Losing faith in home builds (my attempts anyway)

dstyle347dstyle347 Boston
edited December 2004 in Hardware
I thought this would be more satisfying, building my own system but this is getting rediculous, I have spent twice as much fixing it than I did to build it. I really hope someone out there has some answers or least some decent advice (besides telling me what I should have done as that really does'nt help me)

Playing Halo on mid settings for about 3 hours, total lock up complete with the reverberating single note of music from the game. Hold reset and power to shut-down. On re-boot reset light is constantly on, no signal to monitor, no boot, no anything, complete darkness. All components recieving power, and coming on with no result whatsoever, reset light remains on continuosly.

P4 2.4c prescott 800mhz
a-rock prescott 800mhz chipset-?
aopen fx-5500 128mb
512mb 333mhz

I have one 120mm case fan set to intake and 3 80mm set to exhaust, power supply has 2 fans and the system was and always has run cool.

Comments

  • leishi85leishi85 Grand Rapids, MI Icrontian
    edited December 2004
    have u tried the system with a different video card??
  • SoulSoul
    edited December 2004
    Sound card drivers?
    Motherboard chipset drivers?

    What type of memory is in the system? Cheap memory or good quality name brand memory? Alot of problems can boil down to memory.
  • dstyle347dstyle347 Boston
    edited December 2004
    I don't have one and was trying to avoid buying what i don't need although I do need a better video card anyway. Would that have anything to do with the reset light (whats the right name for that?) being on?
  • MachineGunKellyMachineGunKelly The STICKS, Illinois
    edited December 2004
    The no signal to the monitor thing. Try borrowing a different video card from a friend to eliminate that first.
  • dstyle347dstyle347 Boston
    edited December 2004
    Inexpensive memory, I'll have to take it somewhere and just start switching stuff out. I'm a motorcycle technician and these repair places get the same rates I do, It sucks being on this end of the bill. Maybe one of them has a bike....
  • MachineGunKellyMachineGunKelly The STICKS, Illinois
    edited December 2004
    Especially Harley shop rates! Good luck friend.
  • GobblesGobbles Ventura California
    edited December 2004
    single note sound lockups usually indicate a problem with directx, go figure. It usually happens far sooner in the game then 3 hours, however ive had previous systems do that and never could pin down the issue. I eventually chalked it upto a via chipset, ive since gone nvidia chips only, and gotta say they have been flawless thus far. Now your using a Intel machine, is it an intel chipset or is it from a 3rd party vendor like via or sis?

    Is your sound onboard or do you have a pci card?
  • EMTEMT Seattle, WA Icrontian
    edited December 2004
    Unlikely, but do you have an ISA slot and a card in it? If so you could remove it and the problem would probably stop. Most boards don't come with the slot these days anyway; besides which, you should be running on minimum peripherals so as to pinpoint the problem.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited December 2004
    Whats Your Power Supply?!?

    You should have at least a 400watt PSU which can deliver >18A on the 12v rail.
  • floppybootstompfloppybootstomp Greenwich New
    edited December 2004
    How do other games play?

    Is it only Halo giving you problems?

    If so, the FX5500 just might not be up to the job. It is just possible it's overheating or maybe just can't cope. Does it crash in graphics-intensive parts of the game or just randomly?

    Halo, in my experience, is one of the most demanding PC games there is, which is odd really, cos it's quite old.

    The porting over to PC from X-Box really did leave a lot to be desired.

    You could also try running memtest (do a google, it's a freebie download, or it may even be hosted at this Forum, not sure) to check out your memory.
  • dstyle347dstyle347 Boston
    edited December 2004
    It's completely broken. It does not come on anymore. No boot whatsoever. Not a failure after boot but total nothingness. The power comes on, the drives all power up, the screen is blank, no input and the reset light is stuck on which must indicate something.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited December 2004
    The reset light will stay on if it is plugged onto the motherboard backward. It doesn't indicate a problem. Try to remove and re-seat the video card.
  • floppybootstompfloppybootstomp Greenwich New
    edited December 2004
    Is the machine able to POST? That is, when you switch on, do you get any images on the screen at all?

    Does the operating system start to load and then you get a black screen? Or won't it do anything at all?

    I'd suggest disconnecting all hard drives, floppy drive and optical drives from the system and seeing if it can POST OK.

    If you can't see anything at all, it may be a good idea to try another video card, if that's possible. There's a chance your video card may be faulty, need more details.

    There's also an outside chance the motherboard is fried.

    What you need to do now is narrow down the culprit with a process of elimination.

    If you're lucky, it will just be a messed up operating system.

    Good luck.
  • GobblesGobbles Ventura California
    edited December 2004
    EMT wrote:
    Unlikely, but do you have an ISA slot and a card in it? If so you could remove it and the problem would probably stop. Most boards don't come with the slot these days anyway; besides which, you should be running on minimum peripherals so as to pinpoint the problem.

    Asrock does not make a Intel motherboard with ISA slots but they do make motherboards with Intel, via, and sis chipsets.
  • GobblesGobbles Ventura California
    edited December 2004
    next time this happens..

    1. Dont hold reset and power to shut it down. Either hit the reset, OR, press and hold the power button, but not both, does it still do the black screen crap?

    2. I want you to goto start, run, and type in dxdiag and hit enter. Goto the sound or sound 1 tab, goto acceleration, and dial it down a notch and exit, now play halo and see if you lock up.

    3. make sure you have the most current drivers for all your devices.
  • dstyle347dstyle347 Boston
    edited December 2004
    It was memory, I only had one stick in and it was bad apparently. It would'nt even post until I swapped it out. Thanks for the help.
  • CryptoCrypto W.Sussex UK Member
    edited December 2004
    Bad luck with the memory problem, glad you got it sorted.

    Hope it hasn't put you off of self-build, you learn a lot in the end. ;)

    Thanks for posting back with the solution, that helps us all understand and store away for the next time.

    Cheers

    Crypto :D
  • floppybootstompfloppybootstomp Greenwich New
    edited December 2004
    Crypto wrote:
    Bad luck with the memory problem, glad you got it sorted.

    Hope it hasn't put you off of self-build, you learn a lot in the end. ;)

    Thanks for posting back with the solution, that helps us all understand and store away for the next time.

    Cheers

    Crypto :D

    Yep :thumbsup:
  • dstyle347dstyle347 Boston
    edited December 2004
    It's discouraging to someone on a budget to keep having to find and fix these problems myself but I guess it could be considered an investment. The more problems run into the more solutions retained. I have to say that regardless of the money involved building is a lot more fun and definitely more satisfying.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited December 2004
    dstyle347 wrote:
    I have to say that regardless of the money involved building is a lot more fun and definitely more satisfying.

    That's the PC-builders' creed! ;)
  • ronboronbo Connecticut
    edited December 2004
    dstyle347 wrote:
    I have to say that regardless of the money involved building is a lot more fun and definitely more satisfying.
    You said a mouthfull right there. Thats why we all do it. And the fine people in this forum will go out of their way to help you, short of driving to your front door.
    ps. real happy your problem is solved...
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited December 2004
    dstyle347 wrote:
    It's discouraging to someone on a budget to keep having to find and fix these problems myself but I guess it could be considered an investment...
    In addition to what everyone else has said, consider the following:

    You have almost certainly saved money up front by doing it yourself,

    As you have mentioned, the experience you've gained is quite valuable,

    And, (the Jackpot, I think): I counted 21 responses to your initial post before this little response of mine - all in the space of less than 48 hours. Can you imagine the round-and-round you might have gone through with an "established" computer company before they finally got to the real problem? You might still be waiting for your first call-back!
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