Problems With New Hardware

Hi guys

Newbie here!

I've just bought a new board and chip, and am getting random lock-ups.

I've got a MSI K8N Neo2 with A64 3500+ using Arctic Silver, along with 1gig
(2x512) generic RAM, and a Leadtek A400 6800GT. I've reinstalled Win XP home
SP2 onto my machine but every now and again the machine will just lock. No
mouse, no keyboard, nothing.

It was fine with my old Chaintech 7NJS and 3200+ chip.

Any ideas?

"Mac" wrote in message
...
Hi guys

Newbie here!

I've just bought a new board and chip, and am getting random lock-ups.

I've got a MSI K8N Neo2 with A64 3500+ using Arctic Silver, along with
1gig (2x512) generic RAM, and a Leadtek A400 6800GT. I've reinstalled Win
XP home SP2 onto my machine but every now and again the machine will just
lock. No mouse, no keyboard, nothing.

It was fine with my old Chaintech 7NJS and 3200+ chip.

Any ideas?


Oh yeah and a 600W (I think) PSU.

Woady

On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 22:37:57 +0100, "Mac"
wrote:


"Mac" wrote in message
...
Hi guys

Newbie here!

I've just bought a new board and chip, and am getting random lock-ups.

I've got a MSI K8N Neo2 with A64 3500+ using Arctic Silver, along with
1gig (2x512) generic RAM, and a Leadtek A400 6800GT. I've reinstalled Win
XP home SP2 onto my machine but every now and again the machine will just
lock. No mouse, no keyboard, nothing.

It was fine with my old Chaintech 7NJS and 3200+ chip.

Any ideas?


Oh yeah and a 600W (I think) PSU.

Woady



Seems suspiciously like a generic PSU. Suspect it, and take
voltage readings. Try another known adequate PSU instead
(not another pseudo-600W generic).

Take temps.

Anything in particular making it more likely to lock up?

In article , "Mac" wrote:

Hi guys

Newbie here!

I've just bought a new board and chip, and am getting random lock-ups.

I've got a MSI K8N Neo2 with A64 3500+ using Arctic Silver, along with 1gig
(2x512) generic RAM, and a Leadtek A400 6800GT. I've reinstalled Win XP home
SP2 onto my machine but every now and again the machine will just lock. No
mouse, no keyboard, nothing.

It was fine with my old Chaintech 7NJS and 3200+ chip.

Any ideas?

Does your board use a Marvell LAN driver ? The 8.35.2.3 driver caused
problems for a number of motherboards with Marvell LAN chip. Now,
whether that problem would still be there when using a PHY chip, as
opposed to a complete MAC/PHY, I cannot answer. Still, freezing is not a
typical characteristic for A64.

Paul

"Paul" wrote in message
...
In article , "Mac" wrote:

Hi guys

Newbie here!

I've just bought a new board and chip, and am getting random lock-ups.


Any ideas?

Does your board use a Marvell LAN driver ? The 8.35.2.3 driver caused
problems for a number of motherboards with Marvell LAN chip. Now,
whether that problem would still be there when using a PHY chip, as
opposed to a complete MAC/PHY, I cannot answer. Still, freezing is not a
typical characteristic for A64.

Paul

As far as I know it's just the standard nVidia driver.

I've tried replacing my 6800GT with a 5600 to see if the PSU is being
overloaded but the same thing happens. The screen just shows lots of
triangles (when in game such as HL2) and the sound just repeats. I've had
this problem before when the machine was overheating, but looking at the
BIOS and the temp of my graphics card it all seems normal. If it locks while
in Windows, everything just stops responding.

I've got up to date graphics, mobo, DirectX etc. Maybe it is my psu that
needs replacing, the BIOS says the 12v rail is supplying 11.5v, could that
cause it? How about changing the sound card to a different PCI slot?

Ran Aquamark with no problems, will try 3D Mark to test.

It is really doing my head in now!

Woady

"Mac" wrote in message
...

"Paul" wrote in message
...
In article , "Mac"
wrote:

Hi guys

Newbie here!

I've just bought a new board and chip, and am getting random lock-ups

Woady


Oh and by the way, I've not overclocked anything, and am using the reference
HSF from AMD.

Woady

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 15:55:54 -0000, "Mac"
wrote:


I've tried replacing my 6800GT with a 5600 to see if the PSU is being
overloaded but the same thing happens. The screen just shows lots of
triangles (when in game such as HL2) and the sound just repeats. I've had
this problem before when the machine was overheating, but looking at the
BIOS and the temp of my graphics card it all seems normal. If it locks while
in Windows, everything just stops responding.

Problems in one game can be discounted as a problem with
that particular game. See if there are sound-related game
settings, or a game patch. Disable your sound if that
doesn't help, THEN see if the game still has the problem.



I've got up to date graphics, mobo, DirectX etc. Maybe it is my psu that
needs replacing, the BIOS says the 12v rail is supplying 11.5v, could that
cause it? How about changing the sound card to a different PCI slot?

If the PSU itself, as measured at the 12V connector, is
dropping to 11.5V, that could be a sign of insufficiency.
One cannot rely on the motherboard's sensor to determine
accurate 12V level, the reading would have to be taken with
a multimeter at the connector (that connector which is
connected to the load, ideally not an unused connector).