Solving my comp problem for good, any ideas?

[Samael88]

Hi, I'm back.

I have rescently reformatted my comp and installed everything fresh.
XP, drivers, some games.

And I am happy to report that the BSODs I was getting before seem to be gone as far as I have seen so far
BUT, now I am back to my old problem with crashing and some seemingly random reboots, and some new and really odd processor activity caused lag spikes
Here is my specs directly from DXdiag:

Spoiler

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 1/18/2010, 19:59:00
       Machine name: SAMAEL
   Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090804-1435)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: K7NF2
       System Model: K7NF2-RAID
               BIOS: Default System BIOS
          Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2600+,  MMX,  3DNow, ~1.9GHz
             Memory: 2048MB RAM
          Page File: 428MB used, 3514MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: Radeon HD 2400 PRO AGP (Omega 3.8.442)
     Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc. (Omega 3.8.442)
        Chip type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor AGP (0x94C4)
         DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_94C4&SUBSYS_00281787&REV_00
   Display Memory: 256.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
          Monitor: SAMTRON 96P/97P(T)
  Monitor Max Res: 2048,1536
      Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
   Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6755 (English)
      DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
 Driver Date/Size: 12/5/2007 04:04:08, 269312 bytes
      WHQL Logo'd: No
  WHQL Date Stamp: None
              VDD: n/a
         Mini VDD: ati2mtag.sys
    Mini VDD Date: 12/5/2007 06:26:40, 2782208 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-D784-11CF-546E-2220A1C2CB35}
        Vendor ID: 0x1002
        Device ID: 0x94C4
        SubSys ID: 0x00281787
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D ModeWMV8_A ModeWMV9_A 
 Deinterlace Caps: {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive 
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch 
                   {3C5323C1-6FB7-44F5-9081-056BF2EE449D}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive 
                   {552C0DAD-CCBC-420B-83C8-74943CF9F1A6}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive 
                   {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive 
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch 
         Registry: OK
     DDraw Status: Enabled
       D3D Status: Enabled
       AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: Not run
 D3D7 Test Result: Not run
 D3D8 Test Result: Not run
 D3D9 Test Result: Not run

That is system specs and graphics, just tell me if I should post anything more.

I know that it is not these:
1. Damaged ram, they have been tested when I bought them a month ago.
2. Not the power, that has been taken care of, the bastard cost me 800sek

Things that I think it might be:
1. Graphic drivers, agp are so hard to find these days, especially for ATI cards.
2. To much Ram? I got 2GB and with the dedicated HDD memory XP uses it is well over 3GB, can that a problem?
3. Could it be cataclyst causing this?

Okay, so I got these drivers basically:
1. Omega Drivers [Current]
2. Powercolors disc drivers (They suck, and I really mean suck)
3. Some other ATI driver that I got with the card when I bought it from a friend.
4. Latest Powercolor drivers.
5. Latest ATI drivers.

Number 1 has turned out to be the most stable one this far.

So, the question is, first of all, anyone who owns a ATI AGP card that knows a solution?
How do I test the other things?
Is there something that I might have overlooked?

 

[sqrage]

How dusty is the inside of your computer?

Have you cleaned it recently?

Sounds like it could be an overheating issue.

 

[Samael88]

I cleaned it about a month ago when I installed the ram, it was not to dusty considering it had not been cleaned for 3months before that
It could be the graphics card that overheats when I run to heavy games, any good programs to monitor that just to check?

There was one thing I missed, my new ram is:
2x1GB pc3200 ddr1 400mhz ram, they where set to 333 in the bios and I put them to 400.
I changed the ram speed to 333 before because I used two sticks with separate speeds before(1x333 and 1x400) so I ran both at 333, that was before I messed up my c++ code and wrecked the ram
I am just thinking that this could had been what was causing my BSODs before.

The odd thing is that it has not crashed once when I have played Torchlight, as it did before, I have not tried Age of Empires 3 yet, but I will asap. Now it crashes when i play mount and blade. This is just getting weirder and weirder.

 

[UndeadDragon]

It could be the graphics card that overheats when I run to heavy games, any good programs to monitor that just to check?

I find SpeedFan to be quite useful for temperature monitoring.

 

[Slapshot136]

I would recommend trying OCCT - it has various tests for your system, see if any of the specific tests cause the system to crash (and it also monitors temps while doing them)

 

[Samael88]

I find SpeedFan to be quite useful for temperature monitoring.

Thank you, but I have tried SpeedFan and I discovered that just as it messures the temperatures it also raise them a bit, at least on my slow cpu

I would recommend trying OCCT - it has various tests for your system, see if any of the specific tests cause the system to crash (and it also monitors temps while doing them)

Can you give me some more info on that? What kind of program is it? Is it like memtest, you download, burn it and boot it?
Is there any known risks with using it?

Edit: is it this you are talking about?
http://www.ocbase.com/perestroika_en/index.php?Faq

Edit2: btw, what do I do if OCCT discovers an error in persay my cpu, buy a new one?

 

[Slapshot136]

yes that one - you just run it like a normal program, it doesn't test memory (that needs to be done as you described)

it's a program that runs tests intended to stress the cpu/gpu separately and also monitor the temps (it takes a snapshot of the temp at that time, and saves it for you to view later - helps find trends/etc.)

if it crashes while doing the CPU test for example, I would look at the CPU temps (that were saved before it crashed), see if it's over 80C or so at the last recorded time, if it is then your cooling is probably at fault (no thermal paste/it dried out, fan is broken/not connected, etc.), otherwise it might be the CPU - you could try under-clocking the CPU to see if that helps improve it's stability(in the bios (don't increase or decrease voltage in order to keep your warranty)) or maybe try to get it replaced (most CPU's come with a 3 year warranty)

 

[Samael88]

Ok, thanks for the program tip, I will try it out asap^^

(most CPU's come with a 3 year warranty)

Yeah, that is something of a problem for me^^ My cpu and motherboard is about 5years old, so if I need to switch the cpu then I will need to change the mobo, and then I might as well buy a whole new comp and that I can't afford for now So I really have to get this one working fine for a while more