Comp Problems, Psu Aand Possibly Mobo...

[SciManAl]

I am actually afraid to turn this computer on... (it is my brothers, overall not a bad set up)

his stats are like this:
AMD thurobred ( i know i didn't spell right) 2000+(currently unOCed)
1 gig of various ram (from 2700 to 3200 4x 256 sticks)
enermax PSU 300 watts( i feel more power is needed)
3 optical drives (one DVD, one CD-rw/DVD, and one CD-rw), silly set up i think...
An Abit KRA7-133 (I think, the a & 7 may be reversed)
ATI 8500 all in wonderc(hand me down from me in the olden days )
And running from XP pro
CPU temps at my house all stay below 40 C this is no exeption
oh yes and a floppy drive... (oldschool )

okay now these are my problems as they happened in order...

Me and my bro were going to play a lan game, but all of a sudden his comp restarts during game play after displaying an XP error message , sorry don't remeber what is says but it5 was a blue screen level kind of thing... (overall bad at this point) then whebn the comp restarts it only registers only 700 some of the overall ram, then it dies again during boot-up and only registers 2 sticks of the ram, and then finally one stick and then none, i left the computr off for a day (at this point there have been no obvious problems like fire or the computer apocalipse ) now i set the comp up in my room, and get it going, it registers all ram and continues on all like normal and then gets to XP and i log ion as admin and everytning is okay, i then procced to run the game again, and it all happens again, so i later afteer anothewr day try to play another game (counterstrike steam 1.6) and it crashes and says it has compatibility isssues with my drivers(would have been nice if windows told me wich ones... ) but alll in all this doesn't look good, it can go to XP, but anytime the CPU gets a heavy load it dies... (no temps don't spike, and even if they did the AMD would gladly burn itself to hell...) it looks lie a total sys failure from my mind, but i defintily don't have muh of a budget for this... (mayby 100 or so american dollares and that is iffy) (boss won't pay me because he found out i am underage... yeah fuck him) well afterf all these problems i am not thinking strait and i think i will ask for the expert advise of the board...

My thoughts:
Buy a new Mobo
Buy a new PSU with higher wattage (the old one seems overloaded aand power was not steady, it was jumping examplee on the 12volt it would go from a range opf 8v to 13v completly randomly...)

It could be entirely the PSUs fault although the fact still remains thaat i saw a driver error for the games, which could be my Vid card... 8500s are kinda sloppy cards...

I also am not happy to kn ow that i can't load my cpu up to 100% without crashing... could this be a bad chip?? it looks unscathed, andd through all this has been kept well within limits...

Any help is very much so apreciated!

[harrycary]

it certainly sounds like a software issue(conflicts maybe).
when hardware fails, it tends to stay that way(so to speak), not intermittent as you've described. i mean, your hardware symptoms aren't consistent. this is very odd and rare.

format your harddrive, reinstall the o/s, update it and install the latest drivers possible.

that won't cost you anything but time.

[lynx]

If your +12v is bouncing around like that, you've probably got a psu problem.

Try disconnecting power from the optical drives, and anything connected via usb, and try again.

If that doesn't improve things, have you got a higher rated psu in your pc? If so, try using that temporarily to see if it cures the problem. If it does, you know you need a new psu.

The fact that these probs occur after a period of running would indicate that it is temp related, even if your temps appear to be well within tolerances. A cracked chip or solder joint somewhere in the psu or mobo could expand with temp, it does not necessarily have to be excessive.

Another thing you can try is removing the mem sticks one at a time. If the problem goes away with one of them removed, you have your answer.

Unfortunately there's no real substitute for trial and error to rule out different components. You are slightly fortunate that you have another pc you can borrow parts from to try things out.

[Virtualbody1234]

Since you say tha voltage is not steadty, I say replace the power supply and that's it. Run a memory test on your system also as a precaution but I really think it's just the PS.

I also am not happy to kn ow that i can't load my cpu up to 100% without crashing... could this be a bad chip??

If the voltage is unstable then you cannot expect the CPU to work properly under load. I suspect that the CPU is fine.

[bigdawgfoxx]

I would format your harddrive and reinstall Windows. That usually fixes everything for me. And if its not working still...then you at least know that its probally not a software issue.

[SciManAl]

sry abou the delay internet dieed again (cox cable just loves to tinker with the lines outside my house...)

i unfortunatley can not spare the psu from my comp for it (it is haveway through rendering a 3d scene and it has been running for a few days now..., and so i was thinking of simply cuting down what was plugged in... i might be able to get a the ATI 9600 tommorrow for 69 bucks (god knows i love thanksgivening sales) anyways i will trey to see if i can get it to run stable, i have installed os two times now with no success... even with the latest drivers, (oand the originals that came with my cd...) no help... hmmm just an overall mess....

i will try some of ther things suggested though... Thanks allot guys i wish the computer would at leeast blow up and look cool if its going to die instead of fizziling out like a wus... ohh well

[SciManAl]

ok i went into bios and i think i found the culprit, he had set up bank interleave with his mangly ram set up, i was rofling for about 10 minutes... umm i undid that and it seems to br running fine i also found that the power supply was sharing the line to the harddrive with 4 other componets and so i got it it's own power line and the power has come to a steady 12.03-12.09 so not bad...

however the only thing that i think is still here is possibly the shakey drivers for my 8500... i think if i can get a 9600 then it will have less problems...

[SciManAl]

ok this doesn't sound good, my comp starts up and starts beeping at me, a rythmic beeping... this in no way sounds good... your thoughts? bios does not show up, the screen acts blank...

[lynx]

The rhythmic beeping is the POST code (Power-on Self Test). This is intended to tell you what is wrong before the display is activated. You need to go to the mobo manufacturer's site to find out what the pattern of beeps means.

[SciManAl]

i checked out the manual and it doesn't have anything about beeps... it has been going now for about 10 minutes... just beeping... i am unplugging it now for fear of more dammage...