Help I have no idea what it is

[Don Gino]

Hey

I have yet another problem with my PC, and I think its hardware related. I recently formatted my PC so I have started from scratch (my pc kept freezing). I found out that the second slot for my RAM on the motherboard is not working and my RAM was fried. I have a 1gb stick of RAM in the first slot and 512 in the second (the pc says I have 1.5gb RAM but i think its only using the 1gb). The problem the PC freezes when I run games or soemtimes when the system just idles. It happens randomly.
When freezes it either goes into sleep mode and i cant get it out of it, the screen goes a weird colour and it is adjusted so the screen image is halfway out of the screen, makes a screetching noise from the speakers or just simply freezes.

I have no idea what the problem is. Any advise on this? Thanks in advance.

AMD 64 3000+
ATI Radeon 9550 256mb

[dcc]

Wow...that's one eclectic collection of symptoms. The fact that you had a problem with the expansion slot immediately makes the motherboard suspect.

Look on the motherboard for bad capacitors. Sometimes you they will appear to be rounded on the top or might even be leaking at their base.

[Don Gino]

So you reckon it has something to do with the motherboard?

Yeah from what I can see the components on the motherboard look fine.

You got any other suspicions? Ill have to look at the motherboard thoroughly and check the soldering joints as well.

[dcc]

You might try running Memtest 86, the longer you let it run the more accurate the findings will be.

Do you have another PSU the you can try, or do you have a volt meter to read the different rail? Using a volt meter would be the most accurate means of reading the different rails, bu you could download Everest Home Edition. This will provide you with real time voltages as the BIOS sees them.