Odd problems...

[AlSukhon]

HI - 2 problems really: -

1. These days when i try to play certain games (Total War Kingdoms) my p.c crashes.... didnt used to - but i haven't played for a while.... reading up on the net i have been led to believe that i needed drivers etc updating... ended up updating my bios too.... this hasn't solved my problem, just created a nother minor one ==>

2. the headphone jack on my usb port at the front of my pc no longer works - the usb works fine... i even get the bleep sound coming through the headphones at start up..... re-installed the audio software (soundmax) a couple of times... no help...



Specs: -

AMD dual 5200+
Asus M2R32-MVP board
X1950 ATI graphics
2GB Ram (2x1GB)
2 seperate hard drives (120GB & 80GB)
22" Belina

 

[AlSukhon]

Odd problem...

p.s when i say my pc crashes, it does it in a wierd way.... the screen turns off as if there is no signal, the game music either plays a normal cycle or jitters unhealthily and the only way i can stop it is to hold down on the start button and switch off - reset doesn't work at all......

hope you can help.....

 

[PCDave]

sounds like a graphics card problem to me have you got another card you can test it with?

 

[AlSukhon]

nope....

 

[Sweeney]

Slight chance it could be the ram, i experienced similar after putting another 2 sticks in my machine and not relaxing the timings.
Although in this case, it could be it on its way out.

What PSU are you using and how old is it?

 

[AlSukhon]

RAM is GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC)

PSU is Thermaltake PurePower TWV 430W ATX2.0 PSU (W0053)

is there a way i can check my ram?

 

[Sweeney]

Yeah you could create a bootable disk/cd with memtest86 http://www.memtest86.com/

Simply set it to boot from CD rather than HDD and let it run for a few hours (i like to get at least 12 passes error free).

I'd imagine the PSU wouldn't be failling so soon but as you've updated the BIOS, have you triple checked all settings for anything obvious?

 

[AlSukhon]

to be honest - i'm not that literate....

(what does 12 passes mean?)

everything seems ok - i installed service pack 2 and then 3 which seemed to iron out any sound glitches i was having (except for the usb phone jack thing)

I updated the graphics card drivers & motherboard drivers..... i also have a glitch with the mboard - the auto updater doesnt work (common with asus so i've read) so i updated the bios manually...

I've got a "pc probe" asus package that shows the ram to be running ok - not overloaded or anything...

 

[Sweeney]

No worries, im far from literate about the heavy technical stuff myself!
A pass is a full run of memtest doing all its various tests.

Sound glitches were probably your sound drivers, which windows update may have updated (not the best of ideos to let it update system devices such as sound, graphics etc)
Did you update the motherboard and graphics with seperate files or did you do it as above with windows updater?

Yeah the ASUS bios flash utility is a no-no unless you have no other option. Has been known to corrupt bios installs!

The best way to test the ram would be with memtest86, pc probe will just be showing how much is being used i imagine?

 

[AlSukhon]

I got the gcard update from ATI, sound is onboard - i reinstalled the asus software after the service packs and that went through ok...

yeah - it just shows how much ram is being used... i noticed that the cpu is cruising at 57 degrees (isnt the cut off at 60)??

will try the ram thing....

 

[Sweeney]

Ah thats fair enough, did you wipe the previous graphics driver install beforehand?

Yeah ram usage isn't any other indication than that, as for the cpu im sorry i have no idea i know my old amd fx53 ran quite hot though

 

[EsaT]

Have you tried using for example 3dMark for seeing does this problem occur always during high load.

PSU is Thermaltake PurePower TWV 430W ATX2.0 PSU (W0053)

Old ThermalJunk PSUs are between junk and plain crap:
http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/Thermaltake_PSUs

 

[AlSukhon]

i tried the memtest - failed at Pass 25% (the very top line)... took forever to get there...

on the lower ilne where it has pass & then fail; it didnt pass once, just failed once (i'm abit dubious by what you meant when you said 12 passes due to the time it was taking - did you mean "pass 12%" by any chance?)

if not i guess we've cracked the case.... giel have a lifetime guarantee.... ever had to replace one? know the procedure?

 

[AlSukhon]

about the PSU post - i just read the article ==> mine wasn't bundled up with the case if it makes any difference + i dont think i need all 430W either.... no?

 

[gamesaregood]

Before you RMA the ram check the Manufactures recommend voltage requirements for the ram, you may need to give them more volts.

 

[AlSukhon]

how would i change the volts?