Hi Everyone, I'm new to this forum so I'm not sure if there is a better place for this question, but would really appreciate some help. I have a dell dimension E521, AMD Athlon 4400+, 2.0 GB Ram, windows vista basic, Nvidia Geforce 8600Gt card. Here is the issue: The computer locks up (all processes, cant even ctrl+alt+del), sometimes at random, but also sometimes associated with specific tasks. Something that seems to almost consistently freeze the computer is using firefox to log in to secure sites such as wellsfargo banking. It also locked up consistently after playing an RTS game for over 30 min. I was pretty sure it was an overheating issue, but I could not find anything in the error logs and I'm not sure how to check operating temp. I cleaned out the case and added a stronger case fan, which helped reduce the frequency of the lockups but hasnt eliminated it. Can someone help me narrow down this issue so I don't spend too much money trying to fix it? I'm suspecting it is a processor/motherboard problem but how can i be sure? Any help is appreciated. Thank you
Hi, can you tell me your temps, check in the bios. Also download Speed fan Download SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer that program is normally fairly accurate, because your cpu or chipsets could be overheating. Also the problem could be memory, faulty memory module so run Memtest86 Memtest86 - Download Page and post back with results. And also it could also be your harddrive, does it have problems reading from the disc at all? when the computer freezes do you ever open up the case and listen for any hard drive activity? or is it completely silent?
Hi Bobby, thanks for the help. The memory test and chkdsk scan came up clean. The temp gauge reads 54c for the gpu and 25-27c for the processor. Is that hot? I haven't had any problems with corrupted files or read errors so i think the HD is clean. However my computer did crash again while i was using firefox to send off job applications (really annoying). I really think it has something to do with Firefox and certain websites. I've already tried reinstalling the OS and firefox, and that hasn't fixed it. Any other suggestions?
Hi your temps are perfect, try using IE instead of firefox. firefox can cause complications on some pc's. Also update your chipset drivers, see if that helps.
It crashes during heavy operation. Faulty PSU? It might be delivering too little power in vital places. Have you got a spare you could try? Also test the ram 1 by 1, a module could be faulty.
