help, pc lockup
 

ok, i build thisone, the problem im having is that every now and then i get random lockup and i have to shut it down by pressign the power for a few seconds, i think it is the heat but im not sure i use to live in michigan wich is pretty cold up there and i did have the problem but only like 3 times when the house was warm, it is not the ram i did change the ram to new ones thinking that was the problem but its not, i have the intel core 2 quad Q9400 with the original fan wich i think its the problem i just want a second opinion to see what you guys think... here is my set up:

Intel core2quad Q9400 @ 2.66ghz stock speed
Ocz dual channel kit 4gb Ram @ 1066
Evga 750i Motherboard
xfx nvidia 9800GTX+
rosewill PSU 550W
WD 320GB

everything its at stock speed, except for the ram wich the own box say that they support the 1066 and my motherboard support it too i use the volts like the box said 2.1v but like i said i change my old ram and did the same thing im right now in puerto rico wich the tempeture its almost always 80+ even in xmas what do you guys think could be?

does it lock up when you are doing anything is particular?

what OS?

if im just browsing the net it will last a lot longer if im playing games like cod 4 left4dead and games like those it will last probably like 10min games with a lot less graphic it will last hours and the os is vista home premium 32bit

yes i need 64 for the extra ram :P but that was the disc i had at the moment heh

why dont you upgrade to you windows 7? it works better.

for you problem have you ever blown out your pc with a air compressed can? or a compressor? if you havent i woul give it a shot

if it always locks up after a certain duration, it must be the temperature for sure.

Check to be sure your video card's fan is 100% working. Nvidia control panel should have an option to check that out.

Like sam said, take a can of compressed air and blow any dust out. Then you can make sure all cables are tied and tucked out of the way of major air flow, look for places where components intake air and be sure they're clear.

Also a tricky one is the motherboards chipset, with my last motherboard the video card was so huge it blocked airflow to the northbridge, and covered the southbridge completely. The chipset are some critical components you need to keep an eye on.

yeah thats another thing, the motheroard is not able to dispearse the hot air so the pc locks-up

open the box up and clean it out, that sounds similar to a heat issue, but in my experiance an overheat usualy causes the rig to shut off if its a major component like chipset or cpu so it could also be a power supply problem as well. make sure those cables are secure when you clean it.

thanks a lot for all those reply and now that you mention it its true heat problems normaly shut the computer down hmm, forgot to mention the computer its almost new i did clean it with compress air but still so im thinking could be the psu its not powerful enough or a bad one maybe and yes my card its huge also i will tell you what confuse me is that i open the side panel of the computer with a fan blowing into the computer and still last a little longer but still lockup and that it is what makes me wonder what could be

Double check and make sure your processor isn't overheating due to the fan being loose or the thermalpaste not properly sticking to the fan and heatsink.

fan its good but the paste theres not much of it, its not covering the entire cpu and theres little of it that could be the problem

when you decide to apply new thermal paste, wipe all of the old off first so the cpu is clean of it, then you apply a new batch of it.

reusing pre-applied thermal paste is a mistake.

i will do that and let you guys know how it went

I seriously do not believe this is a heat related issue but more of a power supply issue. 550 watts is not realy enough and would be bare minimum for a low end 9 series of cards. and with a 9800GTX+ those things suck alot of power when under load.

you can test by removing the side panel and running an external house fan to cool it, and unplug non esentials hard drives and if you do not need the optical to play, unplug that as well as all the extra fans you may have.

If it was temp related from the processor the rig would simply shut off.

it was different with my old motherboard, when the temperature became too much, it locked up. Nothing responded, there was looping sound but ctrl+alt+del wouldnt work. Absolutely no response, and it always happened after maybe 30 min of web browsing to 15 min of game playing.

Changing out the fans changed the time it lasted before locking up again, I kid you not.

I had a 1000 watt powersupply the whole time

WHAT 1000WAT POWER SUPPLY????? talk about a power sucker

550w sould be fine with, but ive never heard of rosewill before so i'd suggest they are not the most quality manufacturers around?

start> run

type in

chkdsk /f (f=full quick scan)

chkdsk /F /R (F=Full / R=deep through scan take way longer to look for errors)

type Y=yes

restart your system as it boot up it will scan for errors on the HD drives

*cutting the power off can make more error special if it writing to the HD as you kill it. i would try to see if you can get a reset button install on the PC tower to reset the system (MOB) without having to cut the power off.

in the last 90days have you add any new hardway to you PC? some times a new item can go back and make the system lockup, check for any new update software/ drivers for your new hardware like Video cards, sound card, video capture cards...ect

Ps my use to lockup a bet too for no reason at all, i install a reset button on my tower to the MOB when it happen i press the button and system restarts and helps when it happens, without making it crash by cutting the power off.

btw:
Intel core2quad Q9400 @ 2.66ghz stock speed
Ocz dual channel kit 4gb Ram @ 1066
Evga 750i Motherboard
xfx nvidia 9800GTX+
rosewill PSU 550W
WD 320GB

Operation system? (OS) windows XP family? Vista family? 2000? or a server 2008.........ect
oh os is vista home premium 32bit ok

don't know if windows vista use the chkdsk option for it to use could try see if it comes up

yea i hear rosewell isnt that great at manufacturing powersupplys anyhow, I hear bad reviews allover them on newegg.

Thats why I suggested to look at the PSU by removing any and all non essential hardware and test. if it works fine then thats the problem. i would suggest a psu tester but that would cost money where basic trouble shooting would show near the same results. as for temps theres monitors that could give a report on what hardware temps are at.

If It was a better more reliable brand of PSU i wouldnt suspect it right off the bat. i have a 650 watt X-clio running 2 of the same exact cards thats reported here. i had a 500 watt corsair that the comp would freeze up with both cards installed and running in SLI.

If its not the PSU after testing with barebones grab a copy of Prime95 and run it when you go to bed, if theres a problem with memory chipset or the CPU itself it will be in the error log.