computer is messed up, I need help

[eyeCpc]

If memtest is run before seeing a new battery in and reports a ton of errors you are down to two things. The battery will be the cheapest to replace! Memtest reported some 68 errors on a pair of 512s to later report some 578 on a brand new pair of 1gb dimms on the same old build.

The cpu temps seemed to soar when seeing the cooler fan quit but also no longer booting at the 200mhz setting for the fsb in the bios. The thought was the cpu cooked. When going to put everything back together recently to see if it would run the cpu ran like nothing ever happened.

Why? That old board ate batteries for breakfast apparently! On another that first battery might have lasted 5yrs.! So you never know.

 

[mypcbroke]

If memtest is run before seeing a new battery in and reports a ton of errors you are down to two things. The battery will be the cheapest to replace! Memtest reported some 68 errors on a pair of 512s to later report some 578 on a brand new pair of 1gb dimms on the same old build.

The cpu temps seemed to soar when seeing the cooler fan quit but also no longer booting at the 200mhz setting for the fsb in the bios. The thought was the cpu cooked. When going to put everything back together recently to see if it would run the cpu ran like nothing ever happened.

Why? That old board ate batteries for breakfast apparently! On another that first battery might have lasted 5yrs.! So you never know.

I see. Assuming memtest detects no problems and is a smooth process, what would be the problem then?

 

[eyeCpc]

The problem on the other system was seeing errors with 100% defect free memory being reported. If memtest reports none after a good run you can rule out the pair of 512s installed on the system there.

That would be when you would have to look at things like a weak battery or simple need to see the latest version of the bios go on as well as considering a weak battery. You already ruled out video drivers but how about sound?

Games commonly lock up when the sound drivers need refreshing or updating unless you can recall anything else done just prior to seeing the problems appear following seeing a new supply in. You may have seen the wrong set of drivers for something installed or simply had a bad install.

 

[mypcbroke]

The problem on the other system was seeing errors with 100% defect free memory being reported. If memtest reports none after a good run you can rule out the pair of 512s installed on the system there.

That would be when you would have to look at things like a weak battery or simple need to see the latest version of the bios go on as well as considering a weak battery. You already ruled out video drivers but how about sound?

Games commonly lock up when the sound drivers need refreshing or updating unless you can recall anything else done just prior to seeing the problems appear following seeing a new supply in. You may have seen the wrong set of drivers for something installed or simply had a bad install.

Yeah, I haven't tried updating my bios or the sound card, I just ran memtest twice and it said no errors detected. I'm going to run it all tonight though. Tomorrow I'll look into a replacement battery, then rule out each thing one by one.

Thanks for the help, I'll keep this updated.

 

[mypcbroke]

Well I ran memtest 6 times, error free and updated virtually every driver on my pc. Still crashes.

Does this mean I should run out and buy fans and a battery?

 

[Trotter]

It is possible your thermal paste is dead and not conducting the heat properly. It is also possible your CPU fan could be on its way out (socket A didn't run overly hot). If you have or can get another fan, swap it out and see.

Whether or not you see a lot of dust, it is there. Dust acts as insulation, holding in the heat. A can of compressed air could make a huge difference in your performance.

Updated drivers... Which ones? Did you update the drivers for your motherboard (chipset and such), or just your graphics drivers? You definitely need the drivers for the mobo.

With the games freezing, it sounds more like a GFX card problem. Use a program like Rivatuner or such to read the temps of your card and to turn up the fan on the card. If the fan on the card is dying or dead, it would cause this as well. I don't remember the 6600GT requiring an additional power connection, but it has been a while.

Give those a shot and see what happens.

 

[mypcbroke]

It is possible your thermal paste is dead and not conducting the heat properly. It is also possible your CPU fan could be on its way out (socket A didn't run overly hot). If you have or can get another fan, swap it out and see.

Whether or not you see a lot of dust, it is there. Dust acts as insulation, holding in the heat. A can of compressed air could make a huge difference in your performance.

Updated drivers... Which ones? Did you update the drivers for your motherboard (chipset and such), or just your graphics drivers? You definitely need the drivers for the mobo.

With the games freezing, it sounds more like a GFX card problem. Use a program like Rivatuner or such to read the temps of your card and to turn up the fan on the card. If the fan on the card is dying or dead, it would cause this as well. I don't remember the 6600GT requiring an additional power connection, but it has been a while.

Give those a shot and see what happens.

With the drivers, I updated them all. VGA, mobo, chipset, sound, basically I used MSI's online update service to find the latest ones out there and installed all of them.

I'm going to try rivatuner and see if it's my vid card, and I'll try getting compressed air also.

On rivatuner my core temp for my vid card with no games running is 51, too hot?

 

[eyeCpc]

No! The 6600s didn't require an extra feed but the 7900s and 7950s SLI ready are the ones there.

I ran an old Socket A case where the cpu ended up seeing 74C when a cpu cooler's fan quit without notice. Before I could get a Zalman 7000b in to replace that the cpu saw the 85C max temp!

Surprisingly it must have 7 lives since the case was recently reassembled for running 98 there and so far hasn't seen any problems with a fresh battery in. That was the build that saw everything going haywire from batteries not lasting.

 

[mypcbroke]

do my temps seem fine though?? Also, where can I get that battery??

 

[eyeCpc]

Batteries for boards are commonly seen where large battery racks in consumer electronics, calculator sections are in retail dept. stores as well as where digital watches are sold. Different brands like Eveready and Duracell will see a different two letters added on front of the usual 2032 number.

For Duracell used here that would be DL 2032 while Energizer would be CR or CL 2032 the letters simply pointing at the brand. These are 3v lithium type coin sized batteries even found at Radio Shack and other small stores as well.

First verify the number or take the battery along with you if it shows something other then 2032 on it. There are also 2031 numbered 3v batteries and other numbers used as well. You want the exact match for it.

Good temps helps since that shows that you are not seeing an overheating problem with the cpu or board. You still could have a problem with the current video card however since you would need a different program or actually mount a sensor to see what those are at. PC Wizard found at CPU-Z's site will show card temps as well as others. CPUID

Putting that all aside it's also likely that the board itself has a problem. Sometimes a simple update of the bios will correct things if the board isn't seeing a bad cap or two acting up.