Computer help: Brand new computer won't stop crashing
Brand new computer won't stop crashing
by gah!why! - 7/4/09 6:24 PMAlright, so I just got a brand new computer. I went onto newegg.com, picked out all the pieces, bought an operating system, and put it together (under the supervision of two people who build computers often). For the first week, it was amazing. For the last two days, however, it's been crashing constantly. It started when I was watching a video online (an episode of a show on hulu). The video paused, Firefox froze, and then when I tried to open task manager, the whole thing froze, and I had to restart. Now, it happens constantly, whether I'm watching videos, or just waiting for sites to load. It actually happened once while I was trying to write this post. Here are some things you'll probably need to know:
1) My hardware. (I have a copy of XP that I bought from newegg)
- Pioneer CD/DVD Burner Black IDE Model DVR-117DBK - OEM
- SIGMA FOCUS SP800B 800W (900W Peak) ATX12V Power Supply - Retail
- SAMSUNG 2343BWX High Glossy Black 23" 5ms 16:9 Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
- Microsoft ZG6-00006 Black PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard 500 - Retail
- COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
- Microsoft N71-00007S Black 3 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical Wheel Mouse - OEM
- Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
- EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
- ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550 - Retail
- Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM
- G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail
2) What happened to my last computer.
I am terrified right now, because my last computer (laptop) died in a similar way. However, when it froze and I restarted, I got the blue screen of death. I took my computer to my school's IT department, and they 'saved' what they could. But when I put these files on my new comp, a lot of them were corrupted. I am almost positive that I did not carry over any possibly infected programs - all I've got are music, a few word docs, and some photoshop files / png files of the stuff I did. I spent a LOT of time on these photoshop files - I really don't want to lose them...
3) What I've done to try to fix it:
- My computer uses the free version of AVG anti-virus, and windows defender. Both scans came back negative. I also ran malware anti-malware bytes and spybot search and destroy - both empty. I downloaded a few other scans I found online, but I couldn't find any viruses or anything wrong on my computer.
4) Also, and this can be completely unrelated - but now that I've got a desktop, I tried playing some online games for the first time (like team fortress 2!) and realized that my ping is ridiculously high. I kept getting kicked off. I use a belkin wireless card to connect to my router, which my step dad claims is 'high speed', but he's pretty old, and probably defines the phrase 'fast internet' far differently from me. Could my high ping be related to my crashing problem, or does my internet speed suck, or is it because I'm wireless.
5) What I've downloaded in the meantime: Pretty much nothing. I've installed winamp, itunes, pidgin, Microsoft word, some adobe products, steam, and XP Themes. These were all downloaded within the first few days, so my computer was fine with them at first. I can't thing of anything I really did recently that could have caused this...
Sorry I'm so clueless. Thanks for any input you can offer!! I'm eternally grateful.
- Alex
1. Uniinstall Spybot.
by R. Proffitt
- 7/5/09 7:43 AM
In reply to: Brand new computer won't stop crashing by gah!why!
2. Tell me about the heatsink compound you used.
in regards to the heatsink compound
by gah!why! - 7/5/09 6:50 PM In reply to: 1. Uniinstall Spybot. by R. Proffitt
Are you referring to the gel that came with the processor that I goes on underneath the fan? When I read the manual, it said only to use that compound if using a separately purchased fan. However, since I was using the fan, it said I didn't need to add any of the gel in that tube that it gave.
"it said I didn't need to add any of the gel in that tube"
by R. Proffitt - 7/5/09 7:04 PM
In reply to: in regards to the heatsink compound by gah!why!
"it said I didn't need to add any of the gel in that tube that it gave."
Sorry but I read your post twice and can away that your CPU may not have heat sink compound on it. If you must, have a shop check your work.
Even better you write "goes on underneath the fan?" Sorry but it goes on top of the CPU where the heat sink mates. There can be a fan that is usually on the heat sink.
Bob
thermal gel
by gah!why! - 7/5/09 8:24 PM In reply to: "it said I didn't need to add any of the gel in that tube" by R. Proffitt
Sorry, I misspoke. I went back to the P5Q Pro Motherboard User Guide to see what I did exactly. This is what it said:
"6. Apply several drops of thermal paste to the exposed area of the CPU that the heatsink will be in contact with, ensuring that it is spread in an even thin layer. Some heatsinks come with pre-applied thermal paste. If so, skip this step."
This is why I didn't add the compound. And I didn't apply it directly to the fan either - sorry. I meant the physical piece on the motherboard underneath the fan/heatsink, i.e. the CPU. I'm bad with terminology - sorry!! Does this make sense?
Anyways, should I go back in and add some of the extra thermal compound? Will it mess with the pre-applied stuff on the heatsink/fan?
I would.
by R. Proffitt - 7/5/09 8:32 PM
In reply to: thermal gel by gah!why!
Your issue sounds just like what happens if there is not much compound or if the heatsink is not seated proper on the CPU. There are many guides and pictures about this on the net so I'll stop here.
coolant stuff has been reapplied
by gah!why! - 7/10/09 8:25 PM In reply to: I would. by R. Proffitt
Alright, so we opened up my computer, removed the previous coolant between the heat sink and CPU, and then added the new compound. It's been a few days. My computer is still crashing constantly, so that was not the problem. Any other suggestions?
A few thoughts
by Jimmy Greystone - 7/5/09 8:37 AM In reply to: Brand new computer won't stop crashing by gah!why!A few thoughts:
1: What is the ambient temperature inside the case?
2: What is the ambient temp of your CPU, GPU, and hard drive(s)?
3: Has it been particularly hot and humid lately where you live?
4: Is there any kind of climate control for the room the computer is in?
As you might have noticed, there's a heat related theme to all of my questions. What you're experiencing sounds very much to me like you didn't provide for sufficient cooling in your computer. Especially since it's the "dog days of summer" in most parts of the world right now, where it tends to be hot and humid.
Proper air cooling of a system can be as much an art as a science. To really do it well, you have to carefully tie off cables and make sure there's a balanced system of intake and exhaust fans. Even then you still might need some form of climate control.
If the inside of your case is just a giant rats nest of cables, there may not be much of a path for the air to flow, and so it just builds up. Right now, it sounds a lot like there's just enough airflow to handle your system until the video card starts ramping up to handle Hulu videos or render a web page. Then the extra heat it puts out is just too much.
Quick and easy test for this, is to open the case up, and point a box fan or something directly into the case. If the system stabilizes for a couple of days, then you need to improve the air flow in your case. Possibly buy a bigger case to give you a little more room to work in. The people who supervised you putting this thing together should have caught this, and so I would suggest that maybe they don't know quite as much as they claim.
If the fan doesn't improve things, then you probably have some bad hardware, and you get to strip it down to the bare essentials to see if that works. If it does, then you start adding things back in one by one until the problem resurfaces. Then whatever the last thing was you put in, is likely your problem component.
dog days
by white-bread - 7/5/09 6:56 PM In reply to: A few thoughts by Jimmy GreystoneIt's only summer in the northern hemisphere.
re: heating issues
by gah!why! - 7/5/09 6:58 PM In reply to: A few thoughts by Jimmy GreystoneI don't think it's an overheating issue. The reason I got the case I did is because of its potential for airflow. Also, I live in a basement, so it's usually pretty cold down here. There is a dehumidifier in the corner of the room - could that be affecting it?
I didn't actually open the case, but I did put my hand down near the fans to see if it was hot when it would crash. I think that when my computer gets hotter my fans tend to go a little faster (since it gets louder). However, the fans seem to maintain their speed, and it doesn't sound like the system is killing itself to keep going.
I've also restored it twice. This didn't really help the problem.
I heard that the virus I had on my last computer could have attached itself to my external harddrive, allowing it access to my new computer when I downloaded some of my music and photoshop files. Is this a possibility?
Thanks again for the replies! If you'd still like me to find the temperatures, I can look for them.
test with a different system
by white-bread - 7/5/09 6:57 PM In reply to: Brand new computer won't stop crashing by gah!why!As usual, I suggest a Linux distro in which you can use cpufreq-utils to control the frequency and acpi to control the fan.
2.5 questions.
by R. Proffitt - 7/11/09 10:05 AM
In reply to: Brand new computer won't stop crashing by gah!why!
1. What BIOS version is the motherboard?
2. What TIMING and VOLTAGE is set for that RAM in the BIOS?
Bluee screen, and computer crashes frequently
by siile - 7/11/09 12:09 PM In reply to: Brand new computer won't stop crashing by gah!why!May be you have a problem with your RAM. Have you tried troubleshooting it. Such things happen when your RAM experience trouble. And You can't even booth anything from your CD ROM. And also check out for those Dust bunnies they are not your friends.
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