System Instability

[mike_w]

Recently, I've been getting some system instability, but can't work out what the cause is.

My system is quite stable, yet some programs that have never crashed before are now crashing daily, although its not regularly. My system also restarts sometimes - no blue screen, just as though the reset button is pressed.

I've run Memtest, and checks out fine. I've reformatted, and installed the latest drivers. Prime95 runs fine for a few hours.

Things that crash include Firefox and just about any game that I play. Temperatures seem to be fine, and I have a Volcano 12 stuck on top my CPU that runs at 1.6V.

Specs:
Mobile Barton 2400+ (running at 200x11, 1.6V)
Abit NF7-S
2x512MB PC3200
Sapphire Radeon 9600 128MB

I can't say exactly when the problems started since it's an intermittent problem (i.e. the most annoying kind!). The only things I can remember doing around the time is running Windows Update, changing the case and installing new RAM.

Thanks for any help

Mike

[Stephen B]

check all power supply molex connectors, and proper ram seating, a poor connection will become unstable as the heat builds up in your case [thermal expansion]

also check the power headers on your optical devices and hard drives, continual plugging and unplugging weakens the solder

and finally make sure your power supply ain on its last legs

[mike_w]

Everything seems connecting fine inside the case.

PSU is a Tagan 480W. Is there anyway to check it's not causing the problem without actually swapping it out?

[mike_w]

Just to let you all know that the problem is sorted (I hope!) - I think it might have been a heat problem. I reduced the overclock on my CPU, and the voltage by 0.1V, and it seems to be stable again. I think the cause might be dust - I'll give it a good clean sometime.