I'm currently running: 1 stick of 512 pc3200 kingston memmory maxtor 30gb Hd + 120 gb Seagate HD Nvidia Geforce 6600 GT (AGP) I have an amd athlon 1.4 processor with an MSI motherboard unsure of which model. I've had it for a few years now. I have an Ancient Creative Sound Blaster also I have had an issue with my computer freezing when I run pretty mucuh any games on my pc. No matter what I do this problem does not go away. I've formatted, defragged, virus scanned, disk utilitied, spy ware scanned, registry edited, you name it none of it has made any difference. It has gotten to the point where I couldnt even start up windows before it freezes then I have to reformat. I'm convinced whatever issue I have gets progressively worse. At first it would only do it with some games and my graphic performance would be lower than what it should. But over time now I can't play any games for more than a few minutes before the computer freezes. The only thing I can think of is a hardware issue. I was having this problem before I replaced my video card I'm thining maybe I should try taking out the 30 gb hard drive to see if it makes any difference. My other speculation is some kind of motherboard conflict. My video card and memmory is recently new and I was having this problem prior to replacing these so I don't see why this would be an issue. PLease help I'm totallign stumped this issue has been plaguing me for a very long time! Jordan
I've had this happen to me before. In my case, the culprit was a low-quality PSU which began failing, which in turn damaged the northbridge of my motherboard. Whenever I did anything graphically intensive, my system would crash (more specifically, it would lock up hard). When I replaced the power supply and the mobo, the problems went away never to return. Hopefully you don't have any hardware damage, but the nature of your lockups also seems to point to the northbridge. I'd say either a DMA/IRQ steering issue (resource conflict), a driver issue, or a plain-out bad mobo. If you haven't already, reinstall DirectX, your motherboard drivers, you video drivers, and your sound drivers. If you're still having the exact same problems after that unabated, seriously consider replacing your motherboard. You can get a high-quality Gigabyte brand replacement for around $50-US. -AT
I had a compUSA brand 400W power supply I went out and bought a 500w Allied power supply today and with no results, it actually seems worse. It seems more and more like a motherboard problem. I don't think overheating is the problem but it's a possiblity what would I do to get those temp figures? I really hope it's not a motherboard problem cuz i got no $ hehe
Unfortunately, your new PSU may not be any better than your last one. A PSU which claims to be higher wattage may not be. Even if it is, the amperage is just as important if not more so than the wattage of a PSU. Another factor is the stability of the power rails (how consistent is the power? How clean is it?). We have a thread on the topic: Power Supplies and You, or Why You Don't Want a Cheap PSU. Check it out. -AT
