The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. I have been having problems with it lately. It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency a lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

These problems occurred more often at higher room temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes. I
cleaned the dust out of my computer case. My computer stopped
locking up for about 36 hours and then it started locking up again.
I changed the FSB speed from 166 to 133. I still got lockups so I
changed it to 100.

With the FSB at 100 the lockups stopped. A few weeks ago, the
weather got cooler so I increased the FSB back up to 166. This
worked until today. Now my computer is locking up frequently again
and the room temperature is less than 70 degrees F. I decreased the
FSB to 133 and my computer has been running for 3 hours and 43
minutes.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.

--
Whenever I hear or think of the song "Great green gobs of greasy
grimey gopher guts" I imagine my cat saying; "That sounds REALLY,
REALLY good. I'll have some of that!"

Daniel Prince wrote:
The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. I have been having problems with it lately. It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency a lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

These problems occurred more often at higher room temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes. I
cleaned the dust out of my computer case. My computer stopped
locking up for about 36 hours and then it started locking up again.
I changed the FSB speed from 166 to 133. I still got lockups so I
changed it to 100.

With the FSB at 100 the lockups stopped. A few weeks ago, the
weather got cooler so I increased the FSB back up to 166. This
worked until today. Now my computer is locking up frequently again
and the room temperature is less than 70 degrees F. I decreased the
FSB to 133 and my computer has been running for 3 hours and 43
minutes.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.

--
Whenever I hear or think of the song "Great green gobs of greasy
grimey gopher guts" I imagine my cat saying; "That sounds REALLY,
REALLY good. I'll have some of that!"

Have you opened the case to observe whether the processor and case fan
are operating and that dust has not accumulated in mass?? You could
have a problem as simple as poor ventilation due to dirt.

On Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:23:30 -0800, Daniel Prince
wrote:

The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. I have been having problems with it lately. It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency a lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

These problems occurred more often at higher room temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes. I
cleaned the dust out of my computer case. My computer stopped
locking up for about 36 hours and then it started locking up again.
I changed the FSB speed from 166 to 133. I still got lockups so I
changed it to 100.

With the FSB at 100 the lockups stopped. A few weeks ago, the
weather got cooler so I increased the FSB back up to 166. This
worked until today. Now my computer is locking up frequently again
and the room temperature is less than 70 degrees F. I decreased the
FSB to 133 and my computer has been running for 3 hours and 43
minutes.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.
It could very well be both. 6.5 years places it in the era where bad
capacitors were common. I'd suggest first checking teh CPU fan spins
freely. Next, look at the capacitors on the motherboard and look for
any that have bulging tops. If they look good, try replacing the
power supply. If all else fails, the holidays are coming; treat
yourself to a new computer.

www.badcaps.net/forum

PlainBill

wrote in message
...
On Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:23:30 -0800, Daniel Prince
wrote:

The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. I have been having problems with it lately. It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency a lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

These problems occurred more often at higher room temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes. I
cleaned the dust out of my computer case. My computer stopped
locking up for about 36 hours and then it started locking up again.
I changed the FSB speed from 166 to 133. I still got lockups so I
changed it to 100.

With the FSB at 100 the lockups stopped. A few weeks ago, the
weather got cooler so I increased the FSB back up to 166. This
worked until today. Now my computer is locking up frequently again
and the room temperature is less than 70 degrees F. I decreased the
FSB to 133 and my computer has been running for 3 hours and 43
minutes.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.
It could very well be both. 6.5 years places it in the era where bad
capacitors were common. I'd suggest first checking teh CPU fan spins
freely. Next, look at the capacitors on the motherboard and look for
any that have bulging tops. If they look good, try replacing the
power supply. If all else fails, the holidays are coming; treat
yourself to a new computer.

www.badcaps.net/forum

PlainBill


I'll bet you could pick up a similar working computer for peanuts, if not
for free. You could then swap parts around and establish where the problem
is, and have loads of spares left over.



Gareth.

Daniel Prince wrote:

The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. I have been having problems with it lately. It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency a lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

These problems occurred more often at higher room temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes. I
cleaned the dust out of my computer case. My computer stopped
locking up for about 36 hours and then it started locking up again.
I changed the FSB speed from 166 to 133. I still got lockups so I
changed it to 100.

With the FSB at 100 the lockups stopped. A few weeks ago, the
weather got cooler so I increased the FSB back up to 166. This
worked until today. Now my computer is locking up frequently again
and the room temperature is less than 70 degrees F. I decreased the
FSB to 133 and my computer has been running for 3 hours and 43
minutes.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.

--
Whenever I hear or think of the song "Great green gobs of greasy
grimey gopher guts" I imagine my cat saying; "That sounds REALLY,
REALLY good. I'll have some of that!"

Have a look at "Badcaps" I think its "badcaps.com" Classic
symptoms !

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

Gareth Magennis wrote:


wrote in message
...
On Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:23:30 -0800, Daniel Prince
wrote:

The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. I have been having problems with it lately. It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency a lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

These problems occurred more often at higher room temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes. I
cleaned the dust out of my computer case. My computer stopped
locking up for about 36 hours and then it started locking up again.
I changed the FSB speed from 166 to 133. I still got lockups so I
changed it to 100.

With the FSB at 100 the lockups stopped. A few weeks ago, the
weather got cooler so I increased the FSB back up to 166. This
worked until today. Now my computer is locking up frequently again
and the room temperature is less than 70 degrees F. I decreased the
FSB to 133 and my computer has been running for 3 hours and 43
minutes.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.
It could very well be both. 6.5 years places it in the era where bad
capacitors were common. I'd suggest first checking teh CPU fan spins
freely. Next, look at the capacitors on the motherboard and look for
any that have bulging tops. If they look good, try replacing the
power supply. If all else fails, the holidays are coming; treat
yourself to a new computer.

www.badcaps.net/forum

PlainBill


I'll bet you could pick up a similar working computer for peanuts, if
not
for free. You could then swap parts around and establish where the
problem is, and have loads of spares left over.



Gareth.

Depending where he is I could give him one to play with.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

wrote:
On Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:23:30 -0800, Daniel Prince
wrote:

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.
It could very well be both. 6.5 years places it in the era where bad
capacitors were common. I'd suggest first checking teh CPU fan spins
freely. Next, look at the capacitors on the motherboard and look for
any that have bulging tops. If they look good, try replacing the
power supply. If all else fails, the holidays are coming; treat
yourself to a new computer.

www.badcaps.net/forum

Caps don't need to "bulge" to be "bad". I check the names
of the manufacturers. Also, I've seen "good" motherboards
have issues when there were bad caps in the *power supply*!

If you think caps are the problem, just replace the machine
(including power supply). They are cheap enough...

"Gareth Magennis" wrote:

I'll bet you could pick up a similar working computer for peanuts, if not
for free. You could then swap parts around and establish where the problem
is, and have loads of spares left over.

I have a home built PC with an Epox 8RGA+ motherboard. It has an AMD
Barton 2500+, and a gig of ram. I use the onboard video and sound.
My power supply is an Antec TruePower 420. Where would I look for a
similar working system?
--
I don't understand why they make gourmet cat foods. I have
known many cats in my life and none of them were gourmets.
They were all gourmands!

Daniel Prince wrote:
I have a home built PC with an Epox 8RGA+ motherboard. It has an AMD
Barton 2500+, and a gig of ram. I use the onboard video and sound.
My power supply is an Antec TruePower 420. Where would I look for a
similar working system?

Here in Israel, you can buy a dual core system that would be faster, two
Intel cores of 1.6gHz (if you want low power ATOM processors), 160g hard drive,
1g RAM (no optical drive), with ethernet, GMA 950 video and sound for $250,
including 16.5% VAT.

If you crank that up to $330 (inluding VAT), you get a 1.8gHz dual core regular
processor. 2G ram, 320gb hard drive, a 20x DVD burner, and a better graphics
chip. Another $20 gets you a 2.gHz processor.

As for the power supply, the one included is a cheap generic that probably
be tossed in a couple of years when the fan goes, however really good ones
are not that expensive.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM

On Nov 14, 8:23*am, Daniel Prince wrote:
The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. *I have been having problems with it lately. *It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. *The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. *The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency a lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? *Is there any kind of test I could run

Dude, there's LOTS MORE parts in there than those two. You can
eliminate disk drive and software based on those symptoms, but
removing/cleaning/reseating RAM and removing/cleaning/
reseating cards and CPU (and check the thermal contact area with
the CPU heatsink, too) comes next.

Inspect for bulging or leaking-ooze capacitors while you do that.

Then find and run a memory check program, preferably from a hot-boot
CD.

If that doesn't locate the problem, find a spare power supply
somewhere
and swap it for a test period.

"Daniel Prince" wrote in message
...
The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. I have been having problems with it lately. It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency a lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

These problems occurred more often at higher room temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes. I
cleaned the dust out of my computer case. My computer stopped
locking up for about 36 hours and then it started locking up again.
I changed the FSB speed from 166 to 133. I still got lockups so I
changed it to 100.

With the FSB at 100 the lockups stopped. A few weeks ago, the
weather got cooler so I increased the FSB back up to 166. This
worked until today. Now my computer is locking up frequently again
and the room temperature is less than 70 degrees F. I decreased the
FSB to 133 and my computer has been running for 3 hours and 43
minutes.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.


The problem is neither the m/b or the powers supply. The clue that defines
the problem is the "CPU is used at 100 percent".

Start by looking at the task manager ( control alt delete) and see what
process is hogging the CPU. Then learn how to stop it from running. It
could be malware or a valid application run amok. When you have identified
the culprit do a Google search for ideas on eliminating the problem,

When it runs for a long time it is generating enough heat to force shut
down.

Charlie

On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:03:42 -0500, Charlie wrote:

The problem is neither the m/b or the powers supply. The clue that defines
the problem is the "CPU is used at 100 percent".

If the system can't run at 100% cpu, then it is broken.

Start by looking at the task manager ( control alt delete) and see what
process is hogging the CPU. Then learn how to stop it from running. It
could be malware or a valid application run amok. When you have identified
the culprit do a Google search for ideas on eliminating the problem,

When it runs for a long time it is generating enough heat to force shut
down.

There will always be tasks thad will run cpu usage to 100%,
for example decompressing files. If the cpu crashes at 100% then you
can't even install software or open a medium sized pdf.

Why not spend the $60 and replace the motherboard/cpu with someting made
in the last 7 years?

Charlie wrote:


"Daniel Prince" wrote in message
...
The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. I have been having problems with it lately. It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency a lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

These problems occurred more often at higher room temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes. I
cleaned the dust out of my computer case. My computer stopped
locking up for about 36 hours and then it started locking up again.
I changed the FSB speed from 166 to 133. I still got lockups so I
changed it to 100.

With the FSB at 100 the lockups stopped. A few weeks ago, the
weather got cooler so I increased the FSB back up to 166. This
worked until today. Now my computer is locking up frequently again
and the room temperature is less than 70 degrees F. I decreased the
FSB to 133 and my computer has been running for 3 hours and 43
minutes.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.


The problem is neither the m/b or the powers supply. The clue that
defines the problem is the "CPU is used at 100 percent".

Start by looking at the task manager ( control alt delete) and see
what
process is hogging the CPU. Then learn how to stop it from running.
It
could be malware or a valid application run amok. When you have
identified the culprit do a Google search for ideas on eliminating the
problem,

When it runs for a long time it is generating enough heat to force
shut down.

Charlie

Even with the CPU at 100% it shouldn't generate enough heat to shut
down. I do agree that the heatsink should be clean and properly
mounted also the fan on it should also be clean and running properly.
But didn't the OP say that he was changing the buss clocking. Slowing
that down improved the situation, which is typical of a noisy CPU
voltage supply. This is the one on the mainboard and the one most
likely to suffer bad caps.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

"Baron" wrote in message
...
Charlie wrote:


"Daniel Prince" wrote in message
...
The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. I have been having problems with it lately. It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency a lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

These problems occurred more often at higher room temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes. I
cleaned the dust out of my computer case. My computer stopped
locking up for about 36 hours and then it started locking up again.
I changed the FSB speed from 166 to 133. I still got lockups so I
changed it to 100.

With the FSB at 100 the lockups stopped. A few weeks ago, the
weather got cooler so I increased the FSB back up to 166. This
worked until today. Now my computer is locking up frequently again
and the room temperature is less than 70 degrees F. I decreased the
FSB to 133 and my computer has been running for 3 hours and 43
minutes.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.


The problem is neither the m/b or the powers supply. The clue that
defines the problem is the "CPU is used at 100 percent".

Start by looking at the task manager ( control alt delete) and see
what
process is hogging the CPU. Then learn how to stop it from running.
It
could be malware or a valid application run amok. When you have
identified the culprit do a Google search for ideas on eliminating the
problem,

When it runs for a long time it is generating enough heat to force
shut down.

Charlie

Even with the CPU at 100% it shouldn't generate enough heat to shut
down. I do agree that the heatsink should be clean and properly
mounted also the fan on it should also be clean and running properly.
But didn't the OP say that he was changing the buss clocking. Slowing
that down improved the situation, which is typical of a noisy CPU
voltage supply. This is the one on the mainboard and the one most
likely to suffer bad caps.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

I had an Amd Duron mb that did the same thing under heavy loads, it was
caused by bad mb caps. I replaced one cap that was bulged out and it worked
for about 6 months till the other caps bulged. Binned the board when ran
out of donor parts and it wasn't worth wasting any more money on it.

--
They can have my command prompt when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in
:

Daniel Prince wrote:
I have a home built PC with an Epox 8RGA+ motherboard. It has an AMD
Barton 2500+, and a gig of ram. I use the onboard video and sound.
My power supply is an Antec TruePower 420. Where would I look for a
similar working system?

Here in Israel, you can buy a dual core system that would be faster,
two Intel cores of 1.6gHz (if you want low power ATOM processors),
160g hard drive, 1g RAM (no optical drive), with ethernet, GMA 950
video and sound for $250, including 16.5% VAT.

If you crank that up to $330 (inluding VAT), you get a 1.8gHz dual
core regular processor. 2G ram, 320gb hard drive, a 20x DVD burner,
and a better graphics chip. Another $20 gets you a 2.gHz processor.

As for the power supply, the one included is a cheap generic that
probably be tossed in a couple of years when the fan goes, however
really good ones are not that expensive.

Geoff.


I had a microprocessor cooling fan load down the PS on my 900 Mhz Athlon
system,a new fan fixed the problem.But it's had the PS replaced a few years
after that.You can buy a replacement ATX supply for $20-60,depending on
wattage.CompUSA carries them,so do most any computer store.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

"AZ Nomad" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:03:42 -0500, Charlie wrote:

The problem is neither the m/b or the powers supply. The clue that defines
the problem is the "CPU is used at 100 percent".

If the system can't run at 100% cpu, then it is broken.

Start by looking at the task manager ( control alt delete) and see what
process is hogging the CPU. Then learn how to stop it from running. It
could be malware or a valid application run amok. When you have
identified
the culprit do a Google search for ideas on eliminating the problem,

When it runs for a long time it is generating enough heat to force shut
down.

There will always be tasks thad will run cpu usage to 100%,
for example decompressing files. If the cpu crashes at 100% then you
can't even install software or open a medium sized pdf.

Why not spend the $60 and replace the motherboard/cpu with someting made
in the last 7 years?

Why **** away $60 without trying the free s/w fix first?

On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:31:08 -0500, Charlie wrote:

"AZ Nomad" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:03:42 -0500, Charlie wrote:

The problem is neither the m/b or the powers supply. The clue that defines
the problem is the "CPU is used at 100 percent".

If the system can't run at 100% cpu, then it is broken.

Start by looking at the task manager ( control alt delete) and see what
process is hogging the CPU. Then learn how to stop it from running. It
could be malware or a valid application run amok. When you have
identified
the culprit do a Google search for ideas on eliminating the problem,

When it runs for a long time it is generating enough heat to force shut
down.

There will always be tasks thad will run cpu usage to 100%,
for example decompressing files. If the cpu crashes at 100% then you
can't even install software or open a medium sized pdf.

Why not spend the $60 and replace the motherboard/cpu with someting made
in the last 7 years?

Why **** away $60 without trying the free s/w fix first?

It isn't a software fix.

"Charlie" wrote in
:


"AZ Nomad" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:03:42 -0500, Charlie
wrote:

The problem is neither the m/b or the powers supply. The clue that
defines the problem is the "CPU is used at 100 percent".

If the system can't run at 100% cpu, then it is broken.

Start by looking at the task manager ( control alt delete) and see
what process is hogging the CPU. Then learn how to stop it from
running. It could be malware or a valid application run amok. When
you have identified
the culprit do a Google search for ideas on eliminating the problem,

When it runs for a long time it is generating enough heat to force
shut down.

There will always be tasks thad will run cpu usage to 100%,
for example decompressing files. If the cpu crashes at 100% then
you can't even install software or open a medium sized pdf.

Why not spend the $60 and replace the motherboard/cpu with someting
made in the last 7 years?

Why **** away $60 without trying the free s/w fix first?



Also,you don't just replace the MB/CPU,you also have to buy new RAM,perhaps
a new hard drive(SATA instead of IDE),new video card,whatever other cards
needed to fit the new buss connectors.....it adds up.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

Daniel Prince wrote:

I have a home built PC with an Epox 8RGA+ motherboard. It has an AMD
Barton 2500+, and a gig of ram. I use the onboard video and sound.
My power supply is an Antec TruePower 420. Where would I look for a
similar working system?

Even the cheapest system sold now is faster.

A $2 digital voltage meter should be more than good enough to tell
whether the PSU or the motherboard is bad, and instructions for
testing can be found in the forums at Overclockers.com and
HardOCP.com, but the locations to measure the voltages on the mobo may
not be obvious. But generally if the mobo is bad, you'll see some
bulging electrolytic capacitors (www.BadCaps.net has lots of info)
around the CPU, next to the north bridge (has a heatsink on it), near
the AGP card slot, or near the DIMM slots, but some caps fail without
showing any physical signs.

Old Antec TruePower PSUs were made by Channel Well Technology (may say
"CWT" on the yellow tape on the transformers) are famous for failing
because of bad Fuhjyyu brand capacitors (Google "Fuhjyyu syndrome"),
but changing capacitors in a power supply can be difficult because
they're stuffed so close together and the better brands of parts tend
to be fatter than the originals. So some of the new caps have to be
installed way above the circuit board (long wires must be insulated
with heatshrink) and physically secured with nylon ties or silicone
sealer. I believe the new Antecs don't use Fuhjyyus because they're
made by different companies, probably Fortron-Source (CapXon caps, not
crowded), Seasonic (OSTs -- well, they're not as horrible as
Fuhjyyus), or Delta (I don't know what brands of capacitors, but
Deltas are among the best power supplies).

On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:47:43 -0800 (PST), "larry moe 'n curly"
wrote:

CapXon caps

http://tekniken.se/docs/image/exampl...tx_cap_c28.jpg
http://tekniken.se/docs/image/exampl...tx_cap_c47.jpg
http://tekniken.se/docs/image/exampl...tx_cap_c48.jpg

On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:56:07 -0600, Jim Yanik wrote:
"Charlie" wrote in
:


"AZ Nomad" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:03:42 -0500, Charlie
wrote:

The problem is neither the m/b or the powers supply. The clue that
defines the problem is the "CPU is used at 100 percent".

If the system can't run at 100% cpu, then it is broken.

Start by looking at the task manager ( control alt delete) and see
what process is hogging the CPU. Then learn how to stop it from
running. It could be malware or a valid application run amok. When
you have identified
the culprit do a Google search for ideas on eliminating the problem,

When it runs for a long time it is generating enough heat to force
shut down.

There will always be tasks thad will run cpu usage to 100%,
for example decompressing files. If the cpu crashes at 100% then
you can't even install software or open a medium sized pdf.

Why not spend the $60 and replace the motherboard/cpu with someting
made in the last 7 years?

Why **** away $60 without trying the free s/w fix first?



Also,you don't just replace the MB/CPU,you also have to buy new RAM,perhaps
a new hard drive(SATA instead of IDE),new video card,whatever other cards
needed to fit the new buss connectors.....it adds up.

The system being replaced is four generations old. PC133 is from the
Pentium 3 generation. A combo motherboard/cpu/memory can easily be
had for $60 that'll blow the old one away.

If you don't have spare components, you can easily waste that amount
of money of postage trying the shotgun approach.

In anycase, the idea of never letting the system use 100% cpu
utilization is idiotic and won't work, unless of course, you never
install software, or use any software more complex than wordpad.

"AZ Nomad" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:56:07 -0600, Jim Yanik wrote:
"Charlie" wrote in
:


"AZ Nomad" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:03:42 -0500, Charlie
wrote:

The problem is neither the m/b or the powers supply. The clue that
defines the problem is the "CPU is used at 100 percent".

If the system can't run at 100% cpu, then it is broken.

Start by looking at the task manager ( control alt delete) and see
what process is hogging the CPU. Then learn how to stop it from
running. It could be malware or a valid application run amok. When
you have identified
the culprit do a Google search for ideas on eliminating the problem,

When it runs for a long time it is generating enough heat to force
shut down.

There will always be tasks thad will run cpu usage to 100%,
for example decompressing files. If the cpu crashes at 100% then
you can't even install software or open a medium sized pdf.

Why not spend the $60 and replace the motherboard/cpu with someting
made in the last 7 years?

Why **** away $60 without trying the free s/w fix first?



Also,you don't just replace the MB/CPU,you also have to buy new
RAM,perhaps
a new hard drive(SATA instead of IDE),new video card,whatever other cards
needed to fit the new buss connectors.....it adds up.

The system being replaced is four generations old. PC133 is from the
Pentium 3 generation. A combo motherboard/cpu/memory can easily be
had for $60 that'll blow the old one away.

If you don't have spare components, you can easily waste that amount
of money of postage trying the shotgun approach.

In anycase, the idea of never letting the system use 100% cpu
utilization is idiotic and won't work, unless of course, you never
install software, or use any software more complex than wordpad.


It wasn't a case of never letting the system use 100% cpu utilization.

From the original post: "These problems occurred more often at higher room
temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes"

You've got to keep your eye on the original symptoms. Go back and read what
the OP said.

"larry moe 'n curly" wrote:

A $2 digital voltage meter should be more than good enough to tell
whether the PSU or the motherboard is bad

I just used a program called Motherboard Monitor. It says that my
3.3 volt supply is around 2.67 volts.

I am wondering if Motherboard Monitor could be correct. Could a
computer run at all if the 3.3 volt supply is that low?

Am I correct in thinking that the 3.3 volt supply comes from the
power supply and not from the motherboard?
--
I don't understand why they make gourmet cat foods. I have
known many cats in my life and none of them were gourmets.
They were all gourmands!