Help w/new PC build

[gawman]

Trying to troubleshoot new build. System is as follows:
Athlon XP 32000+/Barton (not OC'd) stock heatsink and fan
Soyo KT-600 Dragon Ultra Platinum MoBo
80GB Maxtor SATA HD
256 MB Buffalo PC3200 RAM (temporary/waiting for RMA)
Sapphire/ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB Video card
SB Audigy2 and Linksys Wireless Adapter in PCI slots
X-Dreamer II case w/350 W power supply and 3 case fans
Windows XP Home for OS
all applicable drivers are most current
*Problem*
Windows install worked fine, all hardware detected and appears functioning properly. System intermittently shuts down (game sound stops/stutters, monitor shuts off but system does not restart or power down). Can happen any time but esp when starting games like Halo or City of Heroes or dowhloading large files. System runs 3dMark03 w/no problem (video card OK?), CPU temp stays around 45C (cooling OK?), memtest shows memory good.

Only thoughts are (1) possible bad/inadequate power supply (2) <shudder> bad MoBo (3) corrupt WinXP install since original Mushkin memory used during install showed faulty under memtest. (4) something only someone wiser than me can come up with....

Thanks in advance.

 

[mrzeeedler]

Yah im not sure dude. Your cooling is fine 45c for a amd is good. Umm hmmm, try a differrent powersupply maybe. Someone might know a way to test them. Your xp install seems good because you had no install errors when loading it. Its only happening when putting a large load oon our cpu. I wish i could help you, i actually think ur psu is fine too. All i can say is if you have extra parts lieing around...then change them in and out. If not...well listen for someone that might have the same problem. If you get an error message of any kind you can search it on the internet.

 

[didi]

Maybe your PSU not enough power ot something wrong eith your OS.

 

[Cappy]

How long did you let Memtest Run ? The ideal test time is at least overnight , prefer 24 hours. Prime 95 test time same. Sounds like a Hardware issue .Run your Prime and Memtests again for a longer duration.In my opinion you also need a Quality PS upgrade.
If it were me i would go 450 or better.But i would still run the Hardware tests 1st.

 

[str8lazy]

Yeah after switching out the PSU, my only guess would be to try another graphics card and see if that helps

 

[Apokalipse]

256 MB Buffalo PC3200 RAM (temporary/waiting for RMA)
and
Can happen any time but esp when starting games like Halo or City of Heroes or dowhloading large files.

I think what's wrong is a bad part of the RAM, so when it accesses a certain sector it doesn't read/write properly to it

my suggestion is to get different RAM, either Corsair or Kingston

 

[kboy]

You're probably pretty Borderline with that PSU. Try this Calculator just to be sure & if not try swapping your Ram.



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

 

[lil_1_2002]

nice that calculator is pretty helpful, i hope its accurate.

 

[knuckle50]

the calculator added about 80 watts to mine.
also, it does not take rails into account.

 

[Lone Wolf]

It's not rocket science, doesn't have to be on the nose... the on-line calculator is fairly accurate and will give you a good guage of how much wattage you need.

Gawman, did you check all your cable & molex connectors to make sure they're all tight & snug? That Barton core runs pretty darn hot and sucks up a lot of juice... i'm thinking that 350 PSU might be marginal... can you return it and get a 400 or 450 watter?