System build issue

[carni]

Ok, this one has me stumped. I am building a budget system for my brother, and have hit a significant hurdle. I am using the following stuff:

ECS K7TA33 MB (think that is teh model number. It's a cheap one.)
AMD 2500 Sempron
512 MB Generic Ram
Sapphire 9800 Atlantis
Generic Combo Drive
Floppy
Started with an SPI SParkle 350 Watt PSU, now have Aspire 500 Watt PSU

At this point the systmem has the SPI SParkly PSU in in it. Ok..so Install XP home and all is well. It boots of fine and everything si running smoth. I install teh video driver from disk and the system start going into a reboot cycle. Randomly I get a bleu screen of death saying it halted boot to protect the system from damage. I delete the Vid Card driver and download the newest from ATI. Same deal. On a whim I pulled the ATI 9800 Pro from my wifes comp and smack it in. System boots up and all is well. I figure maybe it's the vid card. So I take the Atlantic and put it in my wifes comp. COmp boots up fine. I run 3D Mark '03 and it does fine. My wifes has the exact same components except: her CPU is an XP 2500+ (vice Sempron), a Raidmax 420 Watt PSU (Junk, but hey, her system is a value system too), and has Corsair Value ram. Other than that no difference. I stick teh Atlantis back into the box I'm building and go back into the rebbot cycle. I wanna check if the Atlantic just doesnt like the cheap power supply, so I putr in an Apire 500 Watt. Well still teh same issue. So I am stumped. Just dont know where to go from here. As far as BIOS settings pertaining to teh AGP i have it set to 128mb, and 8X. Anyoen have any ideas on what the problem may be?

 

[mechBgon]

What speed is the RAM rated for, what speed is it actually running at, and what voltage are you giving it? On another tangent, is the system secure? Firewall, antivirus software, strong passwords on the Administrator-class accounts, etc? Run Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 1.2.1 on it and see what kind of dirt it can dredge up

 

[carni]

Ram is DDR 400 but I am running it at 333. I havent installed the Antivirus/Firewall/Adware ect yet. Only plac ei have had it online thus far for is to get teh ATI drivers. I encountered thsi problem prior to having a internet conection even set up. I also forgot ot mention. I thought I may have had a faulty XP install, so I have reinstalled the OS and still have teh same issue.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: carni
Ram is DDR 400 but I am running it at 333. I havent installed the Antivirus/Firewall/Adware ect yet. Only plac ei have had it online thus far for is to get teh ATI drivers. I encountered thsi problem prior to having a internet conection even set up. I also forgot ot mention. I thought I may have had a faulty XP install, so I have reinstalled the OS and still have teh same issue.

I hope you have a home router to provide firewalling. You don't have to browse the Internet to get worms, you simply have to plug an unpatched WinXP computer into a broadband modem without a firewall and you're asking for worm infection right there.

Raise the memory voltage to 2.6-2.7 volts and lock it to the same bus speed as the CPU if it isn't already.

 

[carni]

CPU and memeory are matched in speed. I have a router with a built in firewall. Anyone else have an idea?

 

[erikistired]

have you tried getting all of the windows updates? it shouldn't make a difference, but who knows. also make sure you are installing the most recent chipset drivers THEN the video driver.

 

[newParadigm]

hmm....the Atlantis cards are all POS's, so this may be your problem.

 

[carni]

Ya...I paid for teh system, so I wasnt goingt o blow to much on it. Why I am stumped is because it works in my wife's computer, and my wife's vid card works in this one. I am really leaning toward soem kind of hardware conflict, but just can't figur eout what it may be.

 

[erikistired]

tried taking out everything but the card/ram/cpu/board/hdd and going from there? even disable onboard stuff. take it to the bare minimum.

 

[batmanuel]

If it is the ECS K7VTA3 that comes with the Fry's bundles, then it might just not like the card. I used one of these with an AOpen FX 5200 when I was upgrading a family member's computer (we were going for a CHEAP upgrade) and I got a lot of graphics corruption - even in the Direct X diagnostic. The Doom 3 demo just crashed when it tried to run.

When I tried the card in my PC, it worked fine. Their old GeForce 2 MX worked okay with the ECS board as well. Figuring they were just incompatible, I wound replacing the ECS board with a Shuttle AN35N and it all runs flawlessly now. The ECS board is just really picky about which 8X AGP cards it will run on it, I think.

 

[carni]

That is teh board, and is teh bundle..I was starting to lean that way myself. Weill do some more and see what happens.