Freezing up - Could it be my Nexus NX3000?

miker · Post by **miker** » Thu May 20, 2004 12:10 pm

I am getting some fairly frequent freeze-ups ( once/hour ) on my rig. This is a pretty recent development, and is only since I added a 160GB Samsung Spinpoint 1614N. I am being told on the Nforce support forums that 300W is just not cutting it on my PC, but I am loathe to believe those guys when it comes to "quality: 300W power supplies.

Does anyone else run something similar with this power supply?

(specs in Sig)

EDIT: spelling

luminous · Post by **luminous** » Thu May 20, 2004 1:26 pm

There is a sticky at the top of this section that will tell you how much you can run from a 300W PSU.

For you to have this kind of behaviour the PSU must be close to its limit. What sort of thing are you doing at the time your comp freezes? Does your machine freeze very quickly if you start a 3D game?

Most likely the problem is elsewhere. You could unplug the new drive and see if that clears things up, but I doubt it. The mobo you have has a RAID controller on it. It is known to have a few issues that may cause the problem you describe.

peerke · Post by **peerke** » Thu May 20, 2004 1:53 pm

There's also the possibility that the problem lies outside your computer, i.e. your wall-outlet could give an unstable current. You could try borrowing a UPS from someone to rule out that one.

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Thu May 20, 2004 3:17 pm

First, what are your CPU temps? If it's getting too warm in there, that could be one source of your problems.

Second, download and run Memtest86. Though usually I've gotten BSODs from bad memory and not freezes, but it's still a possibility.

If you're willing to make a 2 hour drive to Pittsburgh this weekend, I might be able to diagnose your problems further, including seeing if your power supply isn't cutting it, but I'm highly skeptical since every machine in my sig draws less than 300W from the wall (w/ the exception of 550, and that's ONLY on boot-up).

miker · Post by **miker** » Thu May 20, 2004 3:57 pm

CPU temps are in the 40's ( I am watercooled so I don't have much worry about that stuff)

I ran Memtest for 12 hours last night, so I think I am good there

nutball · Post by **nutball** » Thu May 20, 2004 11:01 pm

Here's my setup:

Asus A7N8X Dlx 2.0
Barton 2800 @ (266/333) of default speed, undervolted
2 x 120mm Papst
Nexus NX3000
Samsung 160GB SP1614C
GeForceFX 5900 Ultra

Pretty close to your setup I'd say, I've had not stability issues. Presumably you've tried all the usual stuff, drivers, etc.?

TBH I *really* wouldn't take a single jot of notice of what's said about power supplies and stability in overclocker forums. Overclocking has been around for long enough that the Internet is packed with false and irrelevant information, and people who believe it.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Fri May 21, 2004 5:40 am

You're being led down the path with the "too small PSU" theory. Your hardware isn't coming close to taxing that fine PSU.

I'd be suspicious of the proximity of adding the new Samsung drive and your lockups. Try pulling the new drive and going back to your old drive.

miker · Post by **miker** » Fri May 21, 2004 6:21 am

Alas, I gave it to my Mom

However, last night I removed the drive and remounted it. I also removed the "y" cable splitting power with the Radeon card. Since then I have had no problems. Maybe I had a bum splitter in there that was occasionally dropping voltage?