2010-11-06, 04:37 PM
Fiel Wrote:My bad, didn't see it in your list. Nevermind then.
If you've already updated your BIOS, I'm still going to lean on it being the power supply.
No problem, you've already given a lot of great information. The only thing with the BIOS I'm left to try is giving it a reset to default settings. Though the only thing I know I've done off hand is disable the Integrated Sound Card, which is a piece of crap, which shouldn't be causing any issues. In fact, the last time I had an Integrated Sound Card by the same company (C-Media, never heard of them but their cards suck), it caused a lot of performance issues. Blue screens, all kinds of random crap, and I had to disable it to keep performance, so I don't trust anything by that company anymore. The first thing I did when I got this computer is get a Sound Card, I didn't know that the sound card was from them.
I'm watching the Power Supply Voltages, I've seen jumps/decreases of up to 0.50, but since I last posted, I went to bed so I haven't really been able to test it. I'll give more information soon hopefully. Next time it crashes I'll also definitely look for that red light before I do anything. I'm almost hoping it's a Power Supply, it'd be the cheapest thing to replace.
MissingLink Wrote:Just going to add a couple things that I don't think Fiel mentioned
If your computer is full of dust, take it outside and blow it out, especially the heatsinks. Watch out for static if you have low humidity. Dont' try to use an ordinary vacuum cleaner to do this, they often build up static electricity.
If you have one of those fancy motherboards that lets you tweak up the CPU clock, bus, or memory chip access speeds, set the speeds back to whatever normal is for your components, or perhaps even try below normal to see if it changes the problem. (Probably unlikely though, since most times the BIOS defaults to normal settings if a boot fails.)
Many problems with ageing electronics have to do bad connections. What was previously good connection oxidizes and becomes poor. Gold plating prevents this, but not all connections are gold plated, or else the thin plating can get worn off with repeated handling. Carefully remove and replace boards and connectors to try to renew the connections. Again, if humidity is low, be careful of static electricity. Touch bare metal on the case every time you approach before handling the boards.
I didn't think to mention it, but I do clean the dust out of my PC about every 3 months. It has a window on the side and whenever I notice it get dusty, I clean the entire thing, so I don't think it's a dust issue.
I'm not even sure how to do that. I've never looked into overclocking or underclocking, I never though it was the greatest of ideas. I'd rather have a slightly slower computer with slightly worse looking graphics than have no computer at all because an overclock went bad. I'll look into it though.
I never thought of the bad connections deal. If I do go out and get a new Power Supply, that would fix those connections, and then I can always get the data cables replaced while I'm out as well, I don't think they would cost that much. The computer isn't over 3 years old, however it seems like the guys who made this (I would have made my own but I have terrible luck with that) seemed to cheap out on a few things. For example, when I originally got it, there was no SLi Bridge, and I had to get my own to stop the computer from crashing in SLi Mode because of GPU mis-communications.
rayhovite Wrote:Since this is all leaning towards a power supply issue...
how many Watts is your power supply? What are your system specs? Have you tried underclocking certain components to see if performance doesn't fall apart?
What is the computer connected to? Is it a good outlet? Is it the only outlet or do you have multiple devices connected to the same outlet?
I honestly don't know off the top of my head, however if it were a Wattage issue, I would have been getting this issue since Day one. Granted, if it's a dying Power Supply, and it's Wattage is dying with it, that would cause the same issue, however if the original wattage on it was bad, the entire 2-3 years I've had this computer would have been like this, but instead it was good for the first two. However, I would think that if the PSU was dying, and overtime its wattage was getting worse, it would explain why Ragnarok Online is suddenly causing issues, having none before. It needed just enough, now it needs more and my PSU can't supply it. Maybe I'm talking out of my ass, I have no idea how PSUs work, but it sounds like a good reasoning to me.
I haven't tried Underclocking, as explained before I don't even know if the motherboard will allow it, I've never even thought of it.
Now the OUTLET! I never thought of that. It is hooked up to a fairly old Surge Protector. Although I've never noticed a light on it turn on, it's also got to be at least 7-10 years old. I'll have to see if I have another one in the house I can try out. I remember a few years ago I noticed that one of the plugs on the Surge Protector had an issue where if it was shifted the wrong way, it would lose power to that plug. I never put anything in that plug usually anyway, so I ignored it. Perhaps the problem is running its course through the rest of the device, and now it's at a point where it can't transfer power properly?
Devil Wrote:I would say it's your RAM / CPU that's malfunctioning.
You can try a few things:
- Bump up the CPU voltage in your BIOS (+10% is always safe)
- Bump up the RAM voltage in your BIOS (+10% is always safe)
- If you have multiple RAM modules, remove -ALL- and check your PC with only -ONE- in the FIRST slot (DIMM1) otherwise your PC won't boot. on the Motherboard it should say DIMM1, DIMM2, etc.
--> Retry all modules. Just test with the +10% RAM voltage, it's can't hurt them in any way.
P.S. When Switching / Removing RAM modules, make sure to disconnect your PC physically from the powernet (aka remove the powerplug)
I've already done all those RAM suggestions. It's the first thing I thought of when I started having issues. It also was the first thing to come up clean. Both the RAM and the Cache on the Processor seem perfectly stable, but I'm going to do another MemTest tonight when I go to bed, or know I wont be on for a few hours.
Are you sure bumping the voltage is safe? I don't know anything about it so I want to make sure you know, because I definitely don't have the money to replace my CPU.
Thanks for all the help guys! I definitely have some things to try out.
Edit: Fiel, do you know of a program like HWMonitor that makes Logs as they are created? It creates graphs and stuff when the Log is ended, but if I crash it will never be able to do that, unless it does it when I start the program up again (which I don't expect), so if I do crash I won't get information anyway.

