AMD Athlon XP intermittent freezes

[jgentry1961]

Several months ago I built a computer with the basic config below. Since that time, the machine will 'freeze' for about 30 secs to a minute, 'unfreeze' for several minutes, and then repeat the cycle until I clear the CMOS.

Sometimes, when I am quick enough with the task manager, I can see that the CPU rockets to 100% utilization right as it freezes.

I checked all drivers and BIOS and they are current. One action that improved the situation was upgrading the driver for the CPU, which decreased the frequency of the problem.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

SOYO KT600 Dragon Motherboard
AMD Athlon XP CPU
256KB Memory (diagnostic run for 12 hours shows it's ok)
40GB hardrive
Windows XP Home Edition
Running on Wireless LAN.802.11b

 

[ekÆsine]

go into task manager in the processes tab select msmsgs.exe and click end process. check if you still have intermittent freezing.

 

[Blueman]

when the system is freezing are you in windows? If you boot from a floppy or cdrom and attempt anything do you experience the problem? If it only occurs in windows, does it happen in safe mode?

 

[Nubius]

I don't suppose you are overclocking are you?

Whats your Idle and Load temperatures?

Have you checked your voltages meaning the +12v, +3.3v, and +5v. A program like SiSoftware sandra can tell you your voltages but not in real time like a motherboard monitor can. You might try Motherboard Monitor 5 and see if you get some temps and voltages back to me.

If under the +12v for example it shows it down at 11.50 volts and basically the volts aren't near the numbers they should be, then the PSU could be failing or just too stressed, but generally that causes restarts not freezing, but it couldn't hurt to know.

Also make sure your Vcore is at it's default 1.65 if you aren't overclocking......but once again if it's the PSU and the Vcore isn't anywhere near 1.65 (it can be shown as like 1.62 or 1.67 that kind of fluctuation is normal but if it's down to 1.55 or so then you're definitely undervolting) but that could cause a system freeze as soon as the CPU uses it's full power.

 

[jgentry1961]

Nope, not overclocking.

I had Speedfan loaded, so I took the readings below:

Temp3: 41 degrees C
Local: 45 degrees C
Temp2: 38 degrees C
Temp1: 28 degrees C

+3.3V: 2.98V
+12V : 10.69V
+5V : 4.97V

VCore1: 1.62V
VCore2: 3.30V

Hope this gives you what you need.

Also for ekÆsine, msmsgs is not running already.

For Blueman: I have not yet tried under safe mode, but I will. The problem is that the lockups happen much less frequently since I updated the CPU driver, so I may need to use it a while before I know.

Thanks!

 

[The Rage]

A flaky or out of date drivers could cause this. Ensure all your drivers are up to date and installed correctly.

 

[Amd64Boy]

my friend had the same problem,,sorry to say he had to reload xp

 

[Ace No-Money]

Thanks Nubius, sounds like a problem I am having!

 

[jgentry1961]

Nope, not overclocking.

I had Speedfan loaded, so I took the readings below:

Temp3: 41 degrees C
Local: 45 degrees C
Temp2: 38 degrees C
Temp1: 28 degrees C

+3.3V: 2.98V
+12V : 10.69V
+5V : 4.97V

VCore1: 1.62V
VCore2: 3.30V

Hope this gives you what you need.

Also for ekÆsine, msmsgs is not running already.

For Blueman: I have not yet tried under safe mode, but I will. The problem is that the lockups happen much less frequently since I updated the CPU driver, so I may need to use it a while before I know.

Thanks!

 

[timmer]

how do check temp. of everything?