E6300 hanging at times

[imported_TimBob]

I recently put together a new system.
seasonic s-12 600W PSU
ABIT AB9 Pro
e6300
2x1GB patriot DDR2 6400
evga 7950gx2
74 GB WD Raptor
2 x 320 GB seagate drives
DVD drive and external firewire HD

I'm currently running it at 402 FSB for around 2.8 GHZ - 1.375 Vcore. DDR 2 is running 1:1 at 800 mhz. Temperatures around 43 no load, 58 at load with Orthos. I've never failed any of the stability tests. Orthos for 10+ hours is the longest I've tested. Couple passes of memtest.

Now the problem: My system often hangs when doing simple tasks. Opening control panel, explorer, IE, etc..It'll just sit there for up to a couple minutes before loading anything up. Sometimes, if I have a program already open I can continue using it while waiting for the others to load. I check the task manager and CPU is pretty much idle at these times. I've played games (Titan Quest) for hours on it but have to worry about opening windows explorer.

Seems like an IO issue to me, but I can't figure it out. My 3 hard drives are on the intel ICH8R controller and DVD drive is on a JMICRON controller(which based on google
searches can be problematic).

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Tim

 

[imported_TimBob]

Well, I just noticed that whenever it happens, my external hard drive starts up and I can hear it being accessed. I was able to reproduce it twice in a row just by going to the nvidia control panel. Once the access light turned off, the pc went back to normal. Happens with both the USB and Firewire connections.

At least I've isolated the problem and I can live without that hard drive.

 

[dasmokedog]

Sounds like an issue with your MoBo. I had high hops for the AB9 Pro. I assume you have updated your BIOS to the most recent and you are running XP Pro SP2. Make sure your drives are properlu configured in your BIOS, also make sure that your IDC controllers are sdet to Ultra DMA and NOT PIO (check in Device Manager)

 

[sandorski]

Run it at stock speeds.

There was another thread around where someone was having Game issues that were somewhat like yours. Current Conroe mobos seem to have some Disk controller issues that need worked out. This is why jumping on the new thing isn't ever a great idea, waiting a couple months saves time and heartache.

 

[imported_TimBob]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's an issue with my MOBO now. I went with the AB9 PRO because I wanted one that could support the GX2 and had plenty of SATA controllers so I could create my media server.

I am on the most recent BIOS, and have the same issue at stock speeds. Fortunately I have no need for that drive anymore so it's not big deal removing it.

I'm up to 2.9 ghz now and seems stable so far. Can't seem to get any higher at the moment. Ordered some AS5 to replace the paste that came with my zalman 9500 as well as additional case fans.

 

[dasmokedog]

I know you are not going to like this, but you should scrap the ABit and get the Gigabyte DQ6. It has 8 internal SATA connections and 4 external SATA's. The DQ6 is also ready for the upcoming Quad core procs with is 12 phase power blah blah. Anyway it is a superb board for the price and I am sure you will not be dissapointed.