build problems, what else?

[erucader]

Hey guys I haven't been around here in a while but one of my latest builds is driving me crazy. First, the specs

ASUS M2A-VM HDMI (AMD 690G)
Athlon 64 X2 5000+
Asus EN8500GT Silent/HTP/512Mb (I know the fanless card was a mistake, but it was a good deal)
2x1Gb OCZ DDR2-800
Antec Truepower Trio 550W (so quiet I can't believe it's on)
Western Digital Caviar SE 80Gb SATA
LG 16X DVD RW (IDE)
XP Home SP2

So, the computer seems to run well, but it has been having seemingly random problems that I can't pinpoint. Unfortunately it's not mine so I don't know the details of any error messages, but it occasionally crashes, locks up, or reboots. Also, sometimes on power-on it starts up, but sends no signal to the monitor and the power LED is off but the HDD LED is on. Initally the build had more problems, but I RMA'd the original ram, and upgraded the PSU from a TT420W because I suspected power problems. Furthermore, Adaware and Hijack this are totally clear. I'm really suspecting video problems but don't have another PCI-E card to test it, and like I said, the problems are neither consistent nor frequent - although I've been informed it is more likely to crash during multitasking. It could be heat, but I've placed a fan right above the video card to help dissipate it.

Sorry for the verbosity of this post but this build is really frustrating me as it is decently fast and I'd like it to run perfectly. Any suggestions would be appreciated

[phigdon]

i have almost a carbon copy of your system and I had the same problems with the board. yours is not the only one, the ASUS forums are full of the same issue. i run 1 gig of OCZ gold and 1 gig of Kingston, i thought that memory compatibility was my issue. this board is hard to find memory for.

my problem was the internet locking up, everything else ran fine. it turned out to be an issue with Zone Alarm 5 using 100% of the processor. this is how I found the problem. open task manager, ctrl-alt-delete, and open processes tab. then just run the computer and see what process maxes out the CPU.

also go to ASUS and flash the BIOS asap to 0701 at least that made a HUGE stability improvement with my system and its been running flawless for over a year. take the default settings in CMOS and dont try to over clock the board.

the mobo has X1250 built in, so pull the video card and enable the onboard and boot. (this is the exact reason i only buy boards with integrated graphics.

heat was a small issue with my system I was running at 35C idle and 57C load before I put in a new CPU cooler. download speedfan and see what your temps are, the program does not have specific board set up for the m2a-vm but it will report accurate temps. I verified it with a couple other programs and they all agree.

[phigdon]

double post for some reason sorry.

[erucader]

interesting... well I don't think cpu usage is a problem, and as for heat the temps are ~40C, not bad at all.

I just flashed the bios to the newest update today, hopefully that irons out some of the glitches.

When I bought the components I was told the OCZ might not be compatible, but it seems to be working aside from the glitches I mentioned.

[phigdon]

i was told the same thing about OCZ but my sticks have worked from day one and I didn't really even need the Kingston. it does run faster with the second gig so no harm. I pulled the OCZ when testing it and it still locked up with the Kingston. when I talked to ASUS last year the tech didn't even know there was an issue and tried to tell me that I was the only person that had it. he still stuck to that story when I told him that there posts going back to the first day it was available. when my system locked and I rebooted it kept telling me that i had an over clocking issue even with all the defaults selected.

[erucader]

well I'm glad that I'm not the only one having problems - I'm pulling my hair out over this one. Hopefully the updated BIOS file is improved though.

[erucader]

I'm continuing this thread because I'm still working on the same computer. It's having one problem when turning it on, the computer powers up but the Power LED may or may not be on/flashing, but the IDE LED stays on. It doesn't seem to post or send any signal to the monitor, and won't respond to anything. However it sometimes powers up fine. Any ideas????????