PC Freezes up

[austinh]

Here is the problem.
My pc has been freezing up and it seems to do so with memory intensive programs. I have been having this problem since I have built it a while back and I cannot seem to figure out what the problem is.
I have tried a number of things to try to get it to work I have tried to add fans thinking that maybe it was overheating, and I have tried to add a different hard drive as well as replace the RAM. I ran memtest to see if maybe the RAM was the problem and when I ran memtest it would not complete the test, leading me to believe that the problem was with the memory. I replaced the RAM with another piece and it still does not finish the memtest. I ordered the pieces from 2 different companies.

My system is a soyo motherboard, with an intel 2.4 ghz processor
512MB RAM, 1 dvd drive, 1 cdrom drive, 500w power supply, a video card and a netgear wireless pci card.
Im running out of ideas. can someone help.

 

[cdogg]

Tough to say. I would at some point try reseating the CPU/fan/heatsink using a new application of Artic Silver (make sure you remove as much of the current thermal grease as you can). And just in case, you might want to invest $10 at Radio Shack for a temperature probe that you can use inside your case and in between the CPU and heatsink.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[micker377]

If memtest won't finish, borrow some known good memory and try memtest. If it still fails, look for a bad memory slot on the motherboard.

 

[austinh]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try that. What would you use to take the current thermal grease off. Ive heard rubbing alcohol, what do you think?

 

[austinh]

hey micker377
how would i check to see if the memory slot is bad?

 

[micker377]

If you have known good memory (0ne stick - tests OK in another machine), and memtest won't say it's good: bad copy of memtest, or bad memory slot. You can also try the "good" memory stick in the other slot(s), to test. The only other possibilities are a BIOS problem (upgrade), or bad motherboard. Have you looked for bad capacitors on the motherboard, or a power supply loosing it's 3v. rail?

 

[austinh]

I upgraded the BIOS but that did not help. I have not looked for bad capacitors I will try and check that. thanks.