Calling pc nerds*Again*
 

So the new system i built was running great until just a few days ago. It seems to hang up at the most random times.
-Sometimes it will boot into bios/ other times it wont
-Sometimes it will say that bootable media needs to be placed in one of the drives and the computer needs a restart
-Sometimes it will go as far as getting into windows, then hanging up and not responding to the mouse or keyboard for a ctrl+alt+delete

The set up
Asus m3a78 mobo
4gb(2X2gb) g.skill ram 1044mhz
Amd Athlon x2 6400+ 3.2ghz
geforce 9500gt 512mb ddr2

Watercooled cpu and gpu because i had the case from a previous build.

Also i had been playing with the memorys voltages a few days previous because it is supposed to be set to 2.1v and my Mobo had it set at default for 1.85v.
Also i had done a 2% overclock bumping it to 3.266mhz per core
Any help appreciated.

Re: Calling pc nerds*Again*
 

first check your boot order, make sure the hd with your op system is first. mine does this gay ---- where it 'forgets' the order and default makes the card reader first. if i got a card in there it cant find any os so it just hangs up at the boot screen.

Re: Calling pc nerds*Again*
 

That was one of the first things i checked.

*Note* i also have gone and reset the cmos by removing the battery for 30 seconds and moving the jumper to reset all settings. This was only done because my system was not booting and following this i was able to get into windows, have it hang up on me and then not even have the bios display run following boot. Thanks.

Re: Calling pc nerds*Again*
 

lolz @ failed hard-drive

Well, it could also be your overclock. Try stock settings. If the memory is rated for 2.1v, you can leave it at that, but set all the timing back to what it should be. If the overclock isn't stable, you'll get a bunch of weird errors.

The only thing that bugs me is the "insert bootable media" error. That sounds like possibly a bad drive.

Whenever I had a bad overclock, it usually wouldn't post and just reset, and after a couple resets the BIOS would say "---- it" and set everything back to stock settings. I like that feature, it would keep the values I had set, but not use them, helpful with overclocking.

When it was on the brink of being unstable, sometimes it would get to Windows or even boot into it, then suddenly crash. Sometimes I'd get a BSOD saying that one of the Windows files was corrupt.

I never got the error that it couldn't find bootable media though...

After you get it to boot again...what proc? If it's a Q6600, I'd start with 8 x 400mhz @ 1.4v. See how it runs. If it's unstable, bump the voltage up a couple increments at a time. If it is stable, try backing down the voltage one increment at a time. It all depends on the individual proc and mobo to what voltage you'll need for stability. I wanted to stick with either 8 x 400 (3.2ghz) or 9 x 400 (3.6ghz) so I could keep 1:1 memory timing. I'm needing 1.45v for stable 3.6ghz, my friend had the exact same setup and can't get to 3.6ghz with 1.5v...which is the highest you want to go. Actually, I wouldn't leave it set at 1.5v. As soon as the load drops from 100, the voltage would spike, and I'd hate to fry it.

NVM, see you have an Athlon. :(

Re: Calling pc nerds*Again*
 

I set everything to default values in the mobo that worked when i used the system the first few days.
The boot order is correct.
I tried a backup 200gb western digital i have that was the slave and attempted to format it with windows, got halfway into the the windows setup with ony 10 minutes left and it sat that way for hours.

Re: Calling pc nerds*Again*
 

Thanks again jorsher :y

Re: Calling pc nerds*Again*
 

So what was it?

Mobo should have an option like "set to optimized options" or "set to fail-safe options" that will put everything where it should be.

Overclocks can cause the weirdest ----, or sometimes will seem perfectly normal and then crash after hours of use. Prime95 is great for loading the proc, coretemp is good for watching temps, and memtest86 is good for testing ram.

Re: Calling pc nerds*Again*
 

bsod... haha you geeks... :P

Re: Calling pc nerds*Again*
 

I take it that you know what it means :P

Yes, I am. Better a geek than a dumbass :)

Re: Calling pc nerds*Again*
 

haha yeah... I'm good friends with it... haha... I'm a nerd. 8)