Upgraded PC unstable I've just upgraded a pc to a AMD Sempron 3600+ AM2 with a MSI K9MM-V MB, 1 gb RAM and I've had nothing but problems with it seems very unstable. Built fine and booted so installed XP, again no problems thus far. After installing SP2 it had rebooted and I was presented with a black screen and debug trap error msg! After removing memory sticks and any other non essential hardware still couldnt get it to boot so I formatted and reinstalled. After getting XP installed again I've had various niggly problems installing applications including AVG (files missing) and even the SP2 failed 1st time due to files missing?? That aside the system keeps randomly cutting out, screen goes blank but the system appears to be still running power led/fan etc. The CPU is running at about 42 idle which only rises to approx 47/48 when busy, so I cant see this being the issue. The memory I bought was budget stuff and altho i ordered 2x 512mb the system only registers 960mb?? Could faulty memory be an issue? I then thought PSU which is a 300W (which may bot sound alot) but the system is only basic... onboard VGA/sound, a single optical drive DVDRW. Cant be drawing too much surely? However the MB is a 24 pin socket and the PSU only a 20pin which should still work according to manual, could this be it? This cutting out only appears to happen when I'm using it, its been on a good half hour idle and no problems. So any thoughts please?
Given the fact that this only seems to happen when you load the machine, the two things I'd be looking at are RAM and your power supply. I'm running a similar system and when I first put it together I had issues similar to the ones you're describing - turns out I had my RAM timings set up incorrectly. Changing the RAM timings cured the issue completely. Download Everest Home (google for it) and install it on your PC. Use the memory page to work out what timing your RAM should be running on and check that it's set up in your bios. If that doesn't work, download memtest x86 and run it, see if you have any ram problems, if you find it's at fault, try running with one of the 512mb sticks instead of two. And check they're paired (same type, manufacturer etc) - non-matching pairs can cause problems. I'm not sure whether the PSU is a factor, it's possible if it's a cheap one. I'm running with a shuttle 350w PSU, and it's more efficient than your average PSU so I can run with a lower overall wattage. Some cheap PSUs that state 300w are only capable of producing that load in bursts and not under sustained load - if your power supply dipped below your demand it can cause the kind of problem you're describing... usually it resets the machine without a bluescreen though. If your ATX plug is 24 pin, you need an adaptor that converts the 20pin into a 24 and use that to connect your board. I don't think a standard 20pin will fit, and even if it does, it could cause the kind of problem you're describing if you use it like that.
I've used Everest before... I'm fairly sure its a RAM issue I'll look into it... BTW there is no BSOD the screen just goes black with nothing at all no error msgs when it does cut out. Checked the MB manual and it definatley states the 20pin can be used and the socket is designed is such a way you cant install it incorrectly...
Spot on cheers mate! memtest flagged an error straight away stating it couldnt write to the RAM. Just running off the other chip now. That'll teach me to buy budget RAM
