Have you tested it with nothing but the bare essentials? MoBo + Primary Graphics card + HDD only?

alexanrs wrote:

Have you tested it with nothing but the bare essentials? MoBo + Primary Graphics card + HDD only?

I will do that right now and get back to you in a few moments.

Bad power supply, or mainboard caps? Try a memtest too.

Swap out parts, even unassuming ones. RAM, IDE cable, HDD. Load BIOS defaults, not turbo defaults. Set timings to slowest, things like that.

alexanrs wrote:

Have you tested it with nothing but the bare essentials? MoBo + Primary Graphics card + HDD only?

Even with everything removed except the ATI Rage, processor, RAM and all the drives, it still freezes!

philscomputerlab wrote:

Swap out parts, even unassuming ones. RAM, IDE cable, HDD. Load BIOS defaults, not turbo defaults. Set timings to slowest, things like that.

I will let you know what happens when I do this.

Also try leaving only one memory module, and trying each module you have

Did this. I diagnosed its not the RAM. I'm testing the hard drive and IDE cable now.

Still freezing! Any other suggestions?

BrAlZy wrote:

Did this. I diagnosed its not the RAM. I'm testing the hard drive and IDE cable now.

The IDE cable is not a bad guess, I have had freezes caused by a bad IDE cable.

Is the motherboard mounted in a case? If yes I would also try the system with the motherboard on a cardboard box just to rule out shorts or strange earthing errors.

Also be sure to try another PSU, especially if its an old unit. If you have another video card try change it aswell.

If nothing works start looking for bad caps on the motherboard.

I really don't know what it is. I don't see any bad caps on the motherboard. I bought it brand new in the box a week ago. I only have a graphics card, processor, ram, and the motherboard setup on a cardboard box with a working PSU and it still freezes. I really don't know what else it is... 🙁

BrAlZy wrote:

I really don't know what it is. I don't see any bad caps on the motherboard. I bought it brand new in the box a week ago. I only have a graphics card, processor, ram, and the motherboard setup on a cardboard box with a working PSU and it still freezes. I really don't know what else it is... 🙁

Try another working PSU if you have not done that, sometimes some boards dosnt like some PSUs.

Remount the CPU, check if the CPU cooler is attached correctly with cooling paste and that it makes good contact with the CPU. If the CPU cooler dosnt have a fan then mount one as the Katmai PIII 500 runs pretty hot.

Tried another PSU and it still freezes. I don't have any other PSUs to test it with. Maybe I should just buy another Motherboard?

Yea that could be a good idea if you could find another motherboard for a good price, if its another part that is the culprit you have a spare motherboard.

I think someone posted this board in my other post, an ABIT BH6 is good right?

BrAlZy wrote:

I think someone posted this board in my other post, an ABIT BH6 is good right?

Its a nice board but as with many boards from back then they often suffer from bad capacitors.

I have a Abit BH6 my self and it still has its original shady brand caps and its still working perfectly so if the caps look good the board is probably at least working.

Skyscraper wrote:

BrAlZy wrote:

I think someone posted this board in my other post, an ABIT BH6 is good right?

Its a nice board but as with many board from back then they often suffer from bad capacitors.

I have a Abit BH6 my self and it still has its original shady brand caps and its still working perfectly so if the caps look good the board is probably at last working.

Thank you for the info. I'll be sure to look out for bad caps when I buy one (hopefully today).

Good luck finding any Abit boards without bad caps... Even if they look good you'll likely have to replace them.

(and I would recommend the BE6-II, by the way)

jwt27 wrote:

Good luck finding any Abit boards without bad caps... Even if they look good you'll likely have to replace them.

(and I would recommend the BE6-II, by the way)

If they are bad, I have a friend who could replace them no problem. And the BE6-II is expensive (due to stupid eBay users) while the BH6 is available at nearly half the price of a BE6-II.