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Of all the luck. I have one of these in my garage awaiting the next jumble sale collection. I inherited it and have never used it, in fact it was brand new when I was given it. It’s a ‘Boots’ brand, which I doubt you have over there. If ever you’re over, you’re welcome to have it.

Thanks for that extensive reply, Bill.

I’m going over tonight to swap out the existing PSU with a 400w one in a spare box at home. I can’t tell you the VA figure but it’s enough to power my 950 Duron with two sticks PC100, two HDDs, two optical drives, a tv tuner card, couple of fans etc. etc. Could be a long test though as the period between problems is sometimes as much as a week apart.

As far as the memory goes, it’s one stick of 512 MB. I’d love to swap that with another known good stick, but I just don’t keep it as spares anymore. I’ve learned the hard way about having various sticks and capacities of RAM sitting around in case I need it – technology marches on, prices plummet and you realise you’ve spent all that money on something you will never use. That’s why I love Crucial – within 24 hours, it’s in my hand.

Thanks again.

Thanks for that extensive reply, Bill.

I’m going over tonight to swap out the existing PSU with a 400w one in a spare box at home. I can’t tell you the VA figure but it’s enough to power my 950 Duron with two sticks PC100, two HDDs, two optical drives, a tv tuner card, couple of fans etc. etc. Could be a long test though as the period between problems is sometimes as much as a week apart.

As far as the memory goes, it’s one stick of 512 MB. I’d love to swap that with another known good stick, but I just don’t keep it as spares anymore. I’ve learned the hard way about having various sticks and capacities of RAM sitting around in case I need it – technology marches on, prices plummet and you realise you’ve spent all that money on something you will never use. That’s why I love Crucial – within 24 hours, it’s in my hand.

Thanks again.

Hi guys, thanks for the posts.

No BSOD, it just shuts off. Sometimes it has rebooted for no reason at all, when it’s just sitting idle. Other times it has refused to turn on first thing in the morning but would then run all day trouble-free once up and running.

I’m suspecting the PSU, but of course it could be the memory. Whoever put this particular home-brew box together for my client didn’t think sensibly and installed some cheap, generic rubbish instead of paying a bit extra for something reliable like Crucial. I’ll take a look under the CPU heatsink just in case there’s something missing there…

Hi guys, thanks for the posts.

No BSOD, it just shuts off. Sometimes it has rebooted for no reason at all, when it’s just sitting idle. Other times it has refused to turn on first thing in the morning but would then run all day trouble-free once up and running.

I’m suspecting the PSU, but of course it could be the memory. Whoever put this particular home-brew box together for my client didn’t think sensibly and installed some cheap, generic rubbish instead of paying a bit extra for something reliable like Crucial. I’ll take a look under the CPU heatsink just in case there’s something missing there…

‘Percussive Maintenance’, I think it’s called.

‘Percussive Maintenance’, I think it’s called.

I have purposely smashed a hammer through the tube of an old monitor before now (for a magazine article – long story) and survived to tell the tale. I had also heard about imploding CRTs so I kitted myself out with safety goggles, stout gloves and placed the monitor in a large cardboard box first.

Imagine my disappointment when the hammer went through the glass with no more than a hollow ‘phut’.

I have purposely smashed a hammer through the tube of an old monitor before now (for a magazine article – long story) and survived to tell the tale. I had also heard about imploding CRTs so I kitted myself out with safety goggles, stout gloves and placed the monitor in a large cardboard box first.

Imagine my disappointment when the hammer went through the glass with no more than a hollow ‘phut’.

Hi Justin,

You could be right about it overheating. Just to make sure, have you used a fan/heatsink matched to the processor AND a suitable thermal transfer paste between the two? Is the air flow from the CPU free from obstructions such as flat cables, power supply, etc.?

Is it a steady ‘beeeeeeeeeeeep…….beeeeeeeeeeeep……beeeeeeeeeeeep’? You might like to try reseating the graphics card and the memory sticks. In my experience, AGP graphics cards can be very sensitive to being incorrectly seated, not helped by some of the poorly-manufactured cases I’ve come across.

As far as the monitoring software goes, Motherboard Monitormight do what you’re looking for. Alternatively, your motherboard manufacturer may provide a program specifically designed for their boards. Have a look on their website or on the drivers CD that came with the board (if you have it).

This page at AMD may also provide further help with your problem.

Hi Justin,

You could be right about it overheating. Just to make sure, have you used a fan/heatsink matched to the processor AND a suitable thermal transfer paste between the two? Is the air flow from the CPU free from obstructions such as flat cables, power supply, etc.?

Is it a steady ‘beeeeeeeeeeeep…….beeeeeeeeeeeep……beeeeeeeeeeeep’? You might like to try reseating the graphics card and the memory sticks. In my experience, AGP graphics cards can be very sensitive to being incorrectly seated, not helped by some of the poorly-manufactured cases I’ve come across.

As far as the monitoring software goes, Motherboard Monitormight do what you’re looking for. Alternatively, your motherboard manufacturer may provide a program specifically designed for their boards. Have a look on their website or on the drivers CD that came with the board (if you have it).

This page at AMD may also provide further help with your problem.

Thank you Chris, you win the gold star for being the closest. This Belkin device would do what I want to do. I had wondered if it were possible to use my USB hub in the same way, i.e. send the data stream the ‘wrong’ way through the hub and with the use of adapters where necessary, but it looks like it wouldn’t work.

Thanks for all the replies.

Thank you Chris, you win the gold star for being the closest. This Belkin device would do what I want to do. I had wondered if it were possible to use my USB hub in the same way, i.e. send the data stream the ‘wrong’ way through the hub and with the use of adapters where necessary, but it looks like it wouldn’t work.

Thanks for all the replies.

The Banana Trick – is that the one involving a needle & thread?

As for TIM, I haven’t played that in years! I used to spend hours and hours (mainly working hours, I’m ashamed to say) working through the levels. “Heath Robinson” is the phrase, I think.

Thanks for the link – my weekend is now occupied.

The Banana Trick – is that the one involving a needle & thread?

As for TIM, I haven’t played that in years! I used to spend hours and hours (mainly working hours, I’m ashamed to say) working through the levels. “Heath Robinson” is the phrase, I think.

Thanks for the link – my weekend is now occupied.