[RaymondDavies]

Hello everyone!

This is my first post here, and I'm looking forward to joining your community. Unfortunately, I have a problem with my computer that I cannot seem to resolve.

First off, NEVER EVER buy from CyberPower PC in Los Angeles. They are a horribly run company who refuse to support their products, and regularly rip-off their customers.

Now that that's out of the way, my problem is random freezes and hangs - whether mucking about in windows, running games, or on the internet, it will hit randomly. Usually it will happen within 7-10 minutes of the machine starting, no mouse movement, no ctrl-alt-del, not even the Caps Lock light on the keyboard. When the crash occurs, my water cooling unit's fan becomes very loud, surging louder and then quieter in quick succession.

I re-installed Windows XP, pulled the RAM sticks to test them individually (the crashes still occur, with either RAM stick in).

I am now thinking that my PSU is underpowered for my rig. It is a 420W model that came with my Aspire case. I just figured that a company who builds and sells computers would AT LEAST recommend upgrading the PSU to the necessary wattage. I have an Antec 500W unit (new in box too) that feels at least twice as heavy as the 420W unit.

So my question is: Do you think I should try it with the Antec PSU? Would the extra 80W even make a difference? If it were a PSU problem, wouldn't it only manifest itself during power intensive moments? As it is now, it's completely random.

Thanks in advance for any help, I really appreciate it!

My Specs:
AMD Athlon X2 3800+
Abit KN9 SLI
2x 1024MB Geil DDR2 RAM
EVGA 7950 GX2

Edited by RaymondDavies, 01 November 2006 - 04:18 PM.

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Hi and welcome to Geeks to Go. It could well be the power supply (but it could be a multitude of other things as well). Since you have a better power supply, give it a try. If it is an Aspire power supply, it is suspect. Aspire > Dangerous! They don't even pretend to meet the ATX/AMD/Intel specs! This is from http://www.hardforum...isplay.php?f=93 which is the best collection of information on power supplies that I have found. See the sticky post at the top of the forum. I cut and pasted the statement about Aspire from the "power supplies to aviod" link. Antec is ok, so go ahead and install it.

[austin_o]

Hi and welcome to Geeks to Go. It could well be the power supply (but it could be a multitude of other things as well). Since you have a better power supply, give it a try. If it is an Aspire power supply, it is suspect. Aspire > Dangerous! They don't even pretend to meet the ATX/AMD/Intel specs! This is from http://www.hardforum...isplay.php?f=93 which is the best collection of information on power supplies that I have found. See the sticky post at the top of the forum. I cut and pasted the statement about Aspire from the "power supplies to aviod" link. Antec is ok, so go ahead and install it.

[RaymondDavies]

Thanks for the reply, austin_o. That forum seems pretty unanimous on the Aspire PSU's, but they also agree that Antec's quality control has gone downhill recently. Oh well.

I only had about 30 minutes to test it out yesterday but no crashes, which is definitely a good sign.

In that time I installed Everest to check the voltages and such, and I noticed that my GPU temp was around 160°F, which seems high to me. I am new to this (obviously) and don't know if that is good or bad, or what I can do to fix it.

[RaymondDavies]

Bad news, it did the hang last night, within about 5 minutes of start up. I noticed that the washer & dryer were on in my house, and the two successful test runs before, I was home alone late at night (i.e. no one else using appliances/power). I live in a small, older home and am now wondering if the house's wiring could be at fault?

I tested the RAM, changed the PSU, and I think my GPU is fine. From what I have read, this doesn't sound like a CPU problem, so I have no idea what to do next. Please help.

[RaymondDavies]

Hopefully someone will read this.

I am still having the hang, and last night before it froze, it said the onboard sound had been "removed" (the speaker icon in the lower right of the screen had the comic-style bubble pop up). Does this mean it's probably the motherboard at fault? Or is 500W just not enough power? From what I have read, CPU errors are generally more catastrophic than this.

[AnthonyJ]

Hopefully someone will read this.

I am still having the hang, and last night before it froze, it said the onboard sound had been "removed" (the speaker icon in the lower right of the screen had the comic-style bubble pop up). Does this mean it's probably the motherboard at fault? Or is 500W just not enough power? From what I have read, CPU errors are generally more catastrophic than this.

i had one cpu do this, if you have any other cpu's that will fit in it try it and see if the results differ from usual. if that doesnt work or you cant get a hold of another. try a dif hardrive with an os on it, your hdd could be overheating and just shuts off

[RaymondDavies]

Thanks for the help Anthony J.

Just to be clear, the system is not shutting off, it remains on, the water cooler fan gets really loud then quiet then loud back and forth, and I can't move the mouse or ctrl-alt-del.

I have a hard drive from an old computer with an OS installed on it, i'll give it a try.

The only other CPU I have is socket 939, so no dice on that one.

[burnoutnotfadeaway]

When about did you buy the system and do you still have a receipt/invoice? Try a phone call to them explaining you've contacted your 'lawyer' and are advised you have a case and if the problems are not rectified you shall proceed with legal standings over the Sale Of Goods Act. That's what I did with my last system and surely enough they fixed it as soon as I said the word lawyer. Good luck!

[RaymondDavies]

Thanks for the advice, burnout.

I followed your advice, and they now have agreed to send me an RMA. So, hopefully the 3rd times the charm! (I have sent it in twice already, DOA on arrival, DOA the first return, this problem on the second return.)

Anyways, thanks for all the help fellas!