New Athlon XP 3000 Problems

S

spuff

Big Geek
Just bought a new Athlon XP 3000+ Barton. Installed it with a new fan but I have nothing but trouble with it. When I first installed it, it wouldn't boot past the Windows logo. But now, it seems to get as far as logging in and just as it loads my desktop, it crashes completely ... every single time. It got to the stage where each time I rebooted it, it loaded just a couple more seconds more than the last attempt then crashes ... but now it just crashes at the same stage! Sometimes though, it'll just reboot itself instead of crashing and start all over. I've had a couple of blue screen messages saying something about page and non-page something to do with 'win32k.sys'.
I can use it though ... if I set my mobo jumpers to safe mode, which means it goes slow. I don't want to have to do this! It also seems to work with the jumpers set to default when it boots up in safe mode. My specs are:

Athlon XP 3000+ CPU
MSI K7N2 Delta-L
Windows XP Pro SP1
Radeon 9600XT

Thanks!
 
If you have the 166mhz version, make sure the multiplier is set at 13 and the clock frequency at 166.
If you have the 200mhz version, make sure the multiplier is set at 10.5 and the clock frequency at 200.

Also, what power supply do you have ?
 
Well, by default, the FSB is set at 133 but when I put it up to 166, it just crashes even sooner. I'm not sure what type of power supply but I know it's 400w.
 
make sure that your heatsink is seated / mounted properly. if not it will over heat and course substantial problems.

Also, if you have multiple sticks of ram, try running with 1 at a time, switching them round to see if it makes any difference. and make sure that your heatsink (if an old one) is compatible with providing enough cooling for your 3000+.

if non of that is the problem, or that is all fine.. try disconnecting power to everything but your:
motherboard / hard drive with OS on it / floppy / and your graphics card. remove power to everything else, or disconnect extra pci / agp cards from your motherboard.. if it works once removing everything.. your powersupply is not powerful enough.

hope this helps :good:
 
Another thing you might wanna check: the FSB:Memory ratio. If it's set to 1:1, and it's unable to run at DDR 333 (for a 166MHz FSB), or DDR 400 (for a 200MHz FSB), then that's likely the problem.

Basically, if you've got something slower than PC2700 or PC3200, you really ought to check and make sure the memory is set to be slower than the FSB or you'll run into trouble.
 
Well, with regards to my memory, I have one stick of PC3200 Samsung 256mb memory and one stick of PC2700 Spek Tec 256mb memory. I'm running them dual channel 333 and not had any trouble before. I'll have a mess with that and see what happens!
I also reinstalled Windows just to see ... that did nothing!
Also, my heatsink is new and rated up to Athlon XP 3400+ and it is mounted correctly. I'm just stumped on what this may be!
 
just because it's rated at 3400+, doesn't mean that it will cool a 3400+ or even a 3200+ well. What heatsink is it?

`try booting with the samsung ram, since it runs at 333mhz, in various slots
 
Well, I've been messing with FSB speed and for some reason, it doesn't like anything above 133. I'm currently running at 133 and it seems fine. My heatsink/fan is Thermaltake TR2-M3 SE.
Haven't played with memory yet but that's something for tommorrow ... when I'm more awake!
 
Well, I've got the FSB up to 164 and it seems to be happy running at that with no crashes at all. But as soon as I go to 165 or over, then problems start. Should I just be happy with it at 164?
 
I suggest loading the default bios options and ONLY setting the boot sequence and the fsb to 166. Then if it works, change your settings one by one to try to pinpoint the problem.
 
I've still been trying to get the FSB higher with no luck. I tried altering the multiplier and FSB and it didn't even power up at one stage! Are there any other options in the BIOS I can mess with to maybe get this right? I don't know how to change boot sequences so if anyone could give me a clue there, I'd be greatful! :)
 
I have now narrowed this down to 2 possible reasons and I need expert opinions on this (please! :))

1, CPU core voltage: changing voltage is something new to me but I thought I would give it a shot! By default, in the BIOS, it is set to 'By H/W' but when I load up CPU-Z, the voltage hovers between 1.61v and 1.64v. I try with FSB @ 166 and it doesn't boot (mostly, I just get a blank screen with a flashing cursor in the top-left corner of the screen). If I change it to 1.65v (like it should be), it'll load Windows @ 166 and I can load Far Cry ... until I try to load a checkpoint and then it dies. In CPU-Z, it hovers between 1.66v and 1.68v. At 1.70v, it loads a the game and a checkpoint but dies shortly after during gameplay. Now I don't know if raising the voltage is dangerous so should I take the risk and go further? I really don't want to kill my CPU!

2, Heat: I tried opening the case and I used a desk fan aimed at the CPU fan to try and reduce heat. @ 1.65v and 166 FSB, with Far Cry, I managed to load the game and got a couple of minutes into gameplay. But as soon as I took the extra fan away, it died. Also, If I don't use Far Cry (and the desk fan) and just use Windows applications, I get a blue screen message after a few minutes.

Could it be a combination of both? Sorry to keep on nagging on and on about this but for someone with not much money, £80 is a lot of money for a CPU that I can't get to work properly!

Thanks!
 
OUt of interest, if the CPU's bust but all the other hardware is fine, will the computer get anywhere, or will it simply refuse to do anything?
 
Sorry to bump an old thread, but I have a similar problem with my computer. Basically I can't boot Windows XP if I have my graphics card drivers installed. I narrowed the problem down to two things: dodgy power supply or dodgy graphics card. It never occured to me that my CPU might be dodgy.

It's a long story, but here goes.. I've been using this computer since december with no problems like this. Then...

Friday
Installed CREATIVE AUDIGY 2 sound card Friday morning. Computer worked fine.

Friday evening I installed a 200GB 7200rpm SEAGATE HDD and replaced three 80mm CASE FANS (molex connectors) with 3 new 80mm CASE FANS with 3pin connectors connected to FAN CONTROLLER. Graphics quite literally ****ed - alternating black & white lines appear on screen, and then Windows restarts itself.

Removed fan controller. Added 3pin-molex converters to case fans. No change, graphics still ****ed.

Disconnected new HD. No change.

Reconnected new HD, disconnected old HD. Partitioned & installed Windows XP Home SP2. Installed motherboard drivers, restarted, installed graphics drivers, and got a 'ZERO DISPLAY SERVICE ERROR'. Restarted, same problem. Tried three different types of drivers, the latest ATI ones, the ones I was using before, and the OMEGA drivers. None worked.

Removed sound card and reinserted graphics card. No change.

Removed case fans. No change.

Tried a different monitor. No change.

Went to sleep.

Saturday & Sunday
Computer fairy did her magic (I don't have a ****ing clue -_-). Computer worked fine for the entire weekend with all my hardware connected (including the new HDD, case fans & sound card) and all drivers installed.

Monday
Worked fine Monday morning.

Got home from work Monday evening and was greeted by the same problem.

Removed video capture card. Problem gone. Fixed?

A few hours later, same problem.

Tweaked around with some nonessential BIOS settings (AGP fast write, aperture size, agp 8x toggle, HDD S.M.A.R.T, etc.). No change. Gave up.

Tuesday
Pretty much same as Monday. Worked in the morning, broken in the evening for about 30 minutes and then seemed to fix itself.

Wednesday
Worked fine in the morning and even worked fine in the evening. A few hours later, the computer hangs and I get the same problem again. Then for the rest of the evening Windows would manage to boot but then hang after a few minutes. The screen would freeze for a second or two and then go black. Strangely, the sound would still work (music still playing and even the media hotkeys worked) and I could even type things.

Thursday
Same problem for Thursday as Wednesday evening. Lasts about 5 minutes before hanging.

Friday & today
Back to original problem (funnily enough, the same as last friday). I've resorted to using my computer with no graphics card drivers installed. Basically just using the default Windows XP drivers, which are painfully slow at even 2D and can't manage 3D at all.

Notes
Booting Windows in Safe Mode always works.
KNOPPIX and Fedora Core 4 both work, but probably because they don't have the proper Radeon drivers installed.
CPU temperature varies on usage, average 40ish. Case temperature 30ish. Graphics card temp, last time I checked, 36ish.

Specs
AMD Athlon XP 3000 (default cooler)
MSI nForce 2 K7 (default 'safe' settings)
2x 512MB PC3200 (dual-channel disabled)
ATI Radeon 9600XT (AGP 8x & fast write enabled - cache video BIOS disabled - AGP aperture size 256MB)
Creative Audigy 2
Sony DVD+RW (connected to secondary master)
2x 7200RPM HDD (Seagate 200GB [primary master], Western Digital 120GB [primary slave])
1x 3.5" Floppy drive
3x 80mm case fans
1x HDD cooler (2x 50mm fans)
1x 400w power supply, 18a on +12v

Conclusion
...

:(

I don't think it's a problem with the CPU/mobo. I think it's a problem with the graphics card, but who knows...

edit: if it's of any use:
mbm-dashboard.png
 
Okay well, this is going to sound strange, but I replaced my CPU heatsink & fan and now everything seems to work fine. I'm fearing a crash any minute though :x
 
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