[hckyplyr000]

I am not sure if this fits in this category or the graphics cards & monitors category, but I just built a new computer with:

Asus M2A-VM mobo
AMD Athlon X2 6000+ - (with arctic silver 5 thermal paste)
Thermaltake heatsink instead of AMD's stock one
2 GB DDR2 PC800Mhz RAM
500W PSU
400 GB SATA HD


Its in an antec 900 case, so there are 4 fans to keep it cool. My issue is that I just installed vista, and after approximately 1 - 1.5 hours, the computer always freezes. Sometimes the monitor will say 'no input signal,' sometimes some pixels will seem to be shifted slightly, and once the screen turned a small shade of light yellow before freezing. Nothing seems to turn off in the case, everything sounds to be continuously running.

Any ideas on what could be wrong? I am using the Integrated ATI Radeon X1250-based graphics card that is onboard the mobo. Please help me out, any info would be well appreciated!!

[Spencer2004]

sounds like an overheating problem. reset your processr to its factory clock if you have overclocked it, make sure the cpu heatsink is in propper contact with the cpu and make sure that you havent used too much or too little thermal paste.

also check the heatsink on the motherboard as it sounds like that may be the problem, make sure its held down flat against the motherboard, apply thermal paste if nessesary.

you could also do what i do and take off the side pannel and have a large fan blowing on it which would temporarly eliminate any overheating problems.

[hckyplyr000]

well i havent overclocked it - i guess il try using the AMD heatsink instead, and clean and reapply the thermal paste....u r only supposed to use a 'rice-grain' size, rite?

now, u also said to check the heatsink on the motherboard - i didn't add/change with an additional one, i just kept whatever came on the motherboard....could that still be the problem? the MB temp is always lower than the CPU temp...

[hckyplyr000]

i used the AMD heatsink that came with the cpu, and reapplied the thermal paste which def reduced the temperature by a LOT - so thanks.

However, the same problem continues to happen. I even reinstalled vista, but i could not even log in since it froze twice before that screen came up. What happens now is a red bar appears across the top of the screen and small green pixels slowly appear on the screen.

Do you think that some of my hardware might have be damaged due to improper cooling? I think i have a day or two to return the mobo if that is the issue...

[Spencer2004]

yes that could be the case, i have just reciently damaged my athlon x2 6000+ with thermal damage, mabey this is common with this model.

you could also try buying a cheap graphics card to try in it as the problems seem to be graphics based

[hckyplyr000]

so are u saying that even though the computer runs for a little bit, the processor could still be damaged? il try to find a graphics card that fits, but if that doesnt work, shud i just try to RMA it? i bought it onilne...

[Razer]

might be a RAM problem, since it always happens at the same time roughly. try first just swapping the ram around there might be a connection fault such as some dust reducing the whole ram to a green stick making your pc heavier. after that id say consider sending it back