*sigh* Getting to last resorts....

[Jestermask]

Alrighty.

My computer has been freezing for quite a while (I'm not sure when it really started) during some games (WarCraft 3, NWN, Red Alert 2...), DVD's, and occasionally while I'm playing music in WMP8.

After formatting and reinstalling, it continued to happen, but I continued to use the computer since it didn't bother me that much.

Well, it started to bother me. Here is a list of things I have tried:

1) Borrowed a spare 10GB HDD from a buddy of mine, installed ONLY Warcraft 3 and my video card drivers, still froze.

2) Had Kingston send me a new stick of memory, in case my memory was bad, still froze.

3) Exchanged my Ti-500 for a Ti-4600, in case it was a bad video card, still froze.

That leaves it to be my processor or motherboard. People have suggested that my Athlon is producing too much heat, but I don't think that's the problem. After freezing, I immediately reset and look up the CPU temp in the BIOS, and it's roughly 120-125 degrees F.

I'd like to know what you all think. Processor? Motherboard? Should I get an RMA for one or the other? Is there something I'm overlooking?

Any and all posts will be greatly appreciated, and I will answer all posts requesting clarification promptly.

Thank you,

~JM

 

[razor_ro]

check BIOS settings.....

go into your BIOS and lower your memory settings and see if that fixes it, (ie. RAS, CAS, timing settings, etc.)....play aroud with BIOS settings if that fails, i dont think its a faulty hardware unless you overclocked it before, ......hope this helps

RaZoR

edit: its funny cause your memory should be able to handle the fastest settings anyways, well worth a try tho

 

[Bootsy]

I had that same problem, freezing due to the "infinite loop" display error (is this error whats going on with yours?) and I looked everywhere and tried everything i found in several forums and help-sites but to no avail. I had a VIA chipset motherboard and apparently this is the problem. Is yours a VIA?
Well, I exchanged my mobo for a ALI chipset ASUS and haven't had the problem sinse...been about three days now (crossing fingers)

 

[AKHeero]

Have you tried updating all of your drivers, especially the VIA 4-in-1's? Also, have you gotten all of the updates from Microsoft?

 

[Bootsy]

oh yea, thanx for reminding me razor, a solution some people found is to disable "fastwrites" in the bios and also try setting the AGP setting to 2X or 1X instead of 4X. Good luck

 

[Jestermask]

Thanks for suggestions, guys.

Yes, my mobo is a VIA chipset (boooo!), and I'll give all those settings a try tonight. Any other suggestions, folks? I'll post my success/failure tonight after I'm done.


~JM

 

[fedele]

I've had similar problems and I thought it's VIA conflicting with SBlaster Live drivers....I bought an audigy gamer now. XP crashed during installation. that was becasue I previously Installed the las VIA 4 in 1 drivers. these drivers actually reenable onboard sound. you must disable this for SB audigy to work. i learned this the hard way.

 

[Jestermask]

Status report...

Alright.

Razor, I pretty much underclocked and disabled everything I could in my BIOS. CAS, timing, all that jazz. Still froze.

Bootsy, it is a VIA chipset (VIA and AMD 761, to be exact), but there's no display error, just a cold, chilly, old-fashioned-ice-cream freeze. I also turned my AGP down to 2x in my BIOS, no change in performance. Still freezing.

AKHeero, I'm kind of worried about installing 4-in-1 drivers. VIA's website said I shouldn't if it's a combination chipset (which I have, VIA and AMD761). I don't know if it's okay to install it or not. Please advise. Also, I have all current updates from MS.

fedele, my board doesn't have onboard sound, so I don't know if that would be a factor or not.

Whew! That's a lot to answer. Thanks for your help so far, guys. I appreciate it. What else can I do?

~JM

 

[Bootsy]

well soldier, you can do what I did, if the problem pisses you off enuff to spend some $ to fix it, buy a new motherboard. I used to have the ASUS AV7133 and that damn freeze (is there a sound looping along with the freeze in your case?). Well I spent my $65 and got an ASUS A7A266 which is a ALI chipset and no problems thus far (been 3 days now).

 

[WuGgaRoO]

listen up...here is what u need to do...lol.. I posted this sumwhere else but here it is. Disable whatever u can in bios. Not using those serial ports? disable them... Not using the printer ports? disable them. open up as many irq's as possible that way the sblive wont get in the way of nething else

 

[AKHeero]

In that case, you need to update both the AMD AGP Miniport Driver and the 4-in-1's. Windows should only load the drivers it needs for your southbridge (the VIA chipset). I used to have a board like that and I never had a problem with it. Let me know if it works.

 

[Jestermask]

Hmm...let's see.

I upgraded the AMD miniport drivers...ok.

I've discovered something, though. If, in my BIOS, the selection for my processor speed is set to 1600+ (133), then on startup and in Windows, it shows as being 1.4Ghz. That's all well and good, except it freezes the programs aformentioned in this thread. Bogus.

However, if I set it to ANY OTHER SPEED, it comes out as 1050mhz....and doesn't freeze anything.

Here's my dilemma: I paid for 1.4 Ghz, I WANT 1.4 Ghz. Is this the fault of the processor? The motherboard?

*sighs* Thanks for everyone's help so far, it's helped. But I need answers now! BWAH!!!!!

~JM

 

[GoNz0]

an XP1600 does run at 1.4 ghz.... so don't worry there.

 

[GoNz0]

forgot to add..... if the cpu dont crapout at 1050, try increasing the mobo CPU voltage up a little. Worked for me on my last PSU as it wasn't powerfull enough.

 

[stuy_b]

Also make sure all the connections of cables and PCI cards are all snugly fitted, and your PCI timing settings in BIOS are correct.

 

[GoNz0]

oh yeh that as well.......