[Jamief]

Just got a brand new computer.. But as with everything I buy nothing goes smoothly. Yes, it is faulty.. Freezes dead at different times! Longest its lasted is around 50 minutes. I was pretty sure its was hardware problem as I have reloaded Windows XP, but then I lasted on safemode for around 2 hours, so the plot thickens.. I have called the company I bought it from, and I am left in a massive que, was on the phone last night for over an hour and didn't get seen to, its ridiculous!
I have updated all the drivers to the latest, and still get the problem, The temperature of the CPU stands at 34-35C which is normal. I really don't understand.
Does anyone have any ideas??

More information:

RAM: 1GB (2x 512MB)
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.40GHz
Motherboard: ASUS P5DG1-VM
Graphics Card: Radeon X700 (all drivers are up to date)
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS (all drivers up to date)
Manufacturer: MESH PLC (http://www.meshcomputers.com)

I do not get a BSOD, the machine just complete freezes, for example when I am playing music, it just pops and cuts out, on one occasion, the music looped the 1 second I was upto on the song. The mouse freezes completely, and so does the keyboard, plus the screen freezes dead. I can not get it to unfreeze for love nor money, I have to restart the computer by holding in the power button for 10 seconds, then do a cold-boot.
Whether the computer is idle or operating, it still freezes, on one occasion I booted up and it just froze instantly. Other times it can last for 50 minutes. I don't understand..


Thank You,
Jamie

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If there is onboard video on your computer, I would suggest that you take out the video card and boot into normal mode and see how long it lasts. Another thing I would try if that doesn't work, is to take out one of the sticks of memory and see if your computer still freezes. Could also try the sound card, but that normally wouldn't cause your computer to freeze, it would just not allow it to shut down properly (aka it would hang on shutdown).

[Jarenien]

If there is onboard video on your computer, I would suggest that you take out the video card and boot into normal mode and see how long it lasts. Another thing I would try if that doesn't work, is to take out one of the sticks of memory and see if your computer still freezes. Could also try the sound card, but that normally wouldn't cause your computer to freeze, it would just not allow it to shut down properly (aka it would hang on shutdown).

[Jarenien]

In my last post, you would take out one stick of memory, test it and then put the other piece of memory you took out and put it in the same slot. Also try putting the memory in using the same idea but use the other memory slot and test both sticks.

Obviously this won't work if you have rambus memory because it requires both sticks in at the same time.

[Jarenien]

All these depends on whether or not your warranty is voided if you open the case of course.

Another way to test the video card, and not void your warranty, is if you have onboard video, just put the monitor cable into the onboard video spot, boot into safe mode, uninstall the x800 drivers and disable the card itself in Device Manager, and then reboot into normal mode.

[darth_ash]

You should also do a scan to check whether tour RAM is damaged.
Download, burn and run memtest86 (bootable ISO version)

[Jamief]

Yes, My warranty would void if I did open the case. I don't quite understand what you meant about plugging another monitor in?? I have 2 monitor inputs, one where the graphics card is and the other no where it is, how do I switch to that one??

Darth_ash, I will run the memory tester, do I just burn it to disk and run on bootup?

Thank you,
Jamie

[Jarenien]

I mean put the monitor CABLE (that is currently connected to your video card) into the other video slot (located higher up on the back of the case, it's blue just like the plug on your video card that the cord is currently connected to)

[Jamief]

Jarenien, How would I then made the computer use that scot instead of the current slot?

Thank You,
Jamie

[Jarenien]

Your computer should auto detect that you are using a different video slot. It might not recognize it on the first try, if that happens just turn off your computer and restart it. If that still doesn't work post here and i'll explain how to change it in the BIOS.

[darth_ash]

Darth_ash, I will run the memory tester, do I just burn it to disk and run on bootup?

Yes.

[Jamief]

Jarenien, I can't switch to the second monitor, it doesn't recognise it, how do I do it on BIOS?

[Jarenien]

Jamief:

To get into the BIOS, restart your comuter and hit the F1, F10 and DEL keys repeatedly until you get into the bios. Once in there, you need to look for the option that says Initial Display or Default Display or something similar that currently shows AGP as the selected option. Once found, highlight that entry and hit the enter key and change the option that is selected to Onboard or if there are two options, AGP and one other, change it to the other option. Then save your changes and exit the BIOS and let your computer reboot itself. Make sure you have the video cable plugged into the onboard video slot and NOT your X700 video card.

Also, DO NOT MAKE ANY OTHER CHANGES TO THE BIOS

If you have any other problems please post in here

Jarenien

Edited by Jarenien, 28 August 2005 - 12:06 PM.