System Unstable

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Rich
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System Unstable

Post by Rich »

Just wanted to post a note to all my fellow SunAir pilots as for my absence . My PC has been giving me severe unexpected crash problems the last few months (some of you are aware of this). Not just in MSFS, but in FarCry, DOOM III, and the list goes on (anything graphic intense). Everything starts okay, but anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes the system "burps". The sounds starts to "chatter" (or makes extraterrestrial sounds) or the video freezes. Then either my the PC (most times) or I, reboot...totally. There I times I come home from work, and the system has rebooted with a nasty message telling me that a catastrophe has happened recently. Yet, MS cannot pinpoint the problem. I really miss flying and the flyins, but until I fix this....

System: Intel P4 3.2; Mobo ABIT VT7 (might be the issue); Creative labs Audigy 4; PNY Verto Geforce 6200; Crucial Ballistix Ram (2-512 meg chips); running XP Pro with all the tweaks.

Coming tomorrow (Thurs): A new ASUS mobo that I hope will rectify the problems. If need be, I'll build this from the bottom up, but will see what happens as I add new hardware. Any input from would be greatly appreciated.

Fair skies to all,

Rich Gasperin SAX002, TPA
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David Vega
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Post by David Vega »

Sounds like something is overheating. Good luck with the replacement. dv
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Marty_Becker
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Post by Marty_Becker »

I second Dave's thought...Sure sounds like overheating.
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chriszdc
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Post by chriszdc »

yep, sounds like heat to me also....

another possibility is a bad memory area.
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Pylet
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Post by Pylet »

Times that I have seen this problem it is usually a failing power supply. I have also seen where the power supply has been to small for all the goodies one has put into their PC. You might want to make sure you have at least a 450 Watt one. Good luck.
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JohnnyT
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Post by JohnnyT »

Hmmm...
As a "not american" I cant recognize your sound descriptions :wink: , but I can guess what you mean.
The blurp-sound could come from the hard disk as well as the chatter. A freezed video should not have anything to do with the power supply. My guess is that an area on the hard disk corrupt. To make sure what is causing the sound, take off the cover on your system unit and listen. Then replace the failing unit.
Good luck!

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Pylet
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Post by Pylet »

"A typical failure of a PC power supply is often noticed as a burning smell just before the computer shuts down. Another problem could be the failure of the vital cooling fan, which allows components in the power supply to overheat. Failure symptoms include random rebooting or failure in Windows for no apparent reason."

Please see the following link:
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/power-supply4.htm

P.S. Since it looks like you build your own PC's you may want to check this site out to verify that you do have the proper size power supply for your system:

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
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