Computer problem I just can't figure out.... (SOLVED!)

[Ginsu Victim]

First off, I'll get the specs out of the way:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000 3.1GHz Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core Processor

ASUS M2N-MX SE Plus AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Transcend 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model JM4GDDR2-8K

DIAMOND 3650PE1GOC Radeon HD 3650 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX12V Power Supply

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM

So here's the deal.....

My system runs everything fine, except for when I do anything 3D. Well, I take that back. EVERYTHING runs fine, including 3D, until I begin any kind of input (mouse/keyboard, gamepad, etc).

For example, I ran the Street Fighter IV benchmark and it ran perfect. It never gave me a single slowdown or anything. This morning I installed the game and it ran fine at first, but once I started playing, I began to get off and on slowdown. It was never related to anything happening on-screen. It just happened on a regular cycle.

This regular cycle slowdown has been the problem in everything. Games will run perfect, then slow. It's cyclical.

I bought Ghostbusters and everything ran great until they finally gave me control of my character. Once I was able to start playing, the slowdowns began.

This is the case with Far Cry, Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead, GTAIV, Plasma Pong.....even Postal 2. Older games are even giving me this problem. I can set games to their absolute lowest settings and I still get this slowdown.

This problem existed for me in Windows XP SP2, so I thought if I upgraded to Vista 64, maybe that would help, but it didn't. When I installed Vista, it was a fresh install onto a formated drive and before I did anything else, I tried Far Cry 2 and the problem still existed.

So is this input related? I'm really stumped here and I've tried a lot of things to figure it out.

I'm not at home at the moment, so I can't try any suggestions right now, but I'm open to hearing any ideas on this. I've got a good gaming rig, short of being able to actually game on it!


Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[HaRuMaN]

Hmm... that's an odd one.  Sounds almost like it could be your video card...  have you updated the drivers to it?

Also, do you have another video card you can swap out and to try to reproduce the problem?

[HaRuMaN]

Also...  have you been monitoring the heat on your video card?  Do you have any extra cooling on it?

[Ginsu Victim]

Drivers are up to date. The one thing I've been working on doing IS getting ahold of another card, but I don't have a comparable card and no one I know has one I can borrow.

[Ginsu Victim]

Also...  have you been monitoring the heat on your video card?  Do you have any extra cooling on it?

The problem starts right away. The temp is fine, and I have seven fans in my system.

[SirPeale]

Have you tried swapping out your input peripherals?

[Ginsu Victim]

Five different mice, two keyboards, PS2 controller via USB, Xbox360 controller via USB. Tried several.

[saint]

Check for BIOS updates.

[Ginsu Victim]

up to date

[saint]

Hrm.. well, across two separate OS loads of two different OSes, I would have bet on hardware on firmware. At this point, just for troubleshooting, I'd be swapping out components.

[Ginsu Victim]

That's been the plan. I'm just trying to find a different vid card to try. This one is PCI-E 2.0 16x. Should I maybe try a non-2.0 card, if I can get ahold of one? I'll order one if I really have to. (I have no idea of the difference...)

[CCM]

Check the return policies of places like Best Buy or Staples.  If you can buy a video card at one of those places and return it no questions asked for a full refund, it would be easier than ordering online.   If you find the video card is the problem, then order a new one online for cheaper...

[Ginsu Victim]

I've definitely considered it already.

[Ginsu Victim]

I just went to our IT department and asked if they had a decent card I could borrow for the weekend, so I've got an XFX GeForce 7200 GS 256MB card to try out. Nowhere near what I'm using, but it will at least give me an idea whether or not it's my current video card that's giving me the trouble. I'll try it over the weekend and get back to this thread with my results (though I'm still open to suggestions).

[ChadTower]

Something wants to tell me it's the power supply.  It doesn't make a ton of sense but I have seen a couple of machines where peak loads would cause the supply to overload, reducing current flow, and some part of the system would respond by slowing down.  It wasn't always the same part, either.

[Ginsu Victim]

My PSU is brand new. It did the same thing with the last one. (different brand and wattage)

[HaRuMaN]

PEBKAC 

[Ginsu Victim]

PEBKAC 

need an emoticon that flips you off..... 

[ChadTower]

Could it be the line voltage, then?  Is it plugged into an outlet strip or UPS?  A different outlet?

[HaRuMaN]

PEBKAC 

need an emoticon that flips you off..... 

Or maybe an ID ten T error...   

[Ginsu Victim]

Could it be the line voltage, then?  Is it plugged into an outlet strip or UPS?  A different outlet?

Power strip.
What about not being grounded? Hardly any of the outlets in our house are.

[ChadTower]

Power strip.
What about not being grounded? Hardly any of the outlets in our house are.

Well that's not good but probably would cause an issue from the start if it were one.  Anything new on that strip?  Anything new on that circuit as a whole?  How old is the strip?

[Ginsu Victim]

Strip is a few years old. The same things that are normally on it are on it. My last computer ran fine on it.

[ChadTower]

My last computer ran fine on it.

That doesn't mean much unless you have a $100 power strip.  Cheap power strips age badly.  It is probably worth taking the 90 seconds to swap it out just to be sure.

[Ginsu Victim]

Well, it wasn't a cheapie (it does have some surge protection), but it's worth a shot.

[Ginsu Victim]

And by "last computer" I mean that I took it out, put in the new one, and the problems were there from the start.

[drventure]

Out in left field, but there's a couple things I'd check.

1) are there any background processes running that you aren't familiar with. If you've got a backup process, or and indexing service firing up after a specific amount of time, those things could definitely slow the pc down. And +you+ may not have even installed them, but something you did install set them up behind your back. Check the Scheduled processes in Control panel too.

2) is the system bios all standard settings. Sometimes just resetting the bios to defaults and retweaking it could fix a problem like that.

[Ginsu Victim]

1) Like I said in my first post, I tried fresh installs of Win XP and Vista 64 on a drive I'd just wiped clean. I went straight into trying games before installing anything else (drivers aside). Also, I've tried AMD Fusion, which closes as many background processes as possible, and I still had the problem.

2) I've tried resetting it. Nadda.

[saint]

1) Like I said in my first post, I tried fresh installs of Win XP and Vista 64 on a drive I'd just wiped clean. I went straight into trying games before installing anything else (drivers aside). Also, I've tried AMD Fusion, which closes as many background processes as possible, and I still had the problem.

2) I've tried resetting it. Nadda.

Firmware on the video card maybe? Is it onboard audio?

[Ginsu Victim]

Firmware on the video card maybe? Is it onboard audio?

I've never seen a firmware update in my searches. (Nor have I read anyone say they've done one on this card...)

Yes, I am running onboard audio. I'll try a sound card. Thanks for pointing that out.

[massive88]

Firmware on the video card maybe? Is it onboard audio?

I've never seen a firmware update in my searches. (Nor have I read anyone say they've done one on this card...)

Yes, I am running onboard audio. I'll try a sound card. Thanks for pointing that out.

Just disable it.

For that matter, disable everything you dont absolutely need from inside your bios.  Unplug cd-roms/hdds/remove ram sticks etc... get down to the barest of bones that you need to get into the game and see if it works.  If it does, start to enable things.

[Ginsu Victim]

hard drives aren't a problem, as I tried two different ones previously.

I'd considered removing 2 GB of RAM and trying them one at a time.

I'll try disabling the sound and running a game without it before I try the sound card. Thanks for that idea.

(I'm jotting all these ideas down and will try them later)

[ChadTower]

How is removing RAM going to provide an effective test on high load slowing down of the PC?

[King Nerd]

How is removing RAM going to provide an effective test on high load slowing down of the PC?

If one of the RAM chips are the issue, NOT having it in there might prove that it's a RAM issue.
It'll be a constant slow down, not an intermittent one.

Every RAM issue I've had froze the system completely, not slowed it down. *shrugs*

Does input slow everything down? For instance, watching a DVD and typing away?

[Ginsu Victim]

How is removing RAM going to provide an effective test on high load slowing down of the PC?

Hey, I'm grasping at straws here.

[Ginsu Victim]

Does input slow everything down? For instance, watching a DVD and typing away?

Nope, just in games that access the 3D. 2D stuff isn't affected.

[massive88]

How is removing RAM going to provide an effective test on high load slowing down of the PC?

Sherlock Holmes style of computer trouble shooting.

Also, you can still load a computer without several gigs of ram and see if it gives consistent frame rates.  Run it with two sticks, then the other two, then mix two.  Two gigs should be plenty of ram to do whatever game and see if it still slows down.  One gig should be enough (in XP) provided he doesnt have word documents and webpages open at the same time.

[Ginsu Victim]

One gig should be enough (in XP) provided he doesnt have word documents and webpages open at the same time.

When I play a game, I always restart the computer and make sure I have as little running as possible.

[Xiaou2]

Your USB devices may be eating too much power.  And or one of them is faulty.

 The USB onboard controller may also be faulty.

 Try different USB ports as well.

 Try updating and reloading the latest drivers for all hardware.

[Ginsu Victim]

All drivers are up to date. I've tried playing with no USB devices attached and used PS/2 keyboard and mouse instead.

I'm starting to think it is not input related. I think it just took a few moments before the problem showed up. (in the Ghostbusters instance)

[TOK]

My guess is power supply. That supply is a single 12v rail, and they're just do not supply enough voltage for modern systems. Classic symptoms are behaving fine in 2d apps, then going berserk in 3d when the card draws too much power.

[Ginsu Victim]

My previous PSU had dual rail and I still had the problem.

[Xiaou2]

 How Hot is the case and CPU?

 Also, Check chipsets that are only heatsink cooled... which are getting way too
hot to the touch.

 Open the side of the case, place a large box fan pointing that way... and do some
play tests.

[protokatie]

For some reason I can't get the thought that DirectX may infact be the problem. Maybe the current versions of DirectX have a bug that makes them not work well with the specific vidcard (something M$ would have to fix in a hotfix, or a driver fix (soon, hopefully) from the vidcard makers). I hope for you it is just the vidcard, have you gotten the chance to test the one from work yet?

I had a somewhat similar problem with a computer I bought 4 years ago. I would do anything 3d and it would run at 1-2 fps, it turns out that it was defaulting to OpenGL instead of Direct3D, but the video system didn't have native OpenGL support it just emulated it. Fixed it by ensuring stuff was using Direct3D instead of openGL.

[Ginsu Victim]

 How Hot is the case and CPU?

 Also, Check chipsets that are only heatsink cooled... which are getting way too
hot to the touch.

 Open the side of the case, place a large box fan pointing that way... and do some
play tests.

I've got seven fans in this case and temp monitoring always running. I tend to stay in the 38c - 48c range.

For some reason I can't get the thought that DirectX may infact be the problem.

I've tried both DX 9.0c and DX 10.

Right now I have the drivers downloading for this video card from work, and I'll see what happens with it.

[Ginsu Victim]

Okay, my tests with the borrowed video card have shown no slowdowns, other than those related to the fact that it's an older card. Now I just need to get my hands on a more modern card and see how that goes.

Edit: Nevermind. The slowdowns are happening with that card as well.

Grrr....

I really appreciate everything you guys have done for me thus far.

[Fordman]

Goto www.pcpitstop.com, you'll have to register, then download an ActiveX control and run the performance test. It will run a 2D & 3D test, tell you if that is where your issue is. Also it will do a drivers test to make sure your drivers are up to date. It will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about your setup. Your screen will do funny things for about 3 minutes, then it will give you results and compare with other testers to see where your system stands

It's free but beware, they are trying to sell you Antivirus and Driver UPdate software. They tell you whats wrong, you just have to hunt for the correct drivers from the mfg if they are out of date. Their driver update software is kinda like an all-in-one thing; tell whats wrong, download the latest driver from mfg, install for you.

give it a try!

 

Fordman

[Ginsu Victim]

I ran Speedfan and watched it as I played. The CPU load maxes out every 10-20 seconds for about five seconds at a time. Doesn't happen when running normally, but it does when I start anything 3D. Hmmmm.....

[ChadTower]

I ran Speedfan and watched it as I played. The CPU load maxes out every 10-20 seconds for about five seconds at a time. Doesn't happen when running normally, but it does when I start anything 3D. Hmmmm.....

May not really point the finger at 3D... could be circumstantial since 3D is probably your most taxing usage.  Try running something that isn't 3D but would work the system just as hard.

[Hoopz]

I saw you mentioned the onboard audio and possibly trying a sound card.  Assuming your driver for it is up to date, how did disabling it go?  Did you try the sound card?

Also, when you installed the OS, did you install the chipset drivers?  What about SATA drivers for the hard drive(s) or raid drivers?  Basic stuff that you probably did but it doesn't hurt to ask.

If those things all test out, I would think the next step is to try and find someone with the same specs or close to it to see any issues that they have (or not). 

When you say the slowdowns happened on a regular cycle as opposed to actual game play, was it happening every X amount of time (15 seconds or 1 minute) etc? 

Also, it looks like you've covered the game that'll test your system fairly well.  I'd say throw in a game from a few years ago and see how it does.  QIII or Unreal Tmnt etc.  Don't max out the video and see how it plays.  If you get the same issues, that may help diagnose the issue.

Does Windows still have DirectInput?  I forgot about that but it may have some issues.  It wouldn't hurt to check out their website for a known problem with directX or input and your mobo.  Check Asus' site also for it. 

[Ginsu Victim]

I saw you mentioned the onboard audio and possibly trying a sound card.  Assuming your driver for it is up to date, how did disabling it go?  Did you try the sound card?

I disabled the onboard and it showed no improvement, so at that point I just assumed adding a sound card would make no difference.

Also, when you installed the OS, did you install the chipset drivers?  What about SATA drivers for the hard drive(s) or raid drivers?  Basic stuff that you probably did but it doesn't hurt to ask.

All that.

If those things all test out, I would think the next step is to try and find someone with the same specs or close to it to see any issues that they have (or not).

Kinda hard with all the different setups out there to do. I've searched for people using the same motherboard, and none of them have reported the same issues.

When you say the slowdowns happened on a regular cycle as opposed to actual game play, was it happening every X amount of time (15 seconds or 1 minute) etc? 

Yeah, X amount of time. It was different depending on what was running, but it was always in a regular pattern.

Also, it looks like you've covered the game that'll test your system fairly well.  I'd say throw in a game from a few years ago and see how it does.  QIII or Unreal Tmnt etc.  Don't max out the video and see how it plays.  If you get the same issues, that may help diagnose the issue.

Postal 2 on 640x480 with everything turned all the way down still does it, though I tried Unreal Tournament (the original) and it ran flawless.

Does Windows still have DirectInput?  I forgot about that but it may have some issues.  It wouldn't hurt to check out their website for a known problem with directX or input and your mobo.  Check Asus' site also for it. 

DXDIAG reports no problems. It's strange how in a game, if I'm doing nothing, it still slows down, but the SFIV benchmark ran great (while the game ran great, then like ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, then great, then ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---...).

I appreciate all the questions, Hoopz.

[Hoopz]

Ok.... Maybe have Saint or a mod move this to the software forum.  Some of those guys may have some ideas. 

 

[Ginsu Victim]

Nah....I think I'm just gonna give up for now.

[IceCold]

Would've replied sooner but just saw this thread.

I'm calling it heat.  Read first post, thought heat.  Read the rest of the posts, and REALLY think heat.  You have seven fans, but that doesn't mean much.  If one or two of them are backwards your airflow will be crap.  Also, the thermal compound hooking your heatsink to your processor could be not working properly.

Install prime 95.  Run it on both cores while monitoring speedfan.  I bet your heat will skyrocket much higher than you would've anticipated.  And, as said, it could be your chipset getting too hot.

This has the side benefit of testing ram too, if you run the blend test.  I agree with Xiaou2, open the side of the case, point big household fan at it, and try play tests.  Oh and try running 3dmark, that will be less subjective than watching game performance.

Don't give up just yet

[Ginsu Victim]

I did try the free version of 3dmark, and man did it bring my system to a crawl (couldn't change settings to reflect what I tend to run games at). The only thing getting hot is the video card, topping out at 69° C, but even when it's running cool, I still have the problems. (If it was just a hot card, wouldn't the problem stay once it got too hot? Like I've mentioned, this is an almost cyclical problem, ebbing and flowing in a regular pattern)
I just ran a different tool and come to find out, it's my CPU that is running that hot! OUCH!

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try them.

[ChadTower]

Are you playing in a nightclub?  Strobe lights?

[Ginsu Victim]

Other than the hit of X I take before each game, no.

[Xiaou2]

 Disable any speed throttling in the bios.

 Quiet & Cool,  and auto-overclock.

[Ginsu Victim]

Already taken care.

[IceCold]

I did try the free version of 3dmark, and man did it bring my system to a crawl (couldn't change settings to reflect what I tend to run games at). The only thing getting hot is the video card, topping out at 69° C, but even when it's running cool, I still have the problems. (If it was just a hot card, wouldn't the problem stay once it got too hot? Like I've mentioned, this is an almost cyclical problem, ebbing and flowing in a regular pattern)

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try them.

Well I don't think it's just a hot video card, as you wouldn't have had the problem with the other vid card.    It would make sense if it was hot chipset or CPU though, as it would get hot, throttle itself to cool down, and then heat back up.  So it would be cyclical like what you describe.

Have you had a chance to try the large household fan?  That would rule out heat(as it would be blowing on the chipset as well, and would be  giving you lots of cool air on it).

Do you have a different power supply you could try?  I would also try clearing your bios back to factory settings in case some weird setting got changed.

If none of that works, I'd probably just buy a new motherboard.  Time is money, and the more time you spend on this, the less money spending another $50-$60 on a motherboard seems.  According to a newegg review of your motherboard:

"where to start, the board didnt work right out of the box had to clear the cmos, then it would boot because of having two sticks of memory. after I messed with it for awhile it ran windows ok but games was a whole other thing. I have a athlon x2 6000+, 9600gt 2 gigs ram, 250 gig sata hd and had fps randging from 5 to 95 on call of duty 5 tried everythin nothing helped bought a new msi k9a2 neo-f and my fps went to 60 to over a hundred on high setting with all the same stuff except the motherboard."

Seems there was a decent amount of people having trouble with that motherboard.  Might be worth trying to RMA it as well.

[Ginsu Victim]

Too late to RMA. As for buying a new mobo, my wife won't let me spend any more money on my computer. My last one had the PCI-E slot go out on it after owning it for only a little over a year, so I had to buy a new setup (and put that mobo in my arcade, since a regular PCI video card was fine for MAME). She said no more spending.

I did set the bios back to defaults, but I haven't moved the jumper yet to clear the BIOS completely. I will do that and I'll try the fan method soon as well. Thanks.

[Ginsu Victim]

By the way, I do have THIS which I'm considering applying, since right now I just have the OEM stuff with the AMD stock heatsink and fan. I'm going to see if it helps any, plus I'm thinking about ordering a better northbridge cooling solution, since it just has a small heatsink that gets too hot.

[SithMaster]

Too late to RMA. As for buying a new mobo, my wife won't let me spend any more money on my computer. My last one had the PCI-E slot go out on it after owning it for only a little over a year, so I had to buy a new setup (and put that mobo in my arcade, since a regular PCI video card was fine for MAME). She said no more spending.

I did set the bios back to defaults, but I haven't moved the jumper yet to clear the BIOS completely. I will do that and I'll try the fan method soon as well. Thanks.

If you really need to buy a new board (same one) to switch and return.

[Ginsu Victim]

I don't think a new board of the same kind is the answer. If it is the heat, it's common with this board according to what I've read. I'm going to mess with some heat solutions tonight and see what happens.

[IceCold]

I don't think a new board of the same kind is the answer. If it is the heat, it's common with this board according to what I've read. I'm going to mess with some heat solutions tonight and see what happens.

I think he's alluding to the issue being something like a defect on the PCI Express bus of that specific motherboard(not all of that model, just yours), or some other issue that swapping your motherboard with a different of the same model would fix.  You might be right, though, that whole model may just suck.

And I understand where you're coming from, I couldn't drop money on a new motherboard right now either.  Money's tight for a lot of people, I'm just concerned that there may not be an answer to this problem.  Anyways let us know where you get with messing with the heat solutions, and I'll try to think about it and see if I come up with anything else

[Ginsu Victim]

I've cleared the BIOS, applied OCZ Silver Thermal Paste, and I've got a box fan blowing into the open side at full blast. It ain't doin' jack for me.

Prime95 is currently running.....

[Ginsu Victim]

I just installed PC Probe II, which came bundled with my mobo, and the 69° I mentioned above turns out to be my CPU(!), not my video card! Now I'm trying to figure out how to keep this sumbitch from running so hot. Guess I need to shell out for a better heatsink and fan. This is a socket AM2, and I looked at xoxide.com, but thought maybe some of you might have suggestions on a cooling solution. Anyone? (Please, no water cooling)

[protokatie]

Well, you could always take all of the food out of your fridge, move the beer to the crisper, and cut a hole large enough in the side for the cables to poke through... Ive heard of people building small server racks inside fridges (much cheaper than ACing a room), so it might work for you. On a plus note, after your wife kicks you out and divorces you for doing this, she will prolly let you take the fridge with the hole in the side with you!

ps I would recommend putting an open container full of uncooked rice in the fridge and swapping that out every few days (soaks up any moisture that may condense in the fridge and hurt the computer)

[ChadTower]

It's running that hot with the case open and a large fan on it?

[Ginsu Victim]

Well, not that hot with the case open and fan on it. About 55°-60° tops in that situation.

[ChadTower]

I haven't dealt in home hardware at that level in quite a while.  What is the OEM accepted operating range for that cpu?

[Ginsu Victim]

beats me

[ChadTower]

beats me

You want to know that.  What's the point of trying to lower the temp if you don't know where it should be operating?  Operating range should be in the manual.  For all you know it's already where it should be.

[Ginsu Victim]

I know that I should know it. I "knew" it, but don't recall. I just don't have the number off the top of my head and need to look it up....

Sorry, this morning is being spent looking at buying UFC tickets for Sept 16 (Fight Night Live! Nate Diaz vs Melvin Guillard / Gray Maynard vs Roger Huerta!)

[ChadTower]

Sorry, this morning is being spent looking at buying UFC tickets for Sept 16 (Fight Night Live! Nate Diaz vs Melvin Guillard / Gray Maynard vs Roger Huerta!)

Heh.  Went to an IFL event but can't say I have been to the UFC.

[Ginsu Victim]

They haven't been in OKC since UFC 4! I about pissed myself when I found out tix go on sale tomorrow! This is going to be the best birthday present ever.

[ChadTower]

Yeah OKC isn't exactly a booming market.  Awesome that you finally get the chance to see them if that is something you have wanted.  They do occasionally come up here but I have never gone.

[Ginsu Victim]

One of the few times I've actually been aware of an event like this before tix go on sale. At WCW and WWE, I always got stuck in the nose-bleeds. Going for better seats this time.

[ChadTower]

One of the few times I've actually been aware of an event like this before tix go on sale. At WCW and WWE, I always got stuck in the nose-bleeds. Going for better seats this time.

Meh, depending on the cost spread, you're often better off further back and bringing binoculars.  The only time being closer is a real benefit is if you're one of those idiots who paid through the colon for the first 5 rows.  Any further back than that and you're usually looking at the back of people's heads because the floor is flat.  Or, at a wrestling event, you end up spending the whole event yelling at the guy in front of you that you didn't pay $100 a seat to look at the back of his ID RATHUR BE IN CHYNA sign.

[Ginsu Victim]

One of the few times I've actually been aware of an event like this before tix go on sale. At WCW and WWE, I always got stuck in the nose-bleeds. Going for better seats this time.

Meh, depending on the cost spread, you're often better off further back and bringing binoculars.  The only time being closer is a real benefit is if you're one of those idiots who paid through the colon for the first 5 rows.  Any further back than that and you're usually looking at the back of people's heads because the floor is flat.  Or, at a wrestling event, you end up spending the whole event yelling at the guy in front of you that you didn't pay $100 a seat to look at the back of his ID RATHUR BE IN CHYNA sign.

That's why we're trying for the first level off the floor, as close to those front rows as possible.

[ChadTower]

That's why we're trying for the first level off the floor, as close to those front rows as possible.

Judging from the crowd shots on TV that's where all the fake Vin Diesels sit.   

[Ginsu Victim]

Finally figured out my problem and fixed it!

My BIOS doesn't allow me to change the voltage or CPU frequency, and after searching for the right program, I found one that let me do it in Vista.

So I reduced the multiplier from 15.5x down to 15x (running at 3.0Ghz instead of 3.1Ghz), and dropped the voltage from 1.4 to 1.2 (acceptable range for this CPU), and now my problems are gone. The heat dropped substantially.

I also went ahead and changed the thermal paste on the northbridge to OCZ Silver 5 and that seems to have helped as well.

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SUGGESTIONS!

[SirPeale]

So lowering your heat and voltage made your device problems go away?  No kidding.

Sounds like your power supply is inadequate.

[Ginsu Victim]

I dunno, cuz it happened with the last PSU as well. This motherboard didn't even support the CPU until a BIOS update came out, so maybe it just wasn't set up to handle it correctly. All I know is I'm playing games now and the temp is playing nice.

[ChadTower]

Sounds like he's running the mobo at the edge of its capability and it's just not a good match with the CPU.

[Ginsu Victim]

Sounds like he's running the mobo at the edge of its capability and it's just not a good match with the CPU.

Yep, that's how it seems.

[Ginsu Victim]

Well, though I found a way to fix this myself, I found a forum post that appears to have located the culprit: overheating voltage regulators.
http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=22&threadid=95179&enterthread=y

I will add a fan like the pics show, but I will continue to slightly underclock, as well.

Performance has been great. It's nice to be able to enjoy PC games again.