PC freezes at random interval (hardware problem)

[B-Real]

Hello people, I got my PC for over a year now and never had this problem. 2 days ago it started and the random crashes occured. The PC just freezes, nothing reacts anymore (no CTRL + ALT + DEL or anything). If you played any music, that stops aswell. The current picture stays on the monitor and you can just shutdown the hard way.

The freezes occur from anywhere between a few minutes to 1 hour or in rare cases a little longer.

My PC configuration:

Operating System Windows 2000 SP4 and all patches
AMD Athlon FX-57
Motherboard: Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
2x 512 MB Corsair PC3200 DDR Ram
ATI Radeon 1900 XTX 512 Ram
Power Supply: Levicom 450W
I didnt change anything on the hardware for a long time.

What I tried already:

- It isn't the OS, because the PC can freeze in the BIOS and when using a memory diagnosis bootdisk in DOS aswell.
- I cleaned the PC of all dust and checked CPU temperature. It starts at 37° and goes up to 45° and stays constant there. Note that in 1 year of using the PC I never had any problems with overheating, even when I had it turned on for 2 days on a hot day.
- Removed my 2 Ram blocks and replaced it with a new Ram block (fresh from the shop). Also tried the new one in all ram slots. Didnt help, same freezes again.
- Replaced my graphics card with a graphic card from a friend to check if it was the graphic card thats causing the problems. Didnt help again.

So I would be very grateful if anyone can give me a hint where to go from now. Is it the motherboard? The CPU? Or what should I try next? Thanks for your help, it's greatly appreciated!

[MrMille]

Try running memtest86

[B-Real]

I did that, and the test didnt find any errors. However the PC would freeze after some time (same as in Windows). Also keep in mind I tested it with a brand new ram block and the PC would freeze again.

A friend mentioned it could be a slowly dying power supply, that is still capable of viewing the last (frozen) picture and keeping the cooler fans running.

Any thoughts on that? Can a faulty, slowly dying power supply still keep the last picture up on the monitor and the cooler fans running?

[dicklaw18]

im not sure if that could be that, but i had something very simular happen to me. Try booting using your windows xp cd, go to repair, login to your version of windows, and try entering chkdsk /r and see if that helps, i had to do this multiple times to get my computer running. hope this helps

[Mac]

When you cleaned the dust did you have a lot on your 3D cards fan? Without having axx to it we can only guess but I think you should pull your mobo out and check for burnt out capacitors probably near 3D slot.
I know you already tried memtest & replaced the ram but you have two sticks rite. Take one out and run the tests again with just one stick in at a time. Also try the two different sticks in different slots.
My guess is your motherboard mate. Good luck

[Bryce W]

The problem with lockups is that the issue can be any piece of barebone hardware, though there are a few common culprits. The last few posts already mentioned what I would have said. However I frequently find that a bad power supply will cause lockups. In BIOS or using a utility like Speedfan, check the voltages that your power supply is producing. There are three voltages +3.3v, +5v and +12v. If any of your voltages are about .5 away from these numbers (eg. 11.3v) then your power supply is failing and needs to be replaced.

[B-Real]

Alright thanks for your suggestions so far.

Mac, about the dust on the graphic card. The graphic card has a case over the cooler fan, only at the end of the case where the air comes out was a fine dust layer of about 2-3mm dust, which I removed all. When taking out the graphic card to try it with another one I didnt see any damage on the motherboard.

I will try it tonight with a new power supply and tell you if it worked. But I have a pretty good feeling it is the power supply.

[B-Real]

So yeah I hit the jackpot, it wasn't the PSU. After building in the new Enermax PSU I still got a crash. I don't blame anyone other than myself though (for not testing the voltages in the BIOS, I just bought a new PSU in the hope it would be fixed).

So anyways today I bought my new motherboard, the same Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe again. It says 3 years warranty so I'm gonna send in the old one and maybe sell the replacement on ebay.

If the new motherboard won't fix it I will throw the PC out of the window .

[Mac]

Originally Posted by Mac

My guess is your motherboard mate. Good luck

lol lets see. dont throw it out. you have a whole bunch of parts you can salvage im sure.
Im pretty sure one of ur ram slots or ur 3d slot is defective.
Let us know how it goes.

[B-Real]

Last night I changed my motherboard, with a new Asus A8N32SLI-Deluxe. And yeah its working now without problems. It was a lot of work of course but at least I've got it running now.