Random Hard Lock Up

[Apex]

It could be a problem with the ATI driver, there is a similar situation with the iMac that uses the HD 2600 , it is unlikely to be a PSU problem because the 2600's don't use much power only taking power from the PCIE slot.

first..try ram, in case it's being fussy in that mobo.

Download the latest MemTest and run it off CD or Floppy.....leave it and see if it shows anything.

Personally I'd put in an extra 15-20 notes and get the Corsair HX520 or maybe even get 1 of the VX range from Corsair,seen too many horror stories regarding Hiper.

Problem with that is that we are not all made of money, the only reason shes getting this upgrade as such is the pc she did have is well past it sell by date and i had a spare 939 chip for her

[Zak33]

and why on earth is running Mem Test gonna cost her any money? If it runs clean......no worries....cost zero

if it DOESNT and there is a ram problem....well...you have no choice...

[scrandman]

Doubt a bad connection with PCI-E will cause many issues, if any.

You can actually hack chunks off of the connector and the card will just use less PCI-E lanes.

Perhaps, but you certainly can't hack chunks off it and stick it in a regular PCI slot and expect it to work (as one clown tried on another forum with his Dell & 8800)

[Apex]

and why on earth is running Mem Test gonna cost her any money? If it runs clean......no worries....cost zero

if it DOESNT and there is a ram problem....well...you have no choice...

Zak, the multi quote didn't work like it should have so that post ended up with the quotes i didin't want.

[Apex]

Update

I have now done a clean install to a spare hdd that i have.

Not once during the install did it crash with any errors

i am running the 7.10 cats and the last version of the nf4 drivers

i have ran memtest on the mem over night and no errors where produced

Only once i have seen what my sis was saying and this was on boot up, the screen when black but the o/s kepted loading, fans where spining and upon a reset it boots fine into windows with no errors in the event log

the only odd thing is that in device manager there is a pci device listed as not installed and it returns a device id of

PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_AA08&SUBSYS_AA0818BC&REV_00\4&243D7BD0&0&0170

but we have installed all the drivers we can think of ( doubt its linked but this could be the gfx card is faulty or the mobo is )

any ideas ?

PCI Slot 5 (PCI bus 5, device 0, function 1)

[MuftiMan]

Very much doubt it's the psu, add to it we don't have a spare psu tha you would class as upto the job to test with, it's the one thing i do't have spare in one sense, supose i cold try my 250watt shuttle psu seen has that use to run that above chip with a x800 xt pe 2 gig of ram, 2 500gb hdds and a dvd writer and never had a blip....

If this goes the way i think it will this little upgrade for sis is going to turn out rather expensive for her

I'd probably point my finger too at the PSU. Since the problem occurs randomly it could be that you're getting different ammounts of load on the system and the PSU can't supply - so it shuts off.

You need to make sure that the amperage on the 12V rails is high enough cos that could also cause this problem.

[Apex]

Still doubt it's the psu, in all the time i have had this rig here i have yet to see crash multipull times, it's locked once and only once.

Still suspect the GFX is faulty,

I've ran games through this and if thats not putting a load on the system then i don't know what is and not once has it crashed.

[Sema4]

the only odd thing is that in device manager there is a pci device listed as not installed and it returns a device id of

PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_AA08&SUBSYS_AA0818BC&REV_00\4&243D7BD0&0&0170

......

PCI Slot 5 (PCI bus 5, device 0, function 1)

According to the PCI vendors database (http://www.pcidatabase.com/vendor_details.php?id=240) the vendor ID 1002 is ATI

Did you download the driver from ATI ? or from Gecube ? (http://www.gecube.com/software-driver.php)

The Gecube specification page for that card (http://www.gecube.com/products-detai...?prod_id=67842) says it requires a 400w or greater PSU, depending how many other components there are in the system...

Is there is anything you can disconnect from the PSU to test it ? ie a DVD or CD drive, case fans, second hard drive, anything at all ? (If disconnecting case fans, run with the case open during testing until case fans are reconnected).

If there is anything you can remove from the PSU, this may make the difference between 'enough' power and 'not enough' power, but from all I have read, I would be another one that votes for the PSU to blame....

Do you have another rig that you can just swap the graphic card in to ? A quick test of the PCI-E card in another computer will rule (in or out) the graphic card, once and for all... and it's easier to swap the graphic card over, than it is to swap a PSU over.

[Lucio]

To be honest, you're at the point where you need to test/replace something to see if the problem continues to occur. Depends on where you bought the components from as to what the best option is.

I had a similar issue, screen goes black but system continues to load within the last couple of days. However I could definately confirm it was a faulty card because I could test the cards and can easily get it replaced under the cover plan.

[Apex]

<SNIP> .

ATI cats direct from site, running the 7.10's, we did try the drivers from gecube and got the same results.

The rig is pretty barebones at the current time with just the mobo / cpu / one stick of ram in / gfx and one hdd.

My rig is not pcie based ( shuttle SN95G5, with far more bits in it, see sys specs in profile ) and neither are any of the rigs back at mums / sis's place, the only other rig here is the father in laws and thats got a lowly x700 pcie card in it

[Sema4]

Hmm, not much more to try then really... remove and reseat the graphic card... can't do any harm, only takes a second, and it's free....

You could also enter the BIOS at boot and underclock the CPU, also underclock the graphic card via cat, then see if you can reproduce the fault...

apart from that, PSU still gets my vote... the fact the GPU is producing no artefacts or stuttering would lead me away from thinking the graphic card is at fault, but without the ability to swap it in to another system, there will be no real way to be 100% sure

Hmmm.... can't think of anything else to try or test, sorry... good luck with it !

[Vibein]

I would disconnect all drives only have the HDD running and borrow a new 400w or higher psu and monitor for a few days.

Oh and I had terrible issues with the old Hiper model took out my ram sticks when it blew up with a nice bang and smoke. Still think the rma replacement is not up to much after various issues.

[Apex]

Sorry to burst the bubbles of thoes that said the psu wasn't upto the job, but i've got the replacement card in the rig now and it's not given me one bit of issues so like i suspected the card was faulty.

[MuftiMan]

whats is the new gfx card? and which was the old one?

[Apex]

Faulty card was the gecube ati 2600pro, replacement is a new gecube 2600pro