Hello everyone. First post here but I am having an issue with my desktop. It is custom rig and whenever I run a game it seems to be able to do something for a small amount of time, then it clunks/freezes for 5-~ secs. I ran the task manager performance meter while doing it and every time the CPU goes to 0-1 % used and the(what im thinking is hard drive) makes a clunk noise. Now I have replaced both the HD with an extra, still did it. Reaplaced the CPU(amd anthlonx2 2.7) with a new one, still did it. The video card is about 6 months old(pny 8800gt) the MB(Asus M3A78 i think) and the PSU is a 650 watt and it is new as well. Also tried taking out a stick of ram(got 2 2gig sticks) and still nothing. Really frustrating and would rather find out what is wrong before buying anything else.
Aha, how did I know you were going to say that? Maxtor has a track record that suggests early failure. I've lost over 300GB of data to Maxtors, and also experienced the 'hiccup' behavior you're seeing. When you've tried different HDDs, does the sound change at all? Does it sound like a head seek abruptly crashing?
Well, you're going to have to do something that we can't do from so many miles away -- listen very closely and catch the sound. See if it's the HDD hanging up or one of the fans. If it's a fan, identify if it's one or many. If several fans are hiccuping at the same time, or if the HDD + fans are hiccuping, it's almost certainly the PSU. BTW, what make/model/wattage PSU do you have?
Well, that appears to be a decent enough PSU, so I would take the advice from my last post and try to track down the clunk noise when it happens.
alrighty, if i can single out it being the HDD exactly by pulling it outside of the case and having it right to my ear....that'll tell me lol
Hey, just wanted to report that after replacing the CPU and the HDD, it was the HDD that was having probs. Installed windows xp 64bit and other then having to repair the install it worked like a charm.
Nice, thanks for the follow-up. As soon as you said "Maxtor", I had a feeling that was the case. Glad you got it fixed.
