I'm a Hurtin' Unit

[greybeardmr]

1 yr ago, I bought a SOYO 815EP B SY-TISU mobo and INTEL P3 CELERON1.4G FCPGA2 (though, I thought it was a P2) so I could carryover my old 100MHz RAM. I use a DLink ethernet card provided by SBC (for their DSL connection) and an old Raven AGP (Quantum 3d) video card (16Mb, maybe 8Mb) from circa 1998. This is an office computer at home primarily for word pro, surfing, some web graphics stuff, listening to music... etc. No gaming. It has handled videos of all sorts just fine.

Wednesday last, my mouse started freezing regularly (every 5min) and then Thurs it began rebooting at random (about 10mins if I just let it sit). I understand this to be a classic case of some hardware malfunction... the Q of course is what! Since everything is onboard the mobo save for the AGP, RAM and ethernet, I've started pulling each in succession and rebooting. Nothing has changed the outcome. I can't pull the AGP though since I have no way to plug in the monitor to see what's happening.

Any suggestions would be good at this time, because I'm at the point of thinking it's time for a new mobo, RAM, the whole ball of wax. The computer is no slouch. It has been just excellent for my needs. No complaints until now.

[discodanman45]

What are your system temperatures? Check this is Bios and let us know. Summer is not a great time for computers, I know that lots of people lessen up on their overclocking this time of year.

Also random restarts is a symptom of the Sasser virus. Do a virus scan and see if you have a virus. Also use spyware, adaware, and other programs to make sure adware is not taking control of your computer.

[greybeardmr]

Have Norton AV which updates weekly or more. But I've also ghosted C drive several times (keep a pristine BU on D drive--separate drive not partition). This problem is more than software/OS/viruses I suspect. Also, have central air in the house, so not like the place is sweltering. This thing will reboot or freeze on a first fire up in the morning after having sat off all night.

[discodanman45]

So if you check out temps in bios and they are ok, I think this may be a power supply gone bad.

[greybeardmr]

CPU temp is 43C and the system 27C. My knowledge of acceptable temp ranges is inadequate.

[discodanman45]

For a Cely those are fine, a little hot for the CPU, but won't cause the system to crash. What type of power supply do you have? Also list how many Watts you have and any upgrades you recently made to your system. The two problems I could come up with right now are PSU problems or the motherboard could be shot. Soyo has been putting out garbage for awhile now. My friend has only had trouble with Soyo but keeps on buying them because he can get a mobo for under $20 after rebates.

If you have the money, I think this would be a perfect time to upgrade. New technology is coming out in Video cards, RAM, CPU's, and many more components. Right now you could build an amazing system for under $400 (neglecting monitor).

[greybeardmr]

Power supply is generic. Label says 100W (150W max). Also +3.3V & 5V max output. Yea, the mobo was inexpensive. Only upgrade was a RAM boost to 384Mb, a new 52X CD-ROM and 32X CD-RW (though always had both but slower speeds in previous iterations).

Why do you reckon the power source is the problem (help educate me)?
Thanks.

[discodanman45]

I really don't think a 150 Watt PSU is enough for your set-up. Especially if it is a generic PSU. I would recommend 250 Watts at least for your PSU considering your set-up. I think you may have strained your PSU too much and it finally died. Hopefully someone else will post and back me up. I don't want you going out and buying a new PSU if that is not the problem. But from my experience, it seems like you have a dying PSU.

[greybeardmr]

What wattage would you suggest? 350?

Thanks for your help so far, discodanman45. I learn something new each time I visit here. Guess it's time for a visit to Newegg too to price out a possible complete revamp.

[glc]

There's nothing wrong with that TISU, that's a VERY solid board. Just replace your power supply and enjoy it for a lot longer.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-602&depa=0

That's ALL you need.

[discodanman45]

glc, has enlight taken over as best bang for your buck PSU? I remember a few months ago evryone was pushing Sparkle, now everyone is saying how good Enlight is.

I am sorry I implied that your motherboard was bad. Before I knew you had a 100 W PSU powering that system I thought it was either a) your motherboard or b) your power supply that was the culprit. I am impressed that your power supply actually worked at all with all the devices you had. 300 W PSU's will be more then your needs. You could even have room for upgrades with that, like a new video card.

[glc]

I prefer Enlight because the Sparkles I've worked with have pretty noisy fans and I've seen a few have premature fan failures.

[greybeardmr]

Okay boys, a new PSU is was. 350W. BUT.... still the same freeze up. This baby is stripped down to nothing....mobo, twin HDs and twin CDs (and the AGP). That's it and we've still got freezing. I'm thinking it's time to bail.... :-(

[ric449]

You said you pulled the memory, do you mean you got a known working stick and used that in place of the current memory?

[discodanman45]

Don't bail yet!!

Try running your computer with just a mobo, video card, one stick of RAM that you know is good, the hard drive with just you operating system (may have to switch jumpers), and one cd drive. If this boots and works fine, try adding the rest of the components. You said you recently upgarded your RAM, is this when the problems started?

[greybeardmr]

Thanks, fellas. Machine freezes with each stick of RAM (128k and 256k). The 128k is the original (circa 1998) while the 256k is 1yr old. Could unplug one CD and one HD, but is it likely that the problem lies there? Seems to me that there's no way of determining if the HD with the OS is faulty or not since only one HD has an OS. I've had a faulty CD in the past. No freeze up. Just craps out.

[ric449]

Did you say you didn't try replacing the graphics card? That can cause problems like this if it is faulty, you should try to get hold of another known good one and try it out. Since it's the last part you haven't tried to replace that could be the problem.

[greybeardmr]

The graphics card is the ONLY thing that I haven't replaced. But practicality is an issue here. "Getting hold" of another one means buying or borrowing (with drivers). FYI, I've heard from the guys at a local IT shop (small parts/build yourself operation) that the SOYO mobos are NOT particularly good (I think the word "crappy" was thrown around AND that SOYO has had some problems with them in the recent past). Hence my reason for thinking that it is the mobo.... but.... since I only have 2 sticks of RAM and the problems occur with both, I really have no way of knowing whether the problem rests with either/neither.

[ric449]

Soyo used to make good boards, but I think they let a crappy company make their boards recently, so their quality dropped.

[Cricket]

Originally posted by greybeardmr
The graphics card is the ONLY thing that I haven't replaced. But practicality is an issue here. "Getting hold" of another one means buying or borrowing (with drivers). FYI, I've heard from the guys at a local IT shop (small parts/build yourself operation) that the SOYO mobos are NOT particularly good (I think the word "crappy" was thrown around AND that SOYO has had some problems with them in the recent past). Hence my reason for thinking that it is the mobo.... but.... since I only have 2 sticks of RAM and the problems occur with both, I really have no way of knowing whether the problem rests with either/neither. The SOYO TISU motherboard is actually one of the best Socket 370 motherboard (that supports the Tualatin CPU) ever made. There is the possibility that the motherboard is going out, but I think it's a slight chance at best. Check the capacitors on the motherboard for bulging or leaking.

It's the current SOYO motherboards that are being made by ECS, not the older ones.

:) Cricket

[greybeardmr]

Cricket writes>>"Check the capacitors on the motherboard for bulging or leaking."

And I would do that how?? (not part of my knowledgeable base). Thanks.

[racerbrownn]

capacitors are small metal cans alittle longer than a pencil eraser and about the same diameter. usually black with white part no.s on the side.
they should all look the same shape with no residue seeping out the bottom next to the motherboard. if one appears fatter in the middle [from top to bottom], it's probably shorted out.
you will probably see about maybe 20 to 30 of these little guys on the mb. some are extra big in comparison but the shape and seepage rules still apply.

[greybeardmr]

UPDATE.... after stripping this sucker down to the mobo and power supply (well almost), I could not isolate the problem. The mouse still kept freezing and the reboots were random. I had replaced (purchased) the power supply, the power cord to the power supply, the mouse, and the keyboard. Still figuring it had to be the mobo, I finally relented and took it to a local computer shop. An hour of bench time later, we're no farther ahead... The conclusion was drawn that the upper logic circuitry of the mobo was failing at bootup/initialization. At this point I figured that I'm spending a small fortune on a 1400MHz P3 with 100FSB.... Time to cut losses and go for a new rig.

Picked up an ASUS A7V8X-MXSE with an AMD Barton 2500 (1800+MHz) with 333DDR and 512Mb RAM. The LAN and audio and video are onboard. The latter is fine for me.... not a gamer or DVD movie fanatic. Disabled the audio and bought a SoundBlaster card. I do listen to music a lot.

So ends the two week saga of the computer that wouldn't.
Such is life....