutes of booting it froze again. Do u think it could be a bad RAM chip? just an idea. The temperature program says my system is running at 35 C and my CPU at 39-40 C. any help would be apreciated, this i s driving me crazy. thanks

Dave

[x51out]

This might sound like a very stupid question, but have you recently checked the IDE cable to your HDD? Is it plugged in correctly, i.e. the right connector to to right device (not interchangeable) and is it seated correctly? Other than that, I don't remember if you mentioned any error messages.

[DavidRCT]

it hink the IDE calbe is alright because it boots into windows and then it stays in the desktop and it works fine until i try to play a game or surf the internet. I mean, i can go and play like windows games like solitaire and stuff and even write Word documents no problem, it's only when i start a big application like a game or internet explorer. that's why i was thinking it could be a bad RAM chip.

[HRM]

I would try a new CPU cooler and some arctic silver. The CPU could still get too hot even with fans blowing on the board. As the summer approaches heat will be an issue..so even if it is not this problem, it still is a good idea to upgrade to a good HS.

If you are lucky, that will fix your troubles, I think it is a very likely suspect.

[bushmaster]

Go to www.simmtester.com and download doc memory and check your memory from dos to either find the bad ram or rule out bad ram as your problem

[Motta]

For me it's a memory problem. I have a SOYO DRAGON and tryed a generic samsung RAM and got lots of lockups, now I only uses Crucial.

[DavidRCT]

i'm getting tired of this ****, nothing seems to fix it. I even took it to a local computer shop and had them repair it and whn i picked it up and took it back to my house it froze again. So there i went back to the store and they said it might be Windows Me and they had me reformat my hard drive and put Windows 2000 Pro on it. I did that and it still froze. So I took it back today and they said they were gonna repair it and that's where it is right now. They're gonna probably charge me a fortune and it might still not work. **** it, I'm gonna take that stupid computer and hit it as hard as i can with a baseball bat and go buy me a Dell.

[Rugor]

If you think you have problems now---


Just wait until you get a Dell

[Strawbs]

You won't be upgrading your Dell at any future point in time , you know that don't you?

Windows Me has a tendency to lock up when run for extended periods, there is a patch for it on the M$ upgrade site.

Having said that, it could be a Graphics card problem, Is the card seated properly, or is it a cheapo\old card.