Random Crashes but not restarts after Mboard change

[TrojanSquirrel]

I have just had to rebuild one of my PCs after a bad bios flash that killed the motherboard. I replaced it with an old MSI KT6V-LSR board that I had spare. Everything is running fine after a XP reinstall except for the fact that every time I try to put the system under load it either crashes, (but doesn't re-start)the application terminates and I go back to windows or I get a strange situation where it looks like a re-start and I lose all output to the monitor and the system hangs.

I have checked to see if the MB supports the processor (AMD 2800+) and memory (DDR 2700) and it does. I am also running voltage checking software and my PSU is fine (I have also ran it bare bone to reduce load). I have replaced the CMOS battery to see if this had failed after a year in storage, and also checked the MB itself to see if there is any damage to it (it has been taken care of even when not used (it has never even had a CPU fitted until now)). I have also checked all the PCI and AGP cards, HDDs and optical drives in another system and all are working fine. Heat is also not an issue as again I have software running to monitor component temperature. Many thorough checks have been made.

The only error I have recieved was when installing the drivers and Catalyst control center for my ATI 6800 graphics card. The control center would refuse to load and a "cli" error would appear on startup. After removing this and installing with drivers only all would appear fine. I had this same problem with two different cards (9600xt and 9800xt) on two different motherboards (KT7 and KT6) with no stability isues, so I figure it may not be a problem related to this issue although the system hangs are all graphics load related.

Any help or reports of similar problems would be helpful.

Thanks.

Rob.

 

[temporello]

Have you checked your memory modules?

 

[paparazi]

NeoR77V
You said ATI 6800? 6800 is an Nvidia?

Have you installed the required .net framework updates from microsoft as these are necessary for correct ATI control panel operation. (go to microsoft updates and sellect custom, install all 1.1 and patch plus 2.0)

Yes memory is my first thought followed by failing power supply (poor connection to the graphics card?) or main connector to motherboard.
I know you stated that you have no heat issues but could you tell us what CPU temps you have under load.

Check for buldging or leaking capacitors, see this site for reference.

http://www.badcaps.com

Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[TrojanSquirrel]

Hello Martin,

Yes, sorry, my mistake. I'm using the 9600xt from sapphire. I also have a backup nvidia 4200 titanium that is currently in the machine. Problems still happening.

The idle temperature of the cpu is around 42c and under load it rises to around 59c - 64c. This is much the same as it has been for some time.

All Microsoft updates are installed including the .net framework. Although these were not installed when I loaded the ATI drivers. Since then I have uninstalled the ATI drivers and reloaded them. The same problem continued. I then removed the card and replaced with my old GF4200Ti and again the problem continued.

I am convinced that either the MB is having a problem with my memory (even though it can take the type I'm using), or the modules themselves have died. Running the PC with system defaults in the BIOS (ie 100mhz FSB) cured the problem. When it was set to 133mhz and properly detected the CPU it auto selected the memory speed and cas as 333mhz and 2.5 and the random crashes returned.

Thx for your help.

Rob.

 

[TrojanSquirrel]

The final conclusion:

My Sapphire ATI 9600xt card is garbage. To get it to run I have to use it in AGPx4 and diable fast writes. All this hastle and tomorrow it would have been a lot of money spent as well.

I will never again buy a sapphire built card, and I'll be very careful when going for an ATI card in the future. I guess It has just made me a little more cautious.

Beware of Sapphire 9600xt cards. You may well have to run them well below their spec to even get them to run at all. You would be better off buying a cheaper card or the Nvidia equivalent.