SPECS
amd 64 3000+ s939 stock (not venice) with zalman alcu heatsink
viak8t k8t800
2x 512mb patriot pc3200
radeon 9800pro 128mb agp stock
80gb ide harddrive
cd/dvd rom combo
antec smart power 400watt with 23a on the 12v (according to the sticker)
The way the computer crashes is that it makes a loud beep and usually the screen turns black, but sometimes it freezes on the last screen for a long time. It used to get vpu errors occassionaly before I turned vpu recover off. Sometimes the computer will crash after being on only for a little bit, but usually it crashes after a long period of gaming and will keep crashing upon resetting unless allowed to rest for a while.
It crashes only during games (warcraft 3: the frozen throne, civ 4, and css are the games that are played on this computer); I've yet to see it crash while browsing or running stability tests. For example, I recently ran prime95 for almost 20 hours without it crashing.
I've switched video cards but the computer still crashed sometimes. I think there is something conspicuous about the cpu temps; it idles around fifty and hovers around 70 during prime95 but doesn't crash. Overheating would explain the beeps. If this is the cause of the problem, how do I go about fixing it? And if it isn't, what else could it be?
Any help is appreciated.
EDIT: The computer also crashes without beeping, where the screen silently goes black. Just a few minutes ago it crashed without beeping and Abit's EQ had shown the cpu temp to be at 60 degrees celcius (the shutdown point is 85) just a few minutes prior, so perhaps there may be other problems. Also, I forgot to mention that the computer doesn't fully shutdown when it crashes. I have to shut it down by holding the button down before I can turn it back on or I can simply press the restart button.
amd 64 3000+ s939 stock (not venice) with zalman alcu heatsink
viak8t k8t800
2x 512mb patriot pc3200
radeon 9800pro 128mb agp stock
80gb ide harddrive
cd/dvd rom combo
antec smart power 400watt with 23a on the 12v (according to the sticker)
The way the computer crashes is that it makes a loud beep and usually the screen turns black, but sometimes it freezes on the last screen for a long time. It used to get vpu errors occassionaly before I turned vpu recover off. Sometimes the computer will crash after being on only for a little bit, but usually it crashes after a long period of gaming and will keep crashing upon resetting unless allowed to rest for a while.
It crashes only during games (warcraft 3: the frozen throne, civ 4, and css are the games that are played on this computer); I've yet to see it crash while browsing or running stability tests. For example, I recently ran prime95 for almost 20 hours without it crashing.
I've switched video cards but the computer still crashed sometimes. I think there is something conspicuous about the cpu temps; it idles around fifty and hovers around 70 during prime95 but doesn't crash. Overheating would explain the beeps. If this is the cause of the problem, how do I go about fixing it? And if it isn't, what else could it be?
Any help is appreciated.
EDIT: The computer also crashes without beeping, where the screen silently goes black. Just a few minutes ago it crashed without beeping and Abit's EQ had shown the cpu temp to be at 60 degrees celcius (the shutdown point is 85) just a few minutes prior, so perhaps there may be other problems. Also, I forgot to mention that the computer doesn't fully shutdown when it crashes. I have to shut it down by holding the button down before I can turn it back on or I can simply press the restart button.