[strider]

Hello all,

Well, I have been struggling trying to track down this problem for a while now on my own, now time to get some help.

First, sorry for the length. I wish to be complete.

The system:
Mobo: Abit kv8-max3
Cpu: Atholon64 3200+
Sound: Onboard realtek ac97
OS: w2k pro
dx: 9.0c
Memory:
This is where it get's confusing. 2 512 sticks of crucial pc3200 ddr. Also one stick swaping in and out of crucial 256 pc2700 I beleive (can't rmemeber) ddr.

Ok, the problem.
Computer was operating fine, till one day it started to develop out of the blue stability problems. (lock ups, reboots, program crashes, ect) Usually only when a lot of memory was being utilized. Games in paticular. First guess was the memory. I swapped it out with the 256 module, and system became stable again. Great, isolated I thought. Order'd a new stick of memory, and was gonna warrenty the old one when it came. Popped new stick in, stability problems reaccured. I then moved the 512 module into another computer. In the other computer, there were no problems. Sooo... I determined that the memory was actually ok. Problem was elsewhere. (Btw, memory was from crucial for my mobo). I then try'd swapping mobos. Identical mobo. Thought that might be the problem. No good, problem persisted. Now I was confused. I swapped vid cards. Removed everything from the system other then the cpu, mobo, memory and hdd and floppy. Problems persisted. Swapped hdd's. Problem persisted. Oh, ya, did a reinstall of os in there before everything. Now, I'm perplexed. The only things I can think of are the ps, and the cpu. I don't think a faulty ps would cause errors such as this, but I can swap it out, if anyone disagrees, and thinks it might be the culprit. Soooo, I'm thinking the cpu. The odd thing is the problem only precents itself when I use a memory module above 256. I'm guessing something with the memory management on my cpu. So..... do you all concur? Should I go through the process of getting a warrenty replacement on my cpu?

TIA
-John

[SICS]

Hi John,

First thing I would would be to check to see if there is a flash for your bios. It seems the system doesn't like the memory. Sometimes MFG's release a bios update that fixes many memory issues, and compatability issues. Check to see if there is updated one, and let us know.

[strider]

Tried all the bios. Even downgrading. Was one of first things I tried. SOrry I forgot to mention that. Also, the memory worked fine for months before this problem arouse, so I think bios is not the problem.
Any other ideas?
-John

[strider]

Looks like I found it. Cpu. Haven't tested enough yet, but so far so good. Took the advice of a tech at a repair shop I was e-mailing. Suggested bying a cpu testing, then returning.
FINALLY!
-John

[SICS]

If you've bought a reatail cpu, just give AMD a call and they'll ship you out a new one ASAP

[strider]

Ya, I did and I will. Strange though, all the problems haven't vanished. It's gotten better. Considerably better, but I'm still gettin crashes in UT2004, one of the apps I was using to test for stability. Now I can get into game though and play for a bit before it happens, and 3dmark is no longer locking up pc. And I'm not freezing/crashing/locking up just using normal desktop applications. This is realllly waaaay to perplexing. Y would replacing the cpu dimish the problem, but not completely fix it. Very very confusing.
-John

[strider]

well, found the prob with ut2004. I had reinstalled it to make sure nothing was currupt in part of my debuggin process. Never put the patch back. Patched up and now it's running solid. Now I just have to figure out y the cd drives are acting funny. Recently stopped reading a new disk I put in. Will only read a disk when it boots up with the disk in there. Otherwise say's disk not formated. Confusing. But it looks like problems are on there way out now. Yay!