computer locking up /freezing

[dayeaw]

I am running a MSI motherboard, athlon xp 2400+ cpu, radeon video card, msi cd-rw, sony dvd-rw, on a 400w power supply. I recently upgraded to a usb 2.0 pci card. I had no problems for a while, but past few days, I have been freezing up. Pc acts as though it is overheating. Will reboot and run fine in safe mode. any ideas to correct this?

[Darthtanion]

Re: computer locking up /freezing

If you feel the problem is overheating, then address this issue first. Removing the CPU cooler and cleaning the fins as well as applying a fresh coating of a quality thermal interface material can make a big difference. If you have fans or heatsinks on your graphics and northbridge chipsets, make sure that they are cleaned of dust and gunk. If you are still having problems, then we can look at other possible issues.

[dayeaw]

Re: computer locking up /freezing

I replaced the heatsink about a week ago and applied new grease. I also have a copper shim. Could overheating cause pc to freeze?

[PrairieDawg]

Re: computer locking up /freezing

Overheating can cause your system to freeze as well as reboot. I would definatly be removing the heatsink and cleaning and reapplying the thermal interface material ... it is not unusual to get too much or too little "grease". I have no experience with shims but have you used the shim on this system before? A real quick search with google turned up several examples of shims causing problems.

[dayeaw]

Re: computer locking up /freezing

I have had the shim on for about 2.5 yrs. bought the system about 4.5 yrs ago. The shim came with the new cpu, when old 1 slowed from 2400+ to 1800+. I purchased a new cpu (2400+) and installed. About 3 weeks ago, this 1 slowed to an 1800+. I reset the bios and got it running at 2400+ again. Was running fine until monday. It started freezing, and will only run in safemode now. I have run diagnostics on cache,cpu, motherboard, ram, hd's,etc, all pass.

[dayeaw]

Re: computer locking up /freezing

If you feel the problem is overheating, then address this issue first. Removing the CPU cooler and cleaning the fins as well as applying a fresh coating of a quality thermal interface material can make a big difference. If you have fans or heatsinks on your graphics and northbridge chipsets, make sure that they are cleaned of dust and gunk. If you are still having problems, then we can look at other possible issues.

I replaced the cooler and cleaned all fins a week or so ago. The fan was starting to get noisy. All was cleaned. I applied cheap thermo paste, as it was what I had around the house. Would you suggest tearing it apart again, removing shim, and applying quality thermo material?

[Darthtanion]

Re: computer locking up /freezing

I personally don't like shims, but some folks swear by them (or used to when they were popular years ago). At any rate, I always recommend a quality TIM be used. After all, the processor is the main component that makes everything else work as a team. Arctic Silver has been a mainstay for years, but Arctic Cooling recently came out with some new goop that does a better job and is totally nonconductive.

Oh, and as long as you are careful installing the cooler, you won't have any issues with cracking the core of the processor. This is what the shim is for, protecting the core of those older Athlon processors that do not have the large heat spreader.

[dayeaw]

Re: computer locking up /freezing

I don't fear cracking cpu. I need to pick up some quality compound.

I played in the bios today, and system has been running fine for over 1 1/2 hours now. That's what drives me nuts. It will freeze after 10 minutes of running, or will run fine for days. Which is what leads me to it being the related to the usb2.0 pci card, and possible driver conflicts. Any quesses?

[wayout44]

Re: computer locking up /freezing

Overheating could be a prob but I'd also check the capacitors around the CPU on the mainboard for bulging and its also possible that the PSU is starting to sag.