Dell XPS 210

[bentobaku]

Working on a Dell XPS 210

Intel Core 2 1.8GHz
4gb RAM
Intel On-board GFX
250 Seagate SATA HDD
305w Dell PSU
Windows 7 Ultx64

Problems:
1. System sometimes turns on with no with no mobo control (GFX never turns on, the fans all run at max speed, and all the case lights are yellow)
2. Windows Crashes when fully loaded (dos programs run perfect, windows safe mode runs perfect). Windows 7 loads you can even play on it for 5-15min and then the screen goes black and the computer will not respond to even keyboard short cut commands. When restarts windows loads and says it crashed from "Unknown" error. checks online and finds no solution to unknown error. This started happening out of the blue. I reformatted the HDD, reinstalled windows, and the same thing happens. Its only in fully loaded windows though (memtest+86 ran for 12hrs no errors, HDAT32 ran test for 6hr and no errors, windows up-time in safe-mode 48hrs no errors, MiniXP from usb thumb drive up-time 24hrs no errors [even used firefox portable and other portable apps while in mini xp])

Plz help, been testing for days now and I still am no closer.

 

[patonb]

Try checking all your temps.

 

[bentobaku]

I Thought it was heat too. I gutted the 210 and placed it in an Demension E521 case. The mobo has no temp moitoring sensors but when i touch the cpu heatsink it feels cool, the onboard gfx heatsink feels a little warm. So i set a high power cpu fan pointing at the gfx cpu and will see if that changes. If that is the problem will an add-in gfx card fix it?

Update: While testing with fan on GPU, windows had a graffics driver failure but recovered.
Update: System was up for 30min then crash. how can i test the cpu temp?

 

[patonb]

Have you tried coretemp or realtemp?
Core Temp
Real Temp - CPU temperature monitoring

 

[bentobaku]

no while i was doin stuff a bit ago it crashed and windows was running back up updates and so not windows is locked. But i am thinking its not heat... As stated before outside of the full windows environment it runs fine. Memtest-ing for hours and same in safe-mode will run hours, but in Fully loaded windows mode it locks up... I am thinking a driver error or hardware malfunction. But i cant put my finger on it. I think i am gonna try to put another gfx card in it and see what it does. Even in stress testing it runs fine.

Edit: What could be the possibility of a bad psu? might explain the shut down and why sometimes it doesnt start right?\
Update: before tryn anything else, got windows to load and ran core temp, shut of with temp at 60c 60% load on for 15min

 

[patonb]

Yha, a bad psu could be a cause, do you have a spare?

 

[GhOsT1321]

It could be a bad PSU, but I believe that overheating is your main issue.
You said that your computer was shutting down when the load was 60% and the temperature was 60ºC.
Your processor can handle a max temperature of 61.4ºC
When your processor hits it's max or close to it, it shuts down.
The reason that your processor isn't shutting down in memtest or safe mode etc. is that not as many things are loading. In memtest you are only running a single program, the OS doesn't even load. Safe mode disables many drivers and startup programs, causing there to be much less strain on your CPU, and thus less heat.

My guess would be that your CPU headsink/fan isn't functioning properly. The fan could be dead or dying, or the heatsink could not be secured properly. One other possibility could be that your thermal paste has dried up and needs to be replaced.
I recommend reapplying thermal paste and making sure that the heatsink and fan are attached and functioning properly.
www.pcityourself.com details how to install a socket 775 processor and heatsink. This should show you how to reinstall the processor and heatsink properly.
Make sure that you have thermal paste before attempting this.

 

[bentobaku]

New PSU did nothing.
Thermal Paste is new i just replaced it
Odd thing is I used S&M Stress Test, CPU ran over 100% for 10min and never shut down

Update: Test 2 ran for 20min in safe mode with 100% cpu usage still up again goin. It only seems to have any kind of problem in full windows.
wish i could run core temp in safe mode

 

[GhOsT1321]

Is your CPU heatsink fan working properly?
It could be slowing down/stopping at random times.

 

[bentobaku]

The only time it shuts off is in Windows Normal load. Just got done with 2:30hr Stress test set at 97% system usage and nothing, everything passed fine.
I do not notice a change in cpu fan speed. Interesting though why would it only over heat in full windows not safe mode?
Other interesting fact in Fully loaded the Stress test scales up as it start. Ran fine till it got over 60%usage, i saw 79%, before shutting down and last i saw coretemp was reading 52c

I am starting to lean to a Driver issue... But odd how the problem came out of no where and happens on new install
Might try new gfx in morning.

Update: Got the system to run watch it for 15-20min, no problems. the cpu came on at 41/42c (dual core), max load reach 68% and cpu was 54c peak temp. Load dropped back to 0-2% usage and temp dropped back to 41/42. So I think the temp is ok. But while i was waiting, just letting the computer idle with nothing running (usage never went above 5% and temp never went above 44c) slowly the text on the screen started to frag, and the computer slowly entered the lock up black screen stage. I think the gpu on the mobo overheated at one point and now is not working properly. I will try a new GFX in the morning and let you know what happens. Other thought is could this be a bad windows gfx driver? I know Microsoft has had a problem lately with their GFX drivers for onbaord GFX cards, esp older Nvidia / Intel gfx drivers.