need motherboard recommendation

  • Thread starter Thread starter Darren West
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Darren West

Hi All,

I built my girlfriend a high-end system and it's given me grief since day
one. The darn thing keeps crashing. The ram passes all tests. The
motherboard is an Asus M4A87TD Evo running WinXP with all updates.

During hi-def video watching (1080P), it frequently locks up and makes a
boatload of noise. The only "fix" is a reboot. Everytime it crashes, the
missus looks at me like -- Do you know what you're doing?

I need a decent new motherboard and I'd like to use my old ddr3 ram and 3.2
ghz quad-core AMD cpu.. What is a good brand/model today?

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: (e-mail address removed) ---
 
Hi All,

I built my girlfriend a high-end system and it's given me grief since day
one. The darn thing keeps crashing. The ram passes all tests. The
motherboard is an Asus M4A87TD Evo running WinXP with all updates.

During hi-def video watching (1080P), it frequently locks up and makes a
boatload of noise. The only "fix" is a reboot. Everytime it crashes, the
missus looks at me like -- Do you know what you're doing?

I need a decent new motherboard and I'd like to use my old ddr3 ram
and 3.2
ghz quad-core AMD cpu.. What is a good brand/model today?

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: (e-mail address removed) ---
Click to expand...

I just bought this Asrock Extreme 4 890gx for my new build. Since it's
brand new there isn't a lot of reviews or complaints yet. I have no
hard drives installed yet but it boots to BIOS flawlessly. Using AMD
Phenom II. All the research I did finally convinced me.
USB 3.0 and E-SATA, it seems feature rich. Here is a review:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/ASRock-890GX-Extreme4-Motherboard/1076
HTH
 
During hi-def video watching (1080P), it frequently locks up
Click to expand...

You make no mention of

1) which CPU you have

2) which video card you have
and makes a boatload of noise.
Click to expand...

Would that be something like a ship's foghorn?
I need a decent new motherboard
Click to expand...

Why do you think the problem is with the motherboard?
 
Darren said:
I built my girlfriend a high-end system and it's given me grief since day
one. The darn thing keeps crashing. The ram passes all tests. The
motherboard is an Asus M4A87TD Evo running WinXP with all updates.

During hi-def video watching (1080P), it frequently locks up and makes a
boatload of noise. The only "fix" is a reboot. Everytime it crashes, the
missus looks at me like -- Do you know what you're doing?

I need a decent new motherboard and I'd like to use my old ddr3 ram and 3.2
ghz quad-core AMD cpu.. What is a good brand/model today?
Click to expand...

Do you have all the power connectors plugged into the motherboard and
video card?

What brand power supply is in the computer, and what's its power
rating? PSUs can vary a lot in quality -- see the reviews at
JonnyGuru.com or HardwareSecrets.com to see what I mean. Measure the
positive voltages because if they're not right, nothing else in the
computer will work normally, but if it's not possible to do that (even
a $3.50 Harbor Freight digital meter is way more accurate than
needed), try another PSU, preferrably a decent brand.

What tests did you run on the memory, and for how long? Some good
diagnostics are MemTest+ (not MemTest), MemTest86, and Gold Memory,
and each should be run overnight. OTOH I've had bad memory check out
fine with DocMem, the worst diagnostic ever produced.

Also what is the voltage rating of the memory? It's common for retail
DDR3 modules to be rated for 1.65V, but that means they were made of
junk chips because all brand name DDR3 chips are rated to work
perfectly at 1.50V or less. I'm referring to brands of chips, not
brands of modules. Try removing all but one module -- Windows XP runs
OK with just 1GB and is tolerable even with half that. If the
computer then quits crashing , there could be a memory problem, or the
BIOS may need to use slower memory timings when running several
modules at once. A BIOS update may correct the timings, but never
flash the BIOS of an unstable computer.

You may want to boot the computer from an Ubuntu Linux CD because if
it works reliably with that, then it indicates a problem with Windows
or a Windows driver program.
 
I think it's the motherboard cause the system simply locks up.
Click to expand...

That is a false conclusion to draw. The fact that your PC apparently
functions normally when not playing HD videos indicates that the
motherboard is functioning correctly.
Any ideas how to troubleshoot this further would sure be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Since you only report lockups when playing HD videos this would tend
to suggest a problem with

1) either the application you are running to play the videos

or

2) the video card drivers

or

3) the video card hardware -- if this is the most CPU intensive
application you run on the PC, possibly an issue with overheating
perhaps on the video card processor

You need to be more specific in describing what type of HD video --
as in file format and codec -- causes your machine to lock up.
 
Darren said:
Hi All,

I built my girlfriend a high-end system and it's given me grief since day
one. The darn thing keeps crashing. The ram passes all tests. The
motherboard is an Asus M4A87TD Evo running WinXP with all updates.

During hi-def video watching (1080P), it frequently locks up and makes a
boatload of noise. The only "fix" is a reboot. Everytime it crashes, the
missus looks at me like -- Do you know what you're doing?

I need a decent new motherboard and I'd like to use my old ddr3 ram and 3.2
ghz quad-core AMD cpu.. What is a good brand/model today?

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: (e-mail address removed) ---
Click to expand...

The motherboard seems to support 140W processors, so that part is probably OK.
Some motherboards have limited VCore output.

http://support.asus.com.tw/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=M4A87TD Evo

The chipset is relatively new. AMD 870 and SB850. 6Gb/sec SATA integrated.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131647

I'd guess a problem with the "GT240 with 2GB RAM". Most of the GT240
cards I can find for sale, have 512MB or 1GB, and are fan cooled. There
is one Zotac card with passive cooling. Maybe there is something about
your video card, that is playing a part in this crash ?

Can you complete 3DMark2001SE benchmark without crashing ? This is
one of the smallest versions to download, at 41MB, and isn't that
stressful, but it may give you some idea whether the video card
is stable. Other versions exist, and would take longer to download.

http://majorgeeks.com/3Dmark_d99.html

Paul
 
Excellent info. Thanks very much.

I'm downloading the 3DMArk app as I write this. If the vid card turns out
to be a problem, what card would you recommend? I'd like to keep it under
$200 if possible. It would be driving a 32" Sony Bravia @1920x1080.
Click to expand...

Many modern low end video cards can drive a big monitor. What
you pay for in video cards, is gaming capability, enhanced 3D
rendering.

To start, you want a video card with the connectors you need, on
the faceplate. In years past, I would have recommended a card with
dual DVI-I on the faceplate, as you can use DVI-I to VGA passive dongle
adapters, to get VGA from it. That gives you two DVI, two VGA, or a mix.
My current video card is like that.

If you had a monitor with HDMI input, perhaps an HDMI connector
would be nice. And so on.

One reason for being careful about connector choices, is on the
off-chance you'll be using two monitors on the card in the future.
If you're not interested in two monitors, then selecting a video
card is a lot simpler. (Most video cards are dual-head capable,
with only a couple of the very cheapest ones, cheating on the
connectivity. I've seen some $39 cards, where the VGA and DVI-I
share facilities, so the card is effectively a single-head design
and can only drive one monitor at a time. Virtually everything else
is dual-head or better (Eyefinity).)

Low end cards may have video decode acceleration for movie playback,
but it is generally only used by a few video player applications. If
you had a weak processor in the computer, you might be more worried
about whether it had good UVD or Purevideo support.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVD
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_PureVideo (your GT 240 is "VP4")

I'd guess you wouldn't need to spend $200, for an HTPC (Home Theater)
type application. If you wanted to play 3D games, then the better
part of that $200 would be well applied.

For an HTPC, maybe a 4350 or 5450 ? Some of those are pretty cheap.
I can find this 4650 for $60, that has two DVI on it (that would
use a bit more power than the other cards, and has more gaming
capabilities).

You can see some power numbers here, for a few different cards. I
think the 4350 might be a 4550, with only slight differences,
so the power number of 18.5 watts would be similar. That's how
they can make some of those fanless.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-radeon-hd4550_4.html#sect0

The 4650 is 30 watts.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-radeon-hd4650_4.html#sect0

The GT 240 was 43.5 watts.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gf-gt240-1gb_4.html#sect0

Paul
 
I have a bunch of other tests suggested by knowedgeable folks to complete
over the next few days - ram tests, power supply tests, etc. The current
power supply is 550W. It'll be interesting to see what's happening.....
Click to expand...

One more thing to check :)

Here's a calculator for estimating how much power you'll need for your
system components:

http://c1.neweggimages.com/BizIntel...ons.newegg.com/productfinders/powersupply.jpg

It estimates on the high end (how much power you'll need when everything is
under max load + a bit more) so don't take it too literally but if you're
way below recommended amount that might be a problem since graphics cards
can draw a lot of power when under load.
 
I say it's HD vid but actually the machine is always running at
1920x1080 resolution.
Click to expand...

The display resolution is not really relevant since the machine
obivously works fine at that resolution when doing other things.
The crashing occurs at sites like Hulu or CastTV.
Click to expand...

Aha, now we are getting closer to the problem -- not even playing HD video
files but streaming media.
maybe there are incompatibilities with flash?
Click to expand...

Clearly nothing to do with the motherboard, is it now?

So have you done a web search for your problem with the relevant terms?

This series of postings appears to offer a potential resolution of
your problem --

"Full Screen Flash Video [freezes]" at

<http://forums.nvidia.COM/index.php?showtopic=79075>
 
One more thing to check :)

Here's a calculator for estimating how much power you'll need for your
system components:

http://c1.neweggimages.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html?cm_sp=Subcat58_Pow
erSupply_left-_-PowerSupplyFinder022610-_-http%3a%2f%2fpromotions.newegg.com%2f
productfinders%2fpowersupply.jpg

It estimates on the high end (how much power you'll need when everything is
under max load + a bit more) so don't take it too literally but if you're
way below recommended amount that might be a problem since graphics cards
can draw a lot of power when under load.
Click to expand...
Why does the test pretend that there was never a 3800 series ATI card?
 
GMAN said:
One more thing to check :)

Here's a calculator for estimating how much power you'll need for your
system components:

http://c1.neweggimages.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html?cm_sp=Subcat58_Pow
erSupply_left-_-PowerSupplyFinder022610-_-http%3a%2f%2fpromotions.newegg.com%2f
productfinders%2fpowersupply.jpg

It estimates on the high end (how much power you'll need when everything is
under max load + a bit more) so don't take it too literally but if you're
way below recommended amount that might be a problem since graphics cards
can draw a lot of power when under load.
Click to expand...
Why does the test pretend that there was never a 3800 series ATI card?[/QUOTE]

There are numbers available here, for 3850 and 3870, so it's not
like they couldn't get numbers. 3850 is 63.1 watts, 3870 is 81.1 watts.
It must have been an oversight on Newegg's part.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd3870-hd3850_13.html#sect0

Paul
 
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