PC EXPERT NEEDED!

[sasuke_kun12]

Yup i need some help. my pc is givin me the shizens. ok heres what happens

1. It takes like 10 reboots for windows to start properly. It just freezes before that grey bar comes up.
2. It locks up. always. before i log in, after i log in, when i watch tv. but sometimes i use it for about 2 hours without it lockin up.
3. Doom3 doesn't seem to work, it loads but then these dots apear and it crashes. sometimes the top of the screen it's a smudge of green its really pissin me off coz i just bought the freakin game!

i think it's a overheating problem but then what about windows? i've reformatted like 3 times! please help!
specs
amd 1800+
msi all in one board
geforce 4 mx440 (eh! i'm gettin an powercolour radeon 9600xt)
512 ddr
80gig
xp pro pack1

[M3talhead]

What kind of powersupply do you have and how old is it? Check the molex connections to ensure that they're all seated properly. As a matter of fact, check all your components to ensure that they're making good contact. Reseat your RAM, CPU, video card, heatsink(s), and power connectors. I often see powersupplys being at fault for random reboots, because most motherboards will automatically shutdown and restart if they detect a brown out or spike. If you've reformatted and reinstalled Windows, guess what??? Doing it 2 more times wont change anything. I suspect a hardware problem for your freezes and random reboots. As for the video card, chck your manufacturer's website to ensure you have the latest driver updates.

[DrewKaree]

Your problems sound EXACTLY identical to the ones I was having.

The power supply just "went" one day.  One day I smelled the electrical burning smell, and nothing booted.  Swapped it out with a new one.  Problem seemed to lessen ONLY...they DID NOT go away, but at least they were happening less frequently.  While trying to work on a LARGE Photoshop file, I began experiencing random shutdowns....someone here recommended memtest.  One of my chips was bad.  Replaced it, and started buying parts for a new system in case something ELSE went bad. 

Metalhead's giving you some good advice.  Your issues are more than likely hardware related, and you'll have to test them one at a time with "known to be good" products if you can't do a software test on 'em. 

The boot issues....try running a thorough Scandisk.  See what it tells you.

[SOAPboy]

Yup i need some help. my pc is givin me the shizens. ok heres what happens

1. It takes like 10 reboots for windows to start properly. It just freezes before that grey bar comes up.
2. It locks up. always. before i log in, after i log in, when i watch tv. but sometimes i use it for about 2 hours without it lockin up.
3. Doom3 doesn't seem to work, it loads but then these dots apear and it crashes. sometimes the top of the screen it's a smudge of green its really pissin me off coz i just bought the freakin game!

i think it's a overheating problem but then what about windows? i've reformatted like 3 times! please help!
specs
amd 1800+
msi all in one board
geforce 4 mx440 (eh! i'm gettin an powercolour radeon 9600xt)
512 ddr
80gig
xp pro pack1

FYI, blame Video card for Doom3 running like ass.. gf has the same card.. does the same thing.. it just cant HANDLE it..


the rest.. ill also go ahead and blame PSU, BUT, if you can get in for a bit, virus scan, defrag, adaware, ect.. could be something simple as well..

Oh, and depending on what your spending on that powercolor, theres other "options" which are "better"

Tho if im not mistaken, the powercolors are getting cheap anymore..

[Harry Potter]

Your problems sound EXACTLY identical to the ones I was having.

The power supply just "went" one day.  One day I smelled the electrical burning smell, and nothing booted.  Swapped it out with a new one.  Problem seemed to lessen ONLY...they DID NOT go away, but at least they were happening less frequently.  While trying to work on a LARGE Photoshop file, I began experiencing random shutdowns....someone here recommended memtest.  One of my chips was bad.  Replaced it, and started buying parts for a new system in case something ELSE went bad. 

Metalhead's giving you some good advice.  Your issues are more than likely hardware related, and you'll have to test them one at a time with "known to be good" products if you can't do a software test on 'em. 

The boot issues....try running a thorough Scandisk.  See what it tells you.

I'm having the same problems with photoshop as well as other intensive applications. I've had power and powersupply problems in the past which seemed to have caused these. I've managed to narrow it down to the motheroard (as I've swapped everything in the computer to no avail).

Your problem sounds like either memory or CPU related.
Good luck.

[shmokes]

Yeah....I would guess power supply or overheating in that order.  If the fan on your CPU seems to be spinning full-speed and it's not making any strange noises you might try pulling it off, clean of the thermal grease with 99% isopropyl rubbing alcohol, and then apply a new layer of thermal grease (use a razor blade to apply a uniform paper thin layer over the CPU core) and reseat the heatsink/fan.  You can do all this for free, or for a few dollars if you don't have any thermal compound.  If you need to buy thermal compound Arctic Silver 5 is the best, but any Arctic Silver is a pretty excellent choice.

I would probably attack the heat issue first because it costs practically nothing, while a decent 300 watt power supply will knock you back $50.

[sasuke_kun12]

Yeah i think it's a overheat problem coz i've played doom 3 on my pc and it looks likes a rats arse! but i'll give the psu a try. don't know why my 1800+ is runnin at 1.15 it should be a 1350mhz

oh SOAPboy, powercolor ati radeon 9600xt comes bundled with hl2! in AUS thats like $259

[SOAPboy]

Yeah i think it's a overheat problem coz i've played doom 3 on my pc and it looks likes a rats arse! but i'll give the psu a try. don't know why my 1800+ is runnin at 1.15 it should be a 1350mhz

oh SOAPboy, powercolor ati radeon 9600xt comes bundled with hl2! in AUS thats like $259

USED to come bundled.. beware of bait and switches on that one..


as for it running "slow".. Check your FSB, ill bet its wrong.. might need to change it.. ^_^

Which if its the case, rams prolly running wrong too.. which could be cause for your reboots..

[RayB]

The thing about AMD chips, is that there is only 1 way you should put the heatsink on, but it's POSSIBLE to put it on backwards.

Happened to me. Worked fine for about a year, but eventually the "compound" between the cpu and heatsink started to burn away and I ran into overheating problems. You HAVE to keep an eye on the temps using a program like AIDA32 or whatever came with your mobo (like Asus has "Asus Probe").

If it's a modern mobo though, you shouldn't be getting lockups due to overheating. Overheating is supposed to cause the auto-shut down to kick in instead.

Other similar problems like this I've encountered: Make sure your CPU and MEMORY are both correctly set in the BIOS. Set them to AUTO. If the memory timing is incorrect, it will still work, but will lock-up.

Sometimes, a memory slot will go bad. Try moving the stick to another slot.

[SOAPboy]

The thing about AMD chips, is that there is only 1 way you should put the heatsink on, but it's POSSIBLE to put it on backwards.

Happened to me. Worked fine for about a year, but eventually the "compound" between the cpu and heatsink started to burn away and I ran into overheating problems. You HAVE to keep an eye on the temps using a program like AIDA32 or whatever came with your mobo (like Asus has "Asus Probe").

If it's a modern mobo though, you shouldn't be getting lockups due to overheating. Overheating is supposed to cause the auto-shut down to kick in instead.

Other similar problems like this I've encountered: Make sure your CPU and MEMORY are both correctly set in the BIOS. Set them to AUTO. If the memory timing is incorrect, it will still work, but will lock-up.

Sometimes, a memory slot will go bad. Try moving the stick to another slot.

Also can be to much pressure on the socket.. had a heatsink that hated my board..

And those "auto off" things on mobos.. generally only kick off if its at boil point, and thats WHEN they work..

[RayB]

And those "auto off" things on mobos.. generally only kick off if its at boil point, and thats WHEN they work..

Well my overheat shut-off worked flawlessly, over and over. That's how I eventually figured out it was overheating. I removed the heatsink. Saw I had put it on wrong (needed to be turned 180'). Add a layer of new silver compound. Put the heatsink back on correctly, and now that same chip is still running, but running cool.

~Ray B.

[DrewKaree]

The thing about AMD chips, is that there is only 1 way you should put the heatsink on, but it's POSSIBLE to put it on backwards.

Explain this some more and perhaps link to a few credible sources, as that has to be one of the most ridiculous sounding things I've heard since....you could get pregnant from a dirty toilet seat.

Your compound melted/burned away, and all you did was turn it 180^o and that solved it.  HOW?  It's a heatsink.  Its purpose is to sit on top of your processor and a thin layer of compound and wick heat away.  How on God's green earth does turning it in half a circle make it wick heat away better?