[CAUTION5697]

ive had my new sysytem for a while and have had numerous problems. From the beinginning ive had problems with lockups. When i am running the system, uaually while playing a game, but not always. the screen will freeze, music stop playing, mouse freeze, and the computer will still run, fan and lights and whatnot. I have not yet been able to get it out of this lockup except for restarting it.

The next problem is recent. I just installed a new power supply after blowing out my old one and also a fan speed controller. 2 days after i had another lockup and when i restarted it the boot screen that says windows xp is stuck. The bar moves but it just keeps gonig and never boots up the computer. The one thing that i have noticed is that the bar is uaually green but now since it has been like this it has turned blue. Ive tried booting in safe mode but that doenst work either. Lastly i tried to repair the OS using the xp cd but since it wont get paste that screen i can boot it up.

My last problem is my CPU temperatre. Today when i was trying to figure out these problems, i went into the bios and looked at the CPU temp. It was reading 140 degrees F. I wonder if this is contributing to any of the problems. The CPU has thermal paste and is not overclocked but i am wondering if the paste is being used incorrectly of whatever else the problem could be.

here are the system specs if you need to see them
intel 3.2 Ghz processor with hyper threading
1 gig ocz dual channel DDRII 667
Seagate 300 gig Harddrive
Asrock 775 dual 880 pro motherboar
Asus Nvidia 6800 GT 256 megs ram
ultra 500 watt x connect power supply
Xion II Case
Dual dvd burner drives
ultra commander fan speed controller (currenty removed becaue it has broken but was installed when problems started)

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Hi CAUTION5697!

Let's take this one step at a time. First lets look at your computers temperatures and power supply levels...

Download Speedfan, using the link in my signature (The download link is in the first line of the second paragraph), and install it. Once it's installed, run the program and post here the temperatures it shows. The information I want you to post is the stuff that is circled in the example picture I have attached.

Fenor

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by Fenor, 04 May 2006 - 07:30 PM.

[Fenor]

Hi CAUTION5697!

Let's take this one step at a time. First lets look at your computers temperatures and power supply levels...

Download Speedfan, using the link in my signature (The download link is in the first line of the second paragraph), and install it. Once it's installed, run the program and post here the temperatures it shows. The information I want you to post is the stuff that is circled in the example picture I have attached.

Fenor

Attached Thumbnails

• 

Edited by Fenor, 04 May 2006 - 07:30 PM.

[CAUTION5697]

i cant download or install the program becuase i cant even boot up my computer. this issue that i have to tackel first is getting it up and running, then i can worry about the others. It is still stuck on the boot screen like i said in the description and i dont know how to get it out of there. also booting in safe does not work

[CAUTION5697]

ok well i fixed the first problem and now my computer is back up and running. I have alsompartially fixed the heat problem by re-applying the thermal paste. it had been done incorrectly the first time through and was too thick. Now the temp is hovering around 47 degrees C, but if i can get it any lower, that be great. Anyway heres the speedfan info, i took a screenshot of it

[Fenor]

How many fans do you have in your case? You should ideally have one fan blowing air IN from the front of the case and one blowing air OUT at the back of the case. Increased airflow will allow for cooler temperatures since the hot air is being pushed out the back and cool outside (the case) air is being pulled in through the front.

Fenor

[CAUTION5697]

ive got a bunch of fans. a 120 mm intake fan in the front, a 120 mm exhaust fan in the rear, an 80 mm side fan, and then the cpu and video card fans

[Fenor]

The 120mm fan on the front should be blowing air in. The 80mm side fan should be blowing air in. The 120mm fan in the rear should be blowing air out. Make sure they are blowing in the right direction.

Also, is your case made of metal or aluminum? If it's metal, I would suggest getting a new case that is made of aluminum. Metal cases act has an oven for a computer.

Fenor

P.S. -- Nevermind the case question, you have a good Xion II Case which is aluminum

Edited by Fenor, 04 May 2006 - 07:08 PM.

[Fenor]

One other question, what type of thermal paste did you use? I would recommend using Artic Silver 7, which is absolutely amazing. The temperature of my CPU lowered a full 10C when I switched to it. I also got a good copper heatsink/fan combo which also helped another 3-5C for a total of about 13-15C drop in temperature, which is huge.

Fenor

[SRX660]

You still have a problem with the cpu temp. More than likely a aftermarket heatsink would help. My intel prescott 3.0 idles at 36° and has not hit over 50° yet. I have a thermotake blue orb on it. Even when i am editing video the temp has not gone over 50°.

You also have a problem with a low 12 volt line on the PS. When my athlon 2400 was locking up on me all the time i noticed the 12 volt line was as low as yours. I replaced the PS with a thermotake 430 watt( replacing a 450 watt elcheapo)and the locking up problems disappeared. With the thermotake my 12 volt line is at 12.34 volts. Heres a website on power supplys.

http://jonnyguru.com...ethebrands.html

SRX660

[CAUTION5697]

awesome, the side fan was blowing the wrong direction and now the temp has dropped about 4 degrees. About the thermal paste. im using OCZ ultra 5+ which is a 99% silver thermal compound.

[Fenor]

Nice catch SRX660! I forgot to take a look at the power supply levels, was more worried about the big red flame in the temperature readings... Yes a new power supply would definitely be in order. I'm figuring the power supply you are using came with the Xion II Case. It's nice they come with one, but unfortunately, most of the time they are very weak power supplies and don't last very long. I would suggest a good 500W Coolmax power supply, including any on THIS page at TigerDirect.com.

Fenor

[Fenor]

awesome, the side fan was blowing the wrong direction and now the temp has dropped about 4 degrees. About the thermal paste. im using OCZ ultra 5+ which is a 99% silver thermal compound.

Yeah, you wouldn't think it would make that big of a difference, but if you think about it, having the side fan blow out sucks out all the cool air coming into the case before it ever reaches the processor and video card (which are the two components of a computer that heat up the most).

That thermal compound should be good enough. (I'm bias towards artic silver because it just plan kicks butt) Just make sure that it is spread over the ENTIRE processor and not just a little square in the middle of the processor. Also make sure that you didn't spread it with your fingers, or touch the bottom of the heatsink with your fingers, because the oils on your hands counteract the cooling ability of the thermal paste.

Fenor

[Fenor]

I was just redoing my speedfanexample picture, when I noticed your VBAT is very low, only .54V. This could be caused by it not being able to get enough power from the power supply or the CMOS battery could be going. I would check that reading again (it should be about 3V) once you get a new power supply.

Fenor

[CAUTION5697]

ok well both of you have said that i need a new power supply and this one that i have IS new, i just got it about a week ago. I can see if i can still return it but then i need to find another one that is suitable for my system so i dont have to go through this again. I bought it from tigerdirect.com and if i return it, they are likely to give me store credit for it. Since that is the case, are there any PSU on that site that you would suggest and would actually work and supply enough power for my computer. My price range is kind of low, since i have alread dumoped enough money into this computer so its around $60 or lower if i can keep it around there

oh sorry about that, i missed the post you made before, thanks for the powersupply recommendation. but no the power supply im using now is an Ultra X connect 500 wayy power supply, do you still think thats the problwm, becuase it is kind of a hassel to return it. But if it must be done then i will

Edited by CAUTION5697, 04 May 2006 - 07:47 PM.

[Fenor]

I would recommend the changing of the power supply, but test out your computer for a few days and see if the freezing problem still exists. If it doesn't, then don't worry about it. The +12V on the power supply should be at least 11.75V. When it gets down as low as yours is, you will start to get problems like you are having. May I ask how much the power supply was when you purchased it? If you didn't pay at least $60USD, then it was a sub-standard power supply. The power supply is one thing you can't go cheap on, well you can't go on much if anything in a computer, but anyways.

Fenor