intel P4 CPU with intel 865GBF board based PC freezes/restartes

[theredcaphero]

The problem:

The PC works for sometime (maybe an hour or maybe few minutes).  Suddenly it freezes. Restarting the PC, makes it work for few minutes and it restarts or comes to a blue screen (Error : IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL or PAGE_AREA.... ).  Restarting again brings the blue screen again just before the Desktop appears.  Restarting few more times makes the PC not even bringing the Display (even Intel logo does not comes prior to bootup).

I do see one indication in this PC.  When I switch On the wall socket, the PC performs a POST. The Power, HDD, Keyboard LED lights blink and the fan noise comes for a few seconds and go off.  When I power on the PC after this, I observed that the PC works fine.

But when freezing starts happening, the subsequent restarts, even after a complete power down (from wall socket as well), does not makes these LEDs to blink.  This is an indication that something is wrong and it freezes for sure when the PC is powered on.

Strange:

I had called up a technician, who services PCs in our area.  He took the PC to his workshop and it works well without doing/altering anything to the system.  Change could be the input/output devices and the modem (ADSL). As he brings it back to my home, it all starts again to freeze.

Whts been tried:

1) Changed LAN cards and on different slots
2) Changed motherboard
3) Re-formatted/installed windows
4) Updated drivers (VGA, Sound, LAN)
5) Changed RAM
6) Removed UPS
7) Changed SMPS, cables
Tried to start without HDD, changed HDD
9) Tried connecting the PC to a different wall socket bypassing the spike buster

PC configuration:

Intel Pentium 4 HT CPU (3 GHz, 1MB cache, 800 MHz FSB)
Intel 865 GBF board
512 MB DDR 400 MHz RAM & 256 MB DDR 333 MHz (not used together)
160 GB Seagate baraguda IDE HDD
16X DVD-RW drive
RealTek 8139 LAN & D-Link 520TX LAN (not used together)
300W SMPS in ATX box
Scientific Atlanta (Cisco) Cable Modem
19" LCD Monitor
PS/2 Keyboard & Mouse
500 vA UPS, spike buster
HP Inkjet printer (USB)
Headfones
OS : Windows XP Professional SP2

Any help is greatly appreciated.  Need to know whts the exact cause or maybe which peripheral is at fault.

[Karnac]

Well it looks like you've tried everything in the basket and still no joy.

I assume the inside of the PC is dustfree and the heatsink has been thoroughly cleaned.

Double check all connections again.

Is the heatsink flush to the motherboard and processor?

There are issues with McAfee in some cases...are you running it?

Do a complete antivirus scan with Superantispyware and Malwarebytes.

Do you see any conflicts in device manager?

What  was the last piece of hardware or software installed before this started to occur?.....remove it if you can remember....Incompatible drivers may be the problem....Did problems start after a windows update...are your service packs up to date.

Is the 300W PS adequate for what you have running?

Check/swap the power cord from the wall to the PC.....the fact the tech had no problem leads me to believe he may have had his own cord to use and it came out clean.

Try post the complete STOP error in detail, it will assist in the diagnosis.

[patio]

Swap in another known good PSU of at least 400W...

[ireland-1]

I agree, it sounds like a Power Supply problem or it could be an administrative problem.

[theredcaphero]

Sorry all for the late response.

Hi karnac..

The inside is dustfree...
I didnt get whts "heatsink flush"? Well i do have a heatsink with fan on the CPU and heatsinks on various chips of the motherboard.  The door of the box has enough ventilation holes for the heat to vent.

As I said i re-formatted the PC.. I has got nothing other than the Audio,VGA,LAN drivers installed.  So, no question of anti-virus software.  The Service pack is SP2 and no windows updates.  All drivers from Intel.com. 

The change in hardware could be only the LAN cards which i tried to interchange when the computer used to freeze when I browse the internet and the Cable Modem that is being used.

For the 300W PSU, there is only standard hardware.. nothing much in addition to the config i have mentioned above.  Earlier the PC used to work with the same.  Still I use a brand new 300W PSU like the older one.

As I said earlier, I have disconnected my UPS which had a different set of cables and now i connect with different cables directly from the wall socket.

The blue screen error messages :

IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
0x0000008E (0xC0000005, 0x00000000, 0xED9EDFOC, 0x00000000)

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGE_AREA

0x0000000A (0X00000010, 0x000000FF,0X00000000, 0x804FB4FD)

These are the few which occur frequently.. there are others which dont have messages but just the Hex values... i could not note.

Interesting thing to note is how does it work at the Service man's workshop and why does it not perform the POST once it begins to freeze for the 1st time at my home (See the bold marked text of my original post).  When there is a proper POST, then it should surely work well after boot under windows.

Thanks for your folks...

[Quantos]

theredcaphero, this is going to sound a little strange.  Try a different electrical outlet.  I have a hunch, let us know though.

[JJ 3000]

When you switched out the motherboard did you reapply the the thermal paste?

9) Tried connecting the PC to a different wall socket bypassing the spike buster

[Quantos]

9) Tried connecting the PC to a different wall socket bypassing the spike buster

Was it on the same circuit?

Try using an independent circuit.

[theredcaphero]

hi guys,

I never touched or attempted to remove any of the thermal paste.  Although, if I am not wrong the paste exists inbetween the CPU fan/heatsink and CPU.  Some amount of the paste is lost when we try to remove and re-fix the CPU.

As for the power connection goes, it was tried on an alltogether different wall socket on which my TV and phone works, but this time without using the spike buster as described earlier.

By the way, wht do u mean by a "Circuit"?  which circuit to be changed?

[Quantos]

By the way, wht do u mean by a "Circuit"?  which circuit to be changed?

I mean an outlet that is controlled by a different breaker.  If everything works fine at a different physical location it could be a problem with the circuit you are on.  I have come across this before.

To find a different circuit just do the following.
Turn off the breaker that controls that outlet.
Plug a lamp into different outlets until you find one that works.
Try the system on that circuit.

[JJ 3000]

So you used the same CPU and heatsink from the old motherboard? Is that right?

If so you will need to remove the heatsink from the CPU. Then remove the old thermal paste and apply fresh paste.

Look at this page
http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm
It will tell you how to accomplish this task for your particular paste and CPU.

Good Luck!

[theredcaphero]

As I said earlier, I tried connecting my PC to a wall socket where my TV and phone are connected and are working flawlessly.  Still no luck for my PC.  I remember, I taken my PC to my neighbour's apartment.. but it did not startup there.. and I had also taken it to my friend's house, it blue screened even there.. although his PC works fine on those wall sockets/spike buster/UPS..

For the heatsink... I never tried to remove the heatsink which is stuck on the CPU..  I am talking about the heatsink which comes with the CPU Fan.. the aluminium block fitted below the fan.  So, whenever I switch motherboards to test or just remove and re-fix the CPU, I remove the fan and CPU and refix them. The paste inbetween the CPU and the heatsink block of the fan remains with some spillage.  This time around, I had poured a new pack of paste on the CPU before fitting the fan block over it.  So, I feel the paste should not be an issue.

[Quantos]

If you put on too much thermal paste that can be as bad as using none.  You only want to use about a pea sized dollop.

Thermal paste is conductive, so don't get it anywhere else.

[JJ 3000]

Click on that link that I posted. Choose the type of thermal compound that you are using and then choose which CPU you are using. It will give you step by step instructions on exactly how to apply the paste.

Good luck!

[theredcaphero]

I used exactly the same amount of Thermal paste on the CPU.  Not sure whts wrong? As I mentioned, the initial POST does not perform when the wall socket power is switched On.  I feel something is getting shot for the POST to not happen!  Any guess/thought in this direction?