Mouse cursor corrupts, then system freezes

[slyadams]

Chaps,

I've been having some problems on my desktop that I hope someone here can help me with.

A while ago I was getting system freezes that were preceded with the mouse cursor becoming corrupt. I thought it might be overheating, so I stuck Core Temp (running E6600) on my 2nd monitor, but under stress (several hours of CSS) the temp doesn't go over 62C. This was a few months ago and I hadn't noticed the problem in a while, but the other night my system froze in exactly the same way, and it's now crashed twice in 2 days. Interestingly, it only seems to crash from the desktop, its never crashed mid game.

I am planning to reinstall windows because I'm going to upgrade my system hard drive (RAIDed raptors :-D) so if it is an OS/software error the problem might go away. However, I'd appreciate any insights you guys may have.

I posted on another forum and someone suggested RAM, so I ran memtest overnight and had 80 passes and 0 failures.

Thanks in advance!

Core rig:

Intel E6600
ASUS P5WDH Deluxe S775 (using Akasa AK960 S775 Heatpipe DCor)
512M SAPPHIRE X1900XT
CORSAIR VS 1GB(2X512)DDR2 5400

 

[SYL\X/3K]

62*C seems a little high, time for a clean up! and thermal paste change.
U should run the memtest by using 1 stick at a time
What kind of HD are u using now?
Also might be a faulty RAM slot or just dirty RAM slot because im having a similar problem with my older P3

 

[slyadams]

Hard drive is a Samsung something, but I don't think the HDD is the problem.

I thought you only needed to run memtest on each stick when you get errors and need to track them down? I ran memtest overnight and didn't get a single fail. Also, I run Core Temp in my 2nd monitor while playing CSS and the temp hit 62C and then stays there. I can play for hours at that temperature with no issues.

Could it be a power problem? Although I'd have thought mid CSS would be a high power consumption time, I'm pretty sure that my PSU is like 500W and might actually only have a 20pin ATX connector. I have a 550W power supply with a 24pin ATX connector in my file server so I may try that out.

 

[SYL\X/3K]

computers that require a 24 pin connector CAN run on a 20pin but the PSU has to have a minimum of 15a under the +12V area written on the PSU. Pretty much its better to buy a 24pin when it requires one so u dont have to pick n choose a compatible one for ur PC.

 

[slyadams]

OK then, I'll add a chunky 600W or 700W 24pin PSU to my order. Hopefully that will solve it. It could even be a software issue, although I'd be a bit worried if a piece of software cause such a spectacular OS crash nowadays. I've noticed, however, that I've always got Firefox and xfire open when the problem occurs.