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(not same computer as my power supply message)
My computer restarts often when I am trying to play online games (such as EQ2). A friend informed me my parts (moboard & HD) weren't compatible. I was wondering if he was right or I should look for another problem.
AMD Athalon XP 1500+
1.29 GHz
512 RAMHD - Maxtor 120GB 7200 RPM
Graphic - Radeon 9500
Power - ATX 350W Antec SmartBlue350
The 1500+ runs at 1.333Ghz (10 x 133mhz), not 1.29Ghz...check your clock settings.
Restarting is usually caused be a weak power supply. Not necessarily weak in wattage, but weak in amperage - primarily the +12v rail. Check the label & see how many amps are listed for +12v.
If could also be any overheating problem...check the BIOS for CPU & system temps.
Or it could be bad RAM. Download & run memtest86
Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @8x210mhz
512mb PC3200
Ti4200/8X 128mb
WDC 60GB
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It only restarts during online gaming, both when actually playing or trying to login and not fully running yet. May very well be overheating so I will try a fan. (funny how this simple things never occured to me)
I don't know how to check the clock settings??I got that info of right clicking My Computer so not sure where to go from there.
12v amps are max 16 and min .8
I've checked the RAM and have not yet checked the BIOS.
thanks!
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I went in and checked
CPU Ext. Frequency 100MHz Clock setting was 1300don't know if I should have BUT
changed it to 133Mhz, clock is now at 1733 ANDnow right click on My Computer says
AMD Athalon XP 2100+ (was 1500+)
1.74 GHz (was 1.29)should I change it back?
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In the bios you should see the actual FSB. It should be set to 133MHz. About the multiplikator you don't have to worry because it's locked unless someone unlocked it for overclocking.
About the harddrive and the board, what's the issue?
If you see the harddrive with it's full size in the Bios there shouldn't be a problem but if you see a lot less then it's probably a Bios problem. But I doubt that because in that case normally you don't see the drive at all!
If it's only because the harddive is ATA100 or ATA133 and your board only supports ATA33 (or UltraDMA or DMA - all the same) that's not a problem. I even run a ATA100 7200rpm drive on an old slot1 board without a problem. It just runs a little slower.About your restarts check for the newest drivers for your mainboard (AGP, chipset, ...) and graphic card. Also check for patches for the games that crash!
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Wow you lost me, simple terms as I am blonde and probably shouldn't be playing around in the computer anyhow.
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The Harddrive is Ultra ATA/133, 8MB cache, 7200 RPM. That's what the box says anyhow.
The guy that I had look at it said it was bottlenecked and it wouldn't run the game reliably because of this. Sometimes I can go for hours with no problem and other times every time I try to load, it restarts. I didn't think it was overheating because of this reason.
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okay I realize I never put this in so maybe it will help?
(got this from CPU-Z)
mainboard-
Asus A72N8X2.0 ACPI BIOS Rev 1005
chipset - nVidia nForce2 Ultra 400
southbridge - nVidia NForce MCP
sensor ASB100Processor -
AMD Athalon XP
FSB 133.6 (x13.0)
Core SPeed 1737+anything else that would be helpful I can try to find, there is much more info with CPU-Z
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Some observations:
1. You apparently have an Athlon XP 2100+, but it was clocked as a XP 1500+. Any idea how long it's been like that?
2. You have an old BIOS version.
3. 7200rpm 8mb cache, ATA100/133 is as good as it gets in IDE drives. It is NOT a bottleneck!
4. You said your RAM is good. How do you know this? Did you run a RAM testing utility such as memtest86 or DocMemory?
5. What about temps? Your board should have come with Asus Probe to monitor your temps. If you didn't install it, or don't have it, go to the Asus website & download it. Otherwise, you can check your temps in the BIOS.
6. There are plenty of other BIOS settings that should be checked/tweaked too. Hopefully "Mr Bottleneck" isn't the same person that setup your machine, because based on his HDD advice, I wouldn't trust anything he does...lol
Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @8x210mhz
512mb PC3200
Ti4200/8X 128mb
WDC 60GB
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1- It's been at 1500+ since it was built over a yr ago.
2- should I update the bios?
3- GREAT NEWS!
4- Did memtest86 but will run it agin since it's been a few weeks.
5- MB temp is 29C/84F
CPU Temp 45c/113FAfter running Star Wars Galaxies (which shut down for no reason), I restarted and temps were
MB - 96F
CPU 140F
I have no idea what a normal/good temp is6- YES, this is the guy that built my computer and then AFTER building it, told me the parts were incompatible. I will look into more info.
Thanks!
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Unfortuantely, it looks like you've been running your system under speed for over a year then.
You don't necessarily have to update the BIOS...like I said, it was just an observation.
Your temp readings are reasonable...nothing to worry about. I doubt your problem is temp related.
If you ran memtest86 for at least one complete series of tests with no errors, it's safe to asume it's OK. You could try letting it run for several hours or even overnite just to be sure.
Check CPUZ to see whether your CPU is a Palomino or Thoroughbred & check the voltage. The Palomino should be 1.75v, the Tbred should be 1.60v...if it's being reported lower, adjust it in the BIOS. For example, you may have to set it at 1.775v to get it at 1.75v. Slightly higher is OK...slightly lower can cause problems.
Then there's other BIOS settings. Spread Spectrum should be disabled. Aperture should be set to at least 128mb, possibly 256mb. Ram settings should be on AUTO.
BTW, what RAM do you have? PC2100, PC2700, or PC3200?
Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @8x210mhz
512mb PC3200
Ti4200/8X 128mb
WDC 60GB
0
CPU is a Tbred and 1.65V
Spread spectrum is diabled,
set aperture at 256 from 64 and had option for 512
RAM is autoRAM is 512 PC2700
thanks
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Just to add a problem, not my CDRW won't autorun. I can open disks and run it that way except one 1 game, EQ2, won't open at all, says no disk. I deleted out Star Wars Galaxies (Sony online gaming) and EQ2 is also from SOE, I think this is the real problem with running both of these games (sony sucks).
Anyhow, not a huge problem but was hoping to install EQ2 and since this computer is much faster than another one I am running it on now. I did swap out graphic cards to run it on that one so maybe it won't read the disk because this card can't run the game? Now I am rambling...
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How many IDE devices do you have & how are they arranged?
Whenever possible, the HDD should be alone as primary master & CDRW should be 2ndary master.
When you add a 3rd or 4th device, set them up on the opposite channel of the device they're gonna be used with. In other words, if you intend on copying a lot of CDs "on the fly", a 2nd optical drive would be best installed as primary slave. That way, the data transfers are from primary to 2ndary, rather than between 2 devices sharing the 2ndary channel.
Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @8x210mhz
512mb PC3200
Ti4200/8X 128mb
WDC 60GB
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