computer freezing up

Post by **Stavros** » 03 Jan 2006, 08:59

Case- ANTEC SUPER LANBOY (I accidentally broke the door off the case)
PSU- FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX500-A
CPU- AMD Opteron 146
Mobo- EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra
HDD- WD Caviar WD2500KS 250GB 7.2K
Optical Drive- NEC DVD Burner
RAM- G.Skill Extreme Series 2GB (2 x 1GB)
Heatsink, Fan, Paste- Stock for now with AS5
Sound Card- Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS
Video Card- eVGA Geforce 7800GT

I think my soundcard was causing freeze ups, so I took that out and the freeze ups decreased in number, but they do happen from time to time, but if I try to play CoD2, freeze up in under 10 minutes. Regardless of Sound card or Integrated. I've checked Event Viewer under System and Application and I don't see any errors, which further confuses me.

Post by **bad_brain** » 04 Jan 2006, 05:28

hm, could be a cooling problem with the processor, get Motherboard Monitor from the useful programs-downloads, run a performance-intensive application like video converting and watch the temperatures. many people don´t know that there are big differences in soundcards, some are very performance-hungry, this may be the cause why your system freezes more often when you use it....

Post by **Stavros** » 04 Jan 2006, 21:15

A member at the OCForums recommends that I adjust the VCore of the CPU. He says some motherboards don't fucntion well at stock voltage. Here's the thread. Guess which one is my screen name.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=433669

Post by **bad_brain** » 05 Jan 2006, 05:43

oops, you need to register to view the thread...

well,I´m not much of an overclocker because it decreases the lifetime of the system. and to be honest I don´t think it´s the cause. watch the temperature first as I told you before you mess around with the voltage, increasing the core voltage would only cause the CPU to produce more heat and it normally shouldn´t be done to an unstable system. to be on the safe side contact the CPU manifacturer and ask for the voltage specifications.
and notice that running the CPU with a higher voltage ends the manifacturer´s guarantee immedeatly.

in most cases such a behaviour is caused by a bad cooling because of a crappy CPU fan, bad air flow inside the case or too less/much heat sink paste. watch the temperatures with Motherboard Monitor and post the results (best in a new thread

).

Post by **Stavros** » 05 Jan 2006, 08:58

Hmm. I did glob the HS paste on the CPU. I might take the CPU out and clean off the HS paste and re apply some using less. Is it bad to put some thermal paste on a CPU and then put some more on a little later (eventhough it hasn't dried yet?)

Post by **bad_brain** » 05 Jan 2006, 09:22

hm,well,I´m a little perfectionistic when it comes to HS paste, best would be to clean everything and apply new one, I can recommend Artic silver paste, it´s surely pretty expensive but it´s worth the money. to clean the processor best use ethanol 70%, it dries without leaving any traces, you can get it in drugstores. be cautious when you clean the CPU, and do not make the mistake to apply too much paste! and use Motherboard monitor at least for the first test with the new paste...

Post by **Stavros** » 05 Jan 2006, 09:46

I have some leftover AS5 (which is what I ordered with the HS I was going to put on (Thermalright XP-120, that mofo is HUGE), but I'm using thing stock HSF that came with the Opteron 146 (I didn't really want to overclock, I wanted it for awesome cooling). Does Isoprophyl (I think that's how its spelled?) work on a CPU. I've used it to clean off the paste off the bottom of the XP-120, so I know it works, but will it screw up the CPU?

Post by **bad_brain** » 05 Jan 2006, 12:52

yeah, isopropyl works too, apply it to cotton sticks and remove the paste from the CPU with caution....

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computer freezing up

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