Need Help Plz

[Joost27]

ok me and a friend built a computer for a teacher here at school he chose the hardware and tried for the cheapest computer without thinking about quality..ok well the mobo is the cheap one on Newegg by pcchips socket 478, the cpu is an Intel 3.0A i believe..idk the 3.0GHz prescot with HT and 800mhz fsb.., the ram is generic brand 512MB, and a generic 350watt psu, no agp graphic card..ok well it keeps crashing..its vcore is a little low 1.36v until i upped it to 1.488v its running a bit warm with a cheap speeze cooler but i just installed AS5 alright..well it fails prime and just crashes randomly..any help would be great..need more info just ask me..

[BiPolar]

if you aren't ocing it, i don't see a need to up the vcore. It should run just fine on stock settings.

 

if it's crashing on prime95 at stock, then your cuprit is going to be hardware. Have you tried memtest to check the memory? or just run the cpu-intensive prime95 to test the cpu without testing the ram?

 

Details on EXACTLY the parts would be helpful, but really, you need to just start testing the parts piece by piece. If you have extra ram at home, bring a stick in and test it. Did you get compatible ram for the mobo at the right speed?

[r_target]

My guess would be crappy RAM or that pcchips mobo.

[napmaster383]

Generic Powersupply > That is one possible cause of your problem. You should tell your teacher to never overlook a power supply. It is an important piece of the puzzle. I mean, power supplies do give your components the power that it needs. Therefore, getting a high quality power supply will get you clean, stable, and sufficient power flowing within your components. Also, don't buy a power supply by how much wattage it has, instead look at how much voltage each of the rails supplies. You should also forecast how much power you need and not just buying a really expensive power supply just because its 500w or whatever.

 

 

What brand name is the RAM? All RAM is created by manufacturers so its got to have one. Maybe Samsung????

 

Most RAM is rebranded anyways, so they come from the same manufacturer. You should run MEMTest to verify that your RAM is not defective.

 

Heat could also be a problem. Not getting proper air flowing through your components could set off your power supply automatically shutting itself down when it reaches a certain max. temperature point. AKA threshold limit.

 

Consider adding some case fans, and a new heatsink +fan combo, but don't make look pimp, your teacher probably wouldn't like that.

[BiPolar]

i wouldn't worry THAT much about the psu. Yes, it is the heart of the machine, supplying power to all the parts, but for the average user, it'll do just fine ( just look at dell, hp/compaq, sony, etc....their computer builds use generic psus). A more stable psu would be better, but i doubt the psu is the culprit. THe problem likely lies in either the ram or the mobo. As napmaster and I both said, run memtest to see if it's the ram, or if you're lazy, just put in a stick of ram tha tyou know is good and try it out.

 

what kind of case did you get? Again, though, this will ikely not have massive effect on the system. Napmaster, remember, this guy wants a stable, no frills system. A new heatsink/fan is not necessary, and additional case fans probably aren't either. That is stuff that we like to put on so that we can lower temps and get better OCs. THe average base user just doesn't need that stuff and definitely doesn't need to spend money on it. If he's looking at value everything you think he wants to add more fans? Doubt it.

[fastvfr]

The PCCHIPS MOBO is the Yugo of motherboards.

 

It may not be able to handle the Prescott with that flyweight PSU in there...

 

So the thing to do is to install a good Antec 430w or something like that, and go from there.

 

If the MOBO needs replaced, then the MOBO needs replaced. But with a crappy PSU there's no way to be sure if that is the problem. So swap the PSU first.

[anthony]

Also, don't buy a power supply by how much wattage it has, instead look at how much voltage each of the rails supplies.

 

433458[/snapback]

 

I hope you meant amps..

[Joost27]

ok the PSU is a Mustang 350watt came wih the cheap case we got, the RAM is Wintec AMPO pc 2700 512MB and the Mobo is a PCCHIPS M960G SiS 661FX / 964L

 

any more help would b great, but i ruled out the ram..used a stick from the comp im using on this computer im typing on and it still did the same so its the mobo or psu or w/e else u can think of...

 

also after leavign it over night i think it crashed a few times during the night..but now the temps with the AS5 are 41*C idle for cpu and 33*C idle for the system temp.

[Whitelightning]

I will bet it is the ram....try some new ram..

[Joost27]

the ram i tested from my system is perfectly fine..my comp is stable 100%..so its not the ram unless its the DIMM slots on the mobo

[kobalt]

I'd go with RMA the motherboard.

I say RMA cause it should work fine and after reading all the posts up to here it sounds like the piece that has the problem.

A psu will crash a system if it's overloaded, it might be crappy but i dont think there's enough stuff to do so.

 

If you have a spare mobo try all your stuff on it see what it does

Edited March 5, 2005 by kobalt

[Joost27]

thanks kobalt...the comp is at school so i cant test it with my workign but horrible intel mobo...but i think i figured it was a windows problem..tell me if this may make it unstable and crash..when we installed XP it had files"missing from cd" :\..my friend just skipped the files...so i was thinking it was a bad install of XP that could be causing it...