Motherboard: Asus SK8v VIA K8T800 Chipset AGP8x (HT800; four DDR DIMM 64 bit 184-pin modules; five PCI slots, and one AGP slot)
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 2400MHz
Memory: One 512 MB Registered ECC PC3200 DDR400 (the SK8V User Guide says it can handle up to 8 GB of Registered ECC or non ECC PC3200/PC2700/PC2100/PC1600 DDR DIMMs)
HDD: 40GB 7200 RPM ATA 100
Video: nVidia GeForce-FX 5200 128MB DDR
I've got a 500 Watt Power Supply with one suction fan and one exhaust fan.
I've got two rear mount fans (can be flipped) that blow over the CPU/Heat sink/CPU fan.
I've got two front mount fans (can be flipped) that blow over the HD.
I've got one side mount fan one top mount fan that blow out from the case.
Built in 2004. Don't consider warranties.
Normal HDD temp is 29C-32C. Normal CPU temp is 35C-40C.
This is the most trouble prone computer I've ever had and it pumps out HEAT like a pig! The machine came with Windows XP from the manufacturer and from "out-of-the-box" it tended to freeze, or crash and automatically restart several times a day even during internet browsing. Playing Video Games was a joke and I could make it twenty minutes through a DVD if the Planets were aligned in the correct Zodiac Position and no one on the planet walked under a ladder. Sometimes I would get lucky and just the program I was using would crash instead of the computer. Even the front USB Ports and Audio Jacks were not connected when I started snooping around inside (I fixed that myself). Several times I tried to use the Factory Recovery CD to try and reset it in hopes of a fix -- no success. Finally the File System suffered some calamity and would not boot beyond the BIOS, even when trying to Reinstall from the CD. I've tried fiddling with Jumpers, checking connections, and resetting the Motherboard Battery.
Recently, I got a hold of Caldera's WipeDrive and wiped the HD. After reinstalling XP I found the crashes continued. I used WipeDrive again and installed Linux -Ubuntu 7.10 from a DVD copy. This worked a little better but after downloading some packages from the Add/Remove Packages features that function fails and gets into Superuser problems. A little bit later even Ubuntu crashed and I needed to wipe the drive. Then I had troubles reinstalling the distro, where it would freeze partway through. Repeat several times. I tried downloading the newest Ubuntu (Hardy Heron) version's ISO Image, burning that to DVD and installing -- which gets to 54% on my best try before freezing.
After a long fought battle today, I got Ubuntu 7.10 reinstalled. Granted I took the side panels loose and had a personal fan (and then put a jar of iced water to give some extra cooling in front of the fan) blow into the opened case. Several times I got a message reporting a failed installation because of either a "bad CD, bad Reader, Dirty Reader, or conditions too hot" (or there abouts). So for good measure I sprayed a few blasts of compressed air into the CD/DVD Drive.
Two jars of iced water later I'm typing this at 3 AM.
What is your opinion?
Bad software?
Bad HD?
Bad CD Reader?
Bad Motherboard?
Bad Processor?
Bad or insufficient Memory?
Bad BIOS?
Bad cooling set up?
What should I do? What can I do?
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 2400MHz
Memory: One 512 MB Registered ECC PC3200 DDR400 (the SK8V User Guide says it can handle up to 8 GB of Registered ECC or non ECC PC3200/PC2700/PC2100/PC1600 DDR DIMMs)
HDD: 40GB 7200 RPM ATA 100
Video: nVidia GeForce-FX 5200 128MB DDR
I've got a 500 Watt Power Supply with one suction fan and one exhaust fan.
I've got two rear mount fans (can be flipped) that blow over the CPU/Heat sink/CPU fan.
I've got two front mount fans (can be flipped) that blow over the HD.
I've got one side mount fan one top mount fan that blow out from the case.
Built in 2004. Don't consider warranties.
Normal HDD temp is 29C-32C. Normal CPU temp is 35C-40C.
This is the most trouble prone computer I've ever had and it pumps out HEAT like a pig! The machine came with Windows XP from the manufacturer and from "out-of-the-box" it tended to freeze, or crash and automatically restart several times a day even during internet browsing. Playing Video Games was a joke and I could make it twenty minutes through a DVD if the Planets were aligned in the correct Zodiac Position and no one on the planet walked under a ladder. Sometimes I would get lucky and just the program I was using would crash instead of the computer. Even the front USB Ports and Audio Jacks were not connected when I started snooping around inside (I fixed that myself). Several times I tried to use the Factory Recovery CD to try and reset it in hopes of a fix -- no success. Finally the File System suffered some calamity and would not boot beyond the BIOS, even when trying to Reinstall from the CD. I've tried fiddling with Jumpers, checking connections, and resetting the Motherboard Battery.
Recently, I got a hold of Caldera's WipeDrive and wiped the HD. After reinstalling XP I found the crashes continued. I used WipeDrive again and installed Linux -Ubuntu 7.10 from a DVD copy. This worked a little better but after downloading some packages from the Add/Remove Packages features that function fails and gets into Superuser problems. A little bit later even Ubuntu crashed and I needed to wipe the drive. Then I had troubles reinstalling the distro, where it would freeze partway through. Repeat several times. I tried downloading the newest Ubuntu (Hardy Heron) version's ISO Image, burning that to DVD and installing -- which gets to 54% on my best try before freezing.
After a long fought battle today, I got Ubuntu 7.10 reinstalled. Granted I took the side panels loose and had a personal fan (and then put a jar of iced water to give some extra cooling in front of the fan) blow into the opened case. Several times I got a message reporting a failed installation because of either a "bad CD, bad Reader, Dirty Reader, or conditions too hot" (or there abouts). So for good measure I sprayed a few blasts of compressed air into the CD/DVD Drive.
Two jars of iced water later I'm typing this at 3 AM.
What is your opinion?
Bad software?
Bad HD?
Bad CD Reader?
Bad Motherboard?
Bad Processor?
Bad or insufficient Memory?
Bad BIOS?
Bad cooling set up?
What should I do? What can I do?
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