Random hardware-related crashes

Iridium

Solid State Member
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10
So I had my PC shipped to me and it appeared to be fine; after configuring it to the campus LAN life was great.

But now, 3 days later, I'm getting odd, random system crashes. No warning signs appear; either a random hard-reset occurs or the whole system locks up instantly. (The lockup is usually preceeded by a scrambled monitor view a half-second ahead of the lock.) Due to the fact that I hear the power blip causing the hard reset and all the errors are random without warning and independant of whatever software is running at the time, I'm almost certain it's hardware damage from shipping. Does anyone have any ideas on how to isolate the problem or should I just claim insurance for the whole thing and replace the mb, cpu and video (since the hard-drive wasn't shipped and I don't think it's possible for RAM to cause these errors)? Thanks.

*edit*adding specs...

400w power supply
Athlon XP 2800+
ASUS A7V8X-X mb
Radeon 9000 (I think...?)
512 RAM
80GB HD
Win XP Pro SP1

Also, it's on a surge protector and nothing else on the protector is suffering random glitches (including my laptop) so the problem is definately in the pc itself.
-Iridium
 
Sounds like a problem my niece had before. Same type of problem she would bring it back to the dealer to have it check but everything find. I happen to drop by one day and found the problem. There was only one air intake for her system and it was from one of the side. That side was stuck on a wall and no air getting in, within 30 to 60 minutes she would have signs you describe.
I just moved the computer from one side of her desk on the floor to the other so air would easily circulate and her problem was gone. Your problem may be something like that.
 
It my be the your graphics acrd because when i let mine get a bit too hot my system just locked up and had a scrambeled monitor but i had to force a power down
 
I had the same thought about my video card getting too hot. I was playing a movie tonight and it reset on me. I popped the side of the case and watched it again without any problems. I periodically touched the heatsink and it never once felt warmer than any of the other heatsinks. Although the card itself is passively cooled I have a PCI slot fan right below it, although I'm not certain how much good that is doing. I can understand a vid card overheat leading to a display lockup, but I'm a bit mystified as to how it could cause a hard reset. I'll play with keeping it cool, but I'm still not entirely satisfied that heat (or even the video card altogether) is the problem.

-Iridium
 
You placed your finger on the problem. You should install another fan on your system to exhaust the heat and try to place your PC in an area that is cool. If you place it in a room that can get hot like a kitchen! or where there is a lot of sunlight, move your PC to a cooler area. If your PC gets warm air to cool it down, it won't help.
 
I'm leaning away from the video card...now when I power-on after being off for the night it gets about to the Windows splash screen, then just shuts off. I turn it back on and everything is fine. Although I intend to get a new vid card anyway, I'm thinking it's time for a new mb. (An excuse for an Athlon 64 3400+... :) )

-Iridium
 
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