unstable system

[mic406]

i just finished building my first system, installed xp pro, some basic drivers, dvd player, when pc started being very unstable. it begun to shut down while just surfing the net. i think i will have to adjust the voltage but don't know how since i'm fairly new to this.


specs of the system:
Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe nForce2
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ 2.2GHz 400FSB
Kingston 1GB DDR400 PC3200
nvidia quadro4 900xgl
lian li pc-7 al.atx cs.
Maxtor 160 GB 7200 RPM
Samsung 52x32x52 cd-rw
samsung 16xdvd-rom
vantec stealth 420W psu
viewsonic p220f

[TwoRails]

Looks like a nice system, mic406! Did you set up the motherboard for "Jumperless" (recommended) or did you set it up manually?

TwoRails

[mic406]

thanks two rails. i left all the jumpers at default locations except disabling sata setting.

[morriswindgate]

What Frontside Bus settings did you put in? Both the CPU and the RAM should be at 200mhz

[mic406]

the cpu external frequency is set to 200mhz and memory frequency to auto.

[morriswindgate]

You might try and not use the Auto or SPD on the RAM and enter the FSB manually.

[mic406]

i'll try it right now. btw what is the fsb spread spectrum for? right now it's set to 0.50%.

[mic406]

it didn't work. shut itself down again during instalation of studio mx.

[morriswindgate]

After reviewing you other posts, it starts to sound like you have some RAM that the Motherboard doesn't like.
Kingston did put out some sticks a while back that were causing people problems.

[mic406]

you're talking about the brand not the amount; is that correct?

[bigandy]

Yes. Try one stick, then if that doesn't work, try the other. You may have a defective one.

[mic406]

bigandy, looks like u were right. i removed memory stick from b1 slot first and after playing a dvd for about 5 min it shut off again. then i removed the one from a1 and put the other memory stick back to b1 slot and so far it has been more than 20 min. while i've been installing some software and it's still running. now, i want to go back to 1gb because of all the graphic 3d editing software. should i try to return one of the sticks for a non-defective or go for a better quality. this pair was a value pack - around $140

[Cricket]

Get a memory tester like DocMemory or MemTest86 and test your RAM with it.

:) Cricket

[glc]

I'd return both sticks and get another matched pair of something.