Hello all..I am not very handy with computers but here goes. I have a 900 athlon and I am having problems with my computer freezing. I have purchased many types of pc133 ram and many of them make my computer freeze VERY often while others don't freeze as often. I have tried about 6-7 types and some freeze within the first 30 seconds while some are a little better and freeze about an hour or so. I don't know what the problem is. Why would some ram make the computer freeze so often? I have been trying mostly 256 and some 128. If anyone has any advice I'dr really appreciate it. I don't want to have to buy a new computer. Could it possibly be the motherboard? Id appreciate any help.
rkato99 0 Newbie Poster
TallCool1 81 Practically a Posting Shark Team Colleague
I have a 900 athlon and I am having problems with my computer freezing. I have purchased many types of pc133 ram and many of them make my computer freeze VERY often while others don't freeze as often.
It may be a matter of RAM timing. There are BIOS settings that control this. Make sure that they are set to the default settings; if someone has set the timings to be more aggressive, that will cause major problems in some cases.
Another possible problem is a marginal power supply. Again, look to the BIOS--usually, the same screen that shows the CPU temperatures also shows the actual output voltages. Plus-or-minus 5% is the nominal tolerance (better is good), plus-or-minus 10% is nominal for the 12V line . Make sure the P/S rated for enough output for your system. Also, older power supplies will tend to have dried-out electrolytic capacitors, especially if the fan is failing. This leds to poor voltage regulation, especially if a CD-ROM or Zip disk (for example) spins up.
How much RAM do you have? What version of Windows are you running? Win9x has an effective limit of 512 MB; more will tend to cause odd problems.
You might try an actual RAM test program suite: MemTest86 -- http://memtest86.com
An excellent memory tester. Creates a bootable floppy or CD, depending on which version of the file you download.
Be a part of the DaniWeb community
We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.