Newbuild - Questionable Stability

[jezscott]

...another thread about the misadventures with my recent PC upgrade.


I have just finished building a PC (details below) but I am concerned about its stability.

It has been installed for a few days and I have noticed the following problems:

• Sometimes it doesn't post
• Sometimes it gets stuck in the Vista loading screen (scrolling green bars)
• It has crashed (frozen screen) during playback of an HD video
• I've had BSOD a couple of times but I can't remember after what I was doing
• the graphics card was once recognised as a VGA only card

*The above are all fixed with the reset button.

Temperatures at idle with no sides on the case :
CPU: ~57C
System: ~45C
(scared to try with sides on the case and I haven't tried anything that pushes the CPU to 100% for any length of time)


I will upgrade my limited Case & PSU - but I am worried the motherboard is actually causing the problems and this would be very difficult to replace to work with my other components. (939/AGP/mATX boards are rare). Hopefully its one of the other components which I might be able to replace under warranty. I want to ensure the PC is ok before I spend any more flogging a dead horse.

Are there any tests I can try to isolate problems, when they are not consistently happening? eg. automatic software?

This weekend I'll try the following:

• Install a game to see if it crashes
• take off HSF and re-apply thermal paste
• take out cards (mem,gfx,tv) and vacuum out any dust
• try other memory sticks
• try using a spare Antec 450W PSU (outside the case)

Any other ideas I should try?

PC Details:
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit OEM (fully updated inc SP1)
MOBO: ASRock 939A8X-M, mATX Socket-939, 1000MHz FSB, Athlon64FX/64X2/64, AGP8x, 7.1 Audio, 10/100LAN (LINK)
CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 4400+ sk939
HSF: Thermaltake Blue Orb II
MEM: 2x1Gb DDR400 OCZ Platinum XTC Ed. CL2 Memory
HD: Western Digital CAVIAR GP 750GB WD7500AACS 16MB SATA/300
GFX: Radeon HD 3850 512MB AGP8x
OPTICAL: LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray drive
CASE: Antec NSK1300 mATX Cube Case - 300W PSU
TVCARD: Compro VideoMate Vista T750F Dual DVB-T Hybrid

 

[jezscott]

I might also try a better HSF, I have an Arctic Cooling 64 Freezer Pro.
I could also swap any of the other components with older ones in my box of bits.

 

[Teaf]

Temperatures at idle with no sides on the case [/U]:
CPU: ~57C
System: ~45C
(scared to try with sides on the case and I haven't tried anything that pushes the CPU to 100% for any length of time)

It might sound daft but putting the side of the case on can actually help temperatures. Putting the case side on creating a proper air flow in the case, having the side of the case of doesn't - but the temperatures are kinda high, make sure none of the fans are actually backwards, so the exhaust should be blowing out, intake blowing in etc.


From your large array of problems I'd would be looking at the motherboard being the problem first. You should inspect your BSOD's for what caused the machine to reboot - they can provide invaluable information.

Firstly make sure you turn off automatic restarts on BSODS. You can do this by right clicking "My Computer" and clicking "Properties", then go into the "Advanced" tab, and click the "Settings..." button for the Startup and Recovery Options. In there is a tick box for something called "Automatic Restart", untick that.

You can then download the Debugging Tools for Windows, which will help you identify the BSOD. When you download and install that you can follow the next steps:

1. Open the program and click File menu, then "Symbols path"
2. Type in "SRV*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols" without the quotes
3. Then click File -> Open Crash Dump and browse to C:\Windows\Minidump and open the latest crash dump
4. When you open it, it'll take a while to load in but when it does you'll be connected to the debugger
5. When you are connected type in "!anaylze -v" without the quotes to get info on why the computer rebooted.

It might take a while to reach step 5, sometimes it takes around 30 seconds so be patient. What this will do is give you a full page of information regarding the error that you have had. You should if possible do that and paste the contents here so we can take a look at it, namely the filename that caused the problem and the actual BSOD message (such as IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL - it's generally near the top of the report).

Also I would be considering the following:

Prime95 8 hour test using a Blend
Memtest for 40 loops

 

[jezscott]

thanks flibby,

The case has poor airflow as its an Antec NSK1300, but I'll experiment with the sides.

I'll try all the debugging software, Prime95 & Memtest tomorrow (I'll have to try and induce a BSOD)

Anything I can do with the startup problems? or are these also recorded in the minidump?

 

[Teaf]

Anything I can do with the startup problems? or are these also recorded in the minidump?

Nothing I can think of at the moment mate if it is the motherboard. If it's not we can revisit that, but at the moment I'd just bare with the lack of POST on some occassions. They won't be recorded to the minidump as that will only record information on the blue screen when the machine reboots.