Time to fix my PC


I've had a PC for about 3 years that has never been stable.
Here is the description:

CPU: (754-pin) AMD ATHLON64 2800+ Processor [+0]
MOTHERBOARD: (754-pin Socket) GigaByte GA-K8NS Pro
nForce3 250 Chipset AGP8X w/LAN,USB2,IEEE,&Audio
VIDEO: nVidia GeForce FX 5700 256MB 8x AGP w/ TVO, & DVI
MEMORY: 1024 MB PC3200 400MHz DDR MEMORY
2ND_USB: STANDARD 2 USB PORT CONNECTORS
CAS: ALUMINUM Z-ALIEN CASE W/ WINDOW & LCD Temperature Display 450WATT
CD: 56X CD-ROM
CDRW: SONY DWD-22A DUAL FORMAT 16X DVDR/RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 6in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer
FAN: AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK + 3 EXTRA CASE FANS
FLOPPY: 1.44 MB FLOPPY DRIVE
HDD: IDE 40 Gigabyte
HDD2: IDE 40 Gigabyte
KEYBOARD: PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD
MOUSE: PS2 INTERNET MOUSE W/ WHEEL
NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
OS: NONE - FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY - Linux installed by user
SOUND: Creative Labs SB LIVE 24.bit 7.1
PCI card: USB 1 and IEEE1394
PCI card: ethernet

It crashed during the installation of multiple versions of
Linux. I ran a CDROM version of Knoppix for about
2 years and it ran ok, but usually hung up every week or so.
In the spring, I managed to get a version of Kubuntu (Debian)
to install. I ran it for several months and the PC would hang
up every day or two. When I tried to upgrade the release, the
installation hung up about 30 times and I finally gave up.


I'd like to either fix the PC or scrap this one and move on.

I tried booting the PC to see if there are any hardware tests.
I found a set of memory tests. I ran them for 72 hours and got
no errors, so it looks like memory is probably ok.

I checked my copy of 'Upgrading and Repairing PCs' by Scott
Mueller and did find any pertinent information for debugging
this type of problem. It seems to me the general strategy
would be:

1) test as much hardware with software as possible
2) swap out parts starting with the cheapest parts to
the most expensive
3) give up :(

I have several questions.

First, is there any place I can get cheap or free software to
test hardware on the PC?

Second, I'm planning to swap out parts in the following order
to see if it helps out:
- hard disk
- CDROM drive
- video board
- mother board
I'll pull out the audio and DVD drives while testing to simplify
the system. Is this a sane order for testing?

Third, what are the chances that the problem is an interface problem
between systems or a power supply problem and not one of the components? My belief is that by swapping out components, I will
at least isolate the problem to one subsystem. If someone with
a lot of hardware knowledge can comment on my assumption, I
would appreciate the input. I would hate to buy a new mother
board only to find out there is a timing problem between the
subsystems.

Thanks in advance for any advise or comments.

Jim Anderson

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: High memory
    ... memory and then copy it up above 1MB...but if you want to put ... outside the CPU, memory is seen in a completely different light...this ... 1MB with "real mode memory" labelled on it or anything...the actual memory ... the system bus to actual hardware devices...hence, ...
    (alt.lang.asm)
  • Re: Crashes and the Blue Screen of Death!
    ... but the most common cause is hardware failure. ... The most common cause of this is hardware memory corruption. ... are listed on the Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility List. ... recommended that all users install them as they become available. ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.general)
  • Re: The variable bit cpu
    ... > However looking at the big picture the effort to scale fixed bit hardware ... those bits are kept in the opcode rather than in each memory ... And while a *few* applications might need to scale beyond 256 bits, ... And one *big* thing you're missing here is that have a variable-bit ...
    (alt.lang.asm)
  • SUMMARY: V880 crashes
    ... Almost all suggested it is hardware problem. ... Next day I got a call from SUN and SUN's engineer ... came and replaced two memory DIMMs. ... Second, call support. ...
    (SunManagers)
  • Re: What on earth is happening - long
    ... I have a Gigabyte board as well and my board seemed to cause ... the memory to fail after a short period of time. ... I had all the latest bios updates and driver files ... > drives, which XP would recognise. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)