New System...random lockups...frustrated

[Zorn]

I built a system for a client over the weekend:

Athlon XP 2400
Aopen AK75 Mobo (SIS 745)
256 Mbytes DDR Ram (Crucial)
40 Gig HD
32 Mbyte ATI Radeon
Raidmax case w/ 350W Raidmax PS

System was built and initial OS and software loaded without a hitch (with the exception of the SIS chipset hating the Netgear FA311, which I had to swap out, this is a known issue).

I took the system to the client's office yesterday, installed a Belken 10/100 PCI NIC (the only thing Staples carries other than Netgear), loaded Norton Anti-Virus and then, all hell breaks loose. The system begins exhibiting symptoms of overheating, e.g., random lockups, particularly when loading software either from the CD-Rom (Adobe Acrobat), the network server (PCLaw) or from the system's own hard drive (download of AVG Antivirus -- I scrapped Norton's thinking it might be an issue).

I loaded the initial software with the case panel removed in my nice, cool basement. This office is very warm and the system sits under a desk, so I remove the panel, turn the case on its side and try to load software...I seem to get a bit farther, but it still crashes. So, I load the Hardware Mon. and it's telling me the 2400 is running about 47ish C (at idle) with the panel on and around 40ish C (at idle) with the panel off. Both figures seem to be within specs, yet I swear it locks up less with the panel off. I swap the chip out for a 1900 XP, the temp drops to 37ish and I successfully load all the software, but I STILL get a few random lockups. Arrrrrggg!

This is weird because it seems to be heat related, yet I've got a big ass Speeze fan on the CPU, one case fan pulling air from the lower front and the Hardware Monitor is reporting what seem to be normal temps for these processors. Oh, and the voltage monitor seems well within specs as well.

Any ideas folks. I'm at a loss.

 

[Zorn]

Alrighty, as no one is responding, here's my own plan of action:

Swap out the Belkin NIC (everything was fine before I installed that card -- coincidence?)

Swap out the power supply (swapping to a lower speed CPU seemed to help, but still locked up, maybe its the PS?)

Add another case fan and a small fan to the chipset heatsink (although the CPU temp seems ok, the case temp has been around 39 C, and that seems pretty high)

Flash to the newest bios (couldn't hurt)

Beat my head against the wall (will hurt, but might be the most help).

Any other suggestions?

 

[Zorn]

OK...this just gets weirder. The system will hard lock or the screen will simply go black within one to ten minutes of normal use. I say "normal" because the damn thing will run rock solid for hours running torture tests, loops of Quake, etc. However, you can stop the torture test and open Word or start surfing the net and it will invariably hard lock or go dark. Maybe it's because input devices are involved in normal use...I don't know. ARRRRRRGGGG! Because it hard locks, I'm assuming it's hardware related, so I did the following:

Replaced the power supply
Replaced the CPU
Replaced the CPU Fan
Removed the Belkin NIC
Replaced the RAM
Unplugged all devices except the HD

And the damn thing still locks up. I've got a new motherboard on the way. I sure as hell hope it's that, otherwise, I may lose my mind.

Any advice would still be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[Zorn]

Well, NOW I know it's not the hard drive. I plugged in a new barracuda and it locked up during Win2k installation. It's gotta be the motherboad...it's just gotta be. Motherboard should be here this afternoon.

This thread is making me feel a little schizophrenic. How about someone at least reply with a good luck?

 

[drewis]

some pci slots dont like NIC's.. i think usually 1 and 3 are shared, 2 is not and 4 & 5 are shared.. try it in another slot.
be sure to remove it in device manager.

 

[John P]

I've had threads like yours before, I can relate. I assume you have updated drivers for everything.

Some ideas:

Try running with a different vid card with nothing else in the machine if you haven't already.

Does it give you any error messages at all?

Try a different CD-ROM (you mentioned it locks up when the CD-ROM is in use sometimes).

Make sure the motherboard is not shorting out on anything - extra standoffs, etc....

 

[mooojojojo]

any luck fixing it? just curious

 

[thorin]

MemTest86

Thorin

 

[EeyoreX]

As Thorin alluded to, this sounds like a problematic RAM chip. Either try MemTest, or try swapping out the RAM with a known good stick and see if that fixes the problem.

\Dan

 

[liquidtech]

strange lockups like the ones that happened to you are many times and i mean many times caused by faulty memory. Memory problems are classified as either being software memory problems or hardware problems. Try to eliminate the possibilities of this being a software problem by removing any problematic software that you suspect. Test for the physical memory problems with a memory testing utility like "check-it" or anything else. BUT REMEMBER THAT IF YOU ARE DOING A MEMORY TEST YOU NEED TO DISABLE CPU CACHE. MEMORY TESTING IS WORTHLESS IF YOU ARE RUNNING IT WITH CACHE ENABLED (YOU WOULD BE BASICALLY TESTING YOUR CACHE ONLY HE HE). you ll never find an error if you have cpu cache enabled. You say you've tried swapping out memory so like i said it may be a software memory problem or like you say motherboard so keep your eyes open.

 

[thorin]

Originally posted by: liquidtech
strange lockups like the ones that happened to you are many times and i mean many times caused by faulty memory. Memory problems are classified as either being software memory problems or hardware problems. Try to eliminate the possibilities of this being a software problem by removing any problematic software that you suspect. Test for the physical memory problems with a memory testing utility like "check-it" or anything else. BUT REMEMBER THAT IF YOU ARE DOING A MEMORY TEST YOU NEED TO DISABLE CPU CACHE. MEMORY TESTING IS WORTHLESS IF YOU ARE RUNNING IT WITH CACHE ENABLED (YOU WOULD BE BASICALLY TESTING YOUR CACHE ONLY HE HE). you ll never find an error if you have cpu cache enabled. You say you've tried swapping out memory so like i said it may be a software memory problem or like you say motherboard so keep your eyes open.

Actually that LOUD YELLING statement is only half true. MemTest86 (I dunno about others since it's the only one I use), has options within the program for disabling Cache and also uses test patterns that negate the use of cache.

Memory errors can also point to heat issues, mobo problems, faulty CPUs, etc....

Thorin