HELP PLEASE! My POS computer is crashing again!

[bbundy96]

Hello.
I had custom computer built at a local computer shop in may of 2000.
They installed for me:
-Asus P3BF 440BX motherboard
-Pentium III 667 MHz processor w/ 133 MHz bus (socket 370)
-(2) 256 Meg RAM @133Mhz
-seagate 7200 rpm barracuda 20.5 gig hard drive
-ibm scsi 9.3 gig u-wide hard drive w/ pci ultra wide scsi card
-GeForce v6800 Deluxe Video card
-Sound Blaster Live Platnum
-16x Pioneer DVD Drive
-Plextor 8x4x32a CD-RW
-Acer 56K V.90 pci modem
-MOTU PCI-324 interface card for my MOTU 24i

My question is: is my processor and ram compatible with the motherboard i was supplied? Reason being, i have been have a lot of trouble with my computer hanging while running a program or shutting down. After it hangs then crashes, on startup, an error comes up saying "the cpu frequency isn't correct" (not word for word, but basic idea).
so, i set the frequency to 133. it happened a few times. i brought it back to the dealer twice already. the first time, the problem was happening everytime and eventually, windows would not load. the dealer resolved it. then after about a month, the computer started doing the same thing. i brought it back and the dealer said that when they started it up, there wasn't a problem.

i downloaded a frequency detector from intel.com and the processor's frequency is in fact 133 mhz (check just as a precaution).

any incite on what could be wrong or what path i should take up with the dealer would be greatly appreciated. my warranty on the computer is up June 17th, so i am hoping to find out the problem before then. this dealer either doesn't know what they are doing or they are just waiting for my warranty to be up before they fix it.

 

[sonusman]

Sounds like possibly the CPU is having problems. Try replacing it.

Also, make sure that you have the most recent bios installed (check to make sure that you NEED to most recent bios installed, but usually bios updates only INCREASE compatibility....).

If they cannot "fix" this problem, they will owe you a full refund, correct? Make sure you are at the store when they boot it up and hang out for a while doing some work on the computer to show them what is happening.

I have had a custom built computer for two years now. It is starting to have squirly little problems, but I am also running it about as hard as I possibly can. Up till a month of so ago, it was fine. Time for a new motherboard for me!

Good luck.

Ed

 

[RWhite]

Well, I am reading my P3B-F motherboard manual right now (have a bunch of them here at work) and it says quite clearly that the 440BX chipset and supporting chips on this board are only rated up to 100 bus speed. Just because a board supports overclocking doesn't mean it is certain to work. Not to mention that the PIII EB 667 chip you have installed in it did not even exist when that board was designed - or are you overclocking the cpu too?

The FIRST thing I would do is set the bus speed back to 100, and set the chip speed to 600. Then play with it a few days and see if it runs better. While you are flipping the jumpers on the board make sure the cpu fan is working.

 

[thebear]

Never answer a question with a question?

Hey all!! Not quite sure if I am reading this correctly, but what Operating system are you running? I heard you mention Windows but, not what flavor?

I also have an ASUS mb but I am too lazy to look it up at the moment. The reason that you keep getting sent into the BIOS and are seeing the CPU warning is because there was a "hard crash", and it takes you back to the bios. Don't ask me why, but that drove me crazy also. My problem was a hard drive issue.

1. Make sure all the BIOS settings are correct, I disable ANY ON BOARD "VIRUS PROTECT" software. I have have had many conflicts with these, not just on ASUS, but ABIT, Intel, PC100. In the BIOS just keep going through the screens until you see it and disable it. Having this "BIOS" based Virus Protect is not doing you any good, and your box will boot faster. I suggetst Norton Antivirus. It is a great product and you can "disable" the real time scanning when working on heavy apps so it doesn't rob too much power, when you are done, you can just "enable" it and it is back to work!!!

2. Make sure there are no conflicts in the System Icon in the control panel.

3. Check the BIOS updates like mentioned

4. I have built a lot of boxes, and have NEVER had a bad Intel processor, I used to work for an Intel Dealer sold thousands of chips, never had one come back, but I am sure it happens. I would maybe suspect that they put in cheap ram. If the PC boots and basically runs ok, but while running an app it starts to hang, you may be having a problem with the ram. (The sad part is, this condition is also associated with overclocking, or processor related issues, but I am just trying to throw out other ideas for you to check) I try to use only Micron Memory, it is tempting to buy 256mb's of generic ram for 100.00, but there are issues associated with cheap ram.

5. If this is an "oem" processor, (you had it built, but it would have come in a white box, and about 100.00 less expensive, there is NO guarantee on the processor) you may be stuck with the dealer, if it was/is a "retail" processor, you should be covered for a year.
6. If you are running W2kPro, make sure that you have SP1 loaded, if it is 98, GO Immediately to windows updates and download all the updates.

I hope that this was helpfull. Later.....

 

[tubedude]

yeah

Seems like I remember the 440bx chipset supporting 66 and 100mhz bus speeds. Overcloacking can cause alot of strange anomolies, esepecially after a year or so. It causes premature aging on alot of circuits, including the CPU, and can shorten thier lifespan.
Also, that seagate at 7200rpm is most likely set up for ata100 transfer speeds, and I think, again, i THINK, that the 400 bx chipset only handles, ummmm, ata66? I may be wrong, its been quite awhile on the 440bx for me. You may not be getting full functionality from your HD.
Oh, now I see the Scsi drive too... scsi can sometimes get hairy, too. I'm assuimg thats your audio drive.
Peace,
Paul