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General discussion

CPU speed

Aug 27, 2004 12:31AM PDT

I just reinstaled XP home edition and now my computer will randomly restart...or sometimes not start at all (it sounds like jsut the fans turn on) when i resently started it up the BIOS setup utility came up and said that during the last bootup the system hung for improper CPU speed.

i have an AMD 1900+ on an Asus AZN226 and 768 mb ddr

it says the CPU speed is set at 1200MHz how do i fix this?

Discussion is locked

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Re: CPU speed
Aug 27, 2004 12:34AM PDT

"my computer will randomly restart...or sometimes not start at all"

This is typical of an overtaxed power supply, bad motherboard capacitors and bad ram.

Try this. For this size machine, something like a 450 Watt supply should be fitted, the case cover left off, the motherboard capacitors checked for bulging/leaks and exactly 512MB RAM.

The no-boot points to hardware issues you need to solve before you burnup a CPU or motherboard.

Bob

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Until you make the solutions that Robert
Aug 27, 2004 1:01AM PDT

has made be happy that the CPU is not running at speed. The bad shutdowns have probably forced the system to set the BIOS's FSB/Memeory bus speeds to the lowest value to try to protect your CPU.

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Re: CPU speed
Aug 27, 2004 1:42AM PDT

thanks for your help guys! ill go right out and get that power supply...about the memory...should i take out the 256 memory card? u said i should have exactly 512? What if i buy another 512 and have a gig? is that ok? I've also got an ATI 9200 video card in there.

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What Operating System???
Aug 27, 2004 3:55AM PDT

Win 98 and ME have problems with over 512 MB [ it's funny because it gives notices that you do not have enough memory].

Win XP usually can do a little better with more memory.

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Re: CPU speed
Aug 28, 2004 4:58AM PDT

OK so the problem has gotten a little worse. I went out and bought a 500w power supply and a brand new cd burner.....hook it all up and the cd drives will not open. (but the computer still boots up) if i just hook it up to the mother board and the cd drive it will open...my friend thinks my mother board is on its way out maybe the processor too. Before i ws running a 300w power supply. which you said was not enough.


any help greatly appreciated
-MARC

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How to do a basic CDROM drive test.
Aug 28, 2004 5:16AM PDT

Just plug in the power to the CDROM drive and not the WIDE IDE cable. If the drive doesn't open and close from the front panel, then the drive has failed.

My bet is the power wasn't connected.

Bob

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Time to troubleshoot. Robert suggested
Aug 28, 2004 5:30AM PDT

3 possible causes. Certainly didn't suggest adding another device before finding the cause. LOL One thing at a time.

Lets strip the system down to the basics and see what we find. Disconnect all drives [both power and signal cables], remove all cards except video [first step is normally without the video card and monitor, but let's try with the video card in and monitor connected. Also leave the keyboard connected, but remove the mouse. Get down to one stick of memory [if you have two, we may try one at a time, if things don't work]. You have the CPU with HSF, one stick of memory, and the front panel items connected.

In this minimal configuration turn the system on and hopefully get a single beep and get into the BIOS. If you get into the BIOS, set the memory speed or the FSB that will get the proper CPU speed. We don't know what speed memory you are using. Different BIOS's use different ways to set the CPU speed [some say FSB some say memory speed]. The CPU speed is determined by the memory speed times the fixed multiplier built into the CPU. You need to check the manual.

Does your system use SDRAM or DDR SDRAM? I'll try to look up the specs on the mobo while you try this.

This trobleshooting isolates the problem to the basic things, will assume that the new power supply is good so it's mobo, memory, or CPU heating [not too likely in this case]. Capacitor problem requires careful looking at the large capacitors on the mobo for signs of puffing up or leaking a substance around them.

Robert has posted a link to photos of bad caps, do a search for capaciotrs or leaky capacitors or bad capacitors in these forums.

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Just read your first post again.
Aug 28, 2004 5:36AM PDT

You say DDR, thus your FSB [or memory bus speed] to set the CPU speed correctly would be a value of twice the basic memory speed.

I may be confused. Is it simply the CD-ROM /burner that is the only problem????

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Re: Just read your first post again.
Aug 28, 2004 6:03AM PDT

ok now you guys are getting too complex. Here's what happened.....You reccomended a new power supply so i went out and bought a 500w one coming from a 300w. Put that in...The computer booted up fine. windows worked. However neither CD-ROM drive would open. The computer was recognizing my TDK CD-RW but not my normal CD drive. When you tried to access the TDK through my computer the wondow would frezze. Neither Drive will open. So my TDK wasnt working before (it would read CDs but could not burn) so i figured i'd go out and just buy a new one. So i did. I went out bought a new CD-RW. Instaled it..same problem the door will not open. So we just hooked up the power supply so that JUST the new CD-RW was hooked up and it opened fine. so theres nothing wrong with it and its BRAND NEW

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Re: Just read your first post again.
Aug 28, 2004 6:20AM PDT

Alright guys after looking at my capacitors i think some are bulging and one is leaning over slightly...Does this mean my mother board is fried? What is this caused by? How can i tell if the procesor is alright or not? Thanks,
Marc

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My bulging capacitor story.
Aug 28, 2004 9:20AM PDT

I had a few bulging capacitor motherboards at the office. They went unstable and I slipped in 550W PSUs and that stabilized them. But the next month, one almost caught on fire as the capacitor failed and fried. The next machine just went downhill after it worked fine for a month.

Capacitors do NOT BULGE! It's a bad sign and you need to push the board supplier to replace your board.

Here's the GOOGLE on the issue:
http://www.google.com/search?&q=bad+motherboard+capacitors

Bob

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(NT) (NT) Can't find any ASUS mobo with number like that.
Aug 28, 2004 7:01AM PDT
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Re: (NT) Can't find any ASUS mobo with number like that.
Aug 28, 2004 7:30AM PDT

thats what the box says

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Certainly, I'll take your word for it. Was just
Aug 28, 2004 2:10PM PDT

looking to see if it was of the vintage where the capacitor problem is probable.

No such number listed in their current products or archived products.

Closest seems to be the A7V266 -MX. Uses VIA's KM 266 architecture.

Doesn't matter. If you have bulging or leaky capacitors you need them replaced or a new mobo.

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Re: Certainly, I'll take your word for it. Was just
Aug 28, 2004 11:10PM PDT

it's about 3 years old

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3 years is about right.
Aug 28, 2004 11:20PM PDT

If you review the articles I noted, you find similar dates when the bad capacitor issue started.

Your motherboard supplier should exchange the board since they used defective parts.

Bob

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And be sure to let us know how
Aug 29, 2004 12:39AM PDT

things turn out.