Seemingly random problem

[jscott]

My computer has been bugging out for the past month or so, constantly crashing whenever a heavy program runs. I took it to a local tech shop to have it troubleshot and fixed, and they told me that I would need to reformat windows, so I had them do that. They whiped everything, including the HDD. But when I tested it, games were still crashing. So I took it back, and they told me that my processor had been fried (apparentally I had the fan unplugged earlier on. Not for long, but long enough to fry it) so I got the new processor. Ok, now I have it back, but the problem still exists, to a mild extent, which is where the problem lies.

The first time I had it back, I tested it on Guild Wars, Rome: Total War, and Gothic II. Guild Wars crashed before I could log on, Rome: Total War never crashed, though I only had a few battles, and Gothic II ran for 2 hours before crashing. Later on, I test Guild Wars, and it takes 20-30 minutes to crash, as opposed to the instantanious crash that happened before. So today, I turn the computer back on, and go through the Guild Wars test again. It crashes immediatelly, once more. Gothic II is also crashing more often again. Also, the internet ever crashed on me.

Here's my question- replacing the processor DID help, but not enough, it would seem. Is this normal for new processors, or did the shop mess up again and diagnose me with the wrong problem? I have a 7 day money-back guarentee, so I'm not screwed yet.

Here's my system specs:

CD: COMBO DRIVE (16X DVD-ROM & 52x32x52 CD-RW) (SILVER COLOR [+9])
CD2: NONE
CASUPGRADE: NONE
CPU: (939-pin) AMD ATHLONâ„¢64 3500+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology [+130]
FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 6in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (SILVER COLOR)
FAN: AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
FLOPPY: 1.44 MB FLOPPY DRIVE (SILVER COLOR [+7])
HDD: Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM Serial ATA 150 8MB Cache -- Recommended [+40]
HDD2: NONE
IEEE_CARD: NONE
KEYBOARD: PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD (BEIGE COLOR)
MOUSE: PS2 INTERNET MOUSE W/ WHEEL (Special!!! BEIGE COLOR MICROSOFT USB
MP3PLAYER: NONE
MOTHERBOARD: (Sckt939)ASUS A8N-SLI nForce4 SLI Chipset SATA RAID Dual PCIE MB
w/Gb-LAN,USB2.0,IEEE-1394,&7.1Audio [+78]
MEMORY: 2 512MB sticks of Corsair RAM, added in myself after I recieved it
MONITOR: NONE
NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
OS: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition w/ Service Pack 2 [+89]
POWERSUPPLY: STANDARD CASE POWER SUPPLY
RAID: NONE
RUSH: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS
SCANNER: NONE
SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY PLUS ONE-YEAR ONSITE SERVICE
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: NONE [-5]
TEMP: NONE (AS SHOWN)
UPS: None
USB: Build-in USB 2.0 Ports
USB_PENDRIVE: NONE
VIDEOCAMERA: NONE
VIDEO: NVIDIA Geforce 6800 GT 256MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD [+350]
VIDEO2: NONE
WIRING: Professional Wiring for All WIRINGs Inside The System Chasis [+19]
WIRELESSPOINT: NONE
WIRELESSCARD: NONE
ZIP: NONE

Thanks for any help.

 

[rdcmmnst]

definately take it back. It could be a memory problem that would be where my first guess would lie. Take it back for you money!!

 

[connchri]

After reading through your problem, the 1st thing that came to mind was your memory. Problem with that diagnosis is though, is that it would usually crash certian programs at specific points, when it fills up a certian memory address. Reading through your specs, I'd check out the PSU. You don't have a brand name, yet everything else is. Classical sign of a dodgy PSU is this random crashing. Perhaps your 12V line's a bit dodgy, and your current CPU is more tollarable of slight voltage fluctuations than your last.

I couldn't think of anything else. Try disconecting any unused peripherals as well, including your multicard reader. Try out another PSU, at least 400+ watt made by Antec, Tagen, Viper or other reputable brand then test again. Try one stick of your memory at a time too for testing, and if no effect, try the other stick, lower the timings on it. See if any of these combinations solve your problem, but looking at your spec list, the PSU keeps staring at me.

 

[jscott]

But would a lacking power supply cause simple things like the internet crashing? I can understand the games, but the internet has crashed on me also. Anyway, I'll check that out, if it was just my PSU, that would be great. Less money to dish out.

 

[connchri]

Yeah, low quality or dodgy PSU can cause completely random crashes. I'd say thats your best bet. mind and check the other things too, and see if you could try a decent PSU before you commit on buying one.