Hello all,

Well, I have been struggling trying to track down this problem for a while now on my own, now time to get some help.

First, sorry for the length. I wish to be complete.

The system:
Mobo: Abit kv8-max3
Cpu: Atholon64 3200+
Sound: Onboard realtek ac97
OS: w2k pro
dx: 9.0c
Memory:
This is where it get's confusing. 2 512 sticks of crucial pc3200 ddr. Also one stick swaping in and out of crucial 256 pc2700 I beleive (can't rmemeber) ddr.

Ok, the problem.
Computer was operating fine, till one day it started to develop out of the blue stability problems. (lock ups, reboots, program crashes, ect) Usually only when a lot of memory was being utilized. Games in paticular. First guess was the memory. I swapped it out with the 256 module, and system became stable again. Great, isolated I thought. Order'd a new stick of memory, and was gonna warrenty the old one when it came. Popped new stick in, stability problems reaccured. I then moved the 512 module into another computer. In the other computer, there were no problems. Sooo... I determined that the memory was actually ok. Problem was elsewhere. (Btw, memory was from crucial for my mobo). I then try'd swapping mobos. Identical mobo. Thought that might be the problem. No good, problem persisted. Now I was confused. I swapped vid cards. Removed everything from the system other then the cpu, mobo, memory and hdd and floppy. Problems persisted. Swapped hdd's. Problem persisted. Oh, ya, did a reinstall of os in there before everything. Now, I'm perplexed. The only things I can think of are the ps, and the cpu. I don't think a faulty ps would cause errors such as this, but I can swap it out, if anyone disagrees, and thinks it might be the culprit. Soooo, I'm thinking the cpu. The odd thing is the problem only precents itself when I use a memory module above 256. I'm guessing something with the memory management on my cpu. So..... do you all concur? Should I go through the process of getting a warrenty replacement on my cpu?

TIA
-John

Looks like I found it. Cpu. Haven't tested enough yet, but so far so good. Took the advice of a tech at a repair shop I was e-mailing. Suggested bying a cpu testing, then returning.
FINALLY!
-John

Strider. Did the new CPU resolve your problem? I'm having very similar issues when using highly intensive memory applications (such as games). Problem getting worse as I can now only use one 512 DIMM, not the two I used to use. Both still work when used seperately however.
Someone mentioned in another post that it could be a Bridging issue where the motherboards northbridge chip overheats because of the intense transfer of info. (or some such thing).
This in someway feels like two seperate issues.
I really need to know if it was a CPU issue or a MOBO issue.
Thanks dude.

Hey there.... actually, it solved MOST of my problems. Did not solve them all. I thought it did, just became more infrequent. Finally in desperation I tried to throw money at the problem and bought a differant mobo. Gigabyte. Problem now really does seem to be gone! So u very well might be right about the northbridge overheating.

I have to admit I have read quite a lot of posts with similar problems relating to the Abit kv8-max3 mobo.

I did use one of them a while ago for a build for a mate and it seemed ok if I filled all the RAM slots,otherwise it was quite painful.

Also if I so much as changed the boot order it booted, but keep bleeping at me.

If I'm honest the only good motherboards I've ever have are either made by gigabyte, PC-Chips and MSI.


Regards
_____
Meck

Well, we might want to keep the thread open as Strider resolved the issue with a new MOBO and I have bought a new mobo (Asus) and it has resolved my issues.
Seems as though the ABIT Max 3 is just a totally dodgy board. Had trouble with it from the start - (The pins on the underside of the motherboard went through the heatsink adhesive and shorted the board - pins were cut too long by ABIT!) and finally, the board warped over time due which meant that RAM wouldn't work.

To top it off I'm thinking the Northbridge? chip had heating issues as when I played 3d games it would crash after about 3-4 mins randomly. (I read about this in a seperate post).

The new board accepts my old ram without any problems and has made me a happy camper. Mail me at no_hands@hotmail.comx if you need any help with this old piece of crud.

In my experience (although it was several years ago now), I've found Abit boards to be very reliable, along with Gigabyte and Intel, though Intel boards are rather expensive. I've used a variety of PC Chips boards in the past, due to how cheap they were, and I've never been particularly impressed with any of them. It is worth paying for a decent motherboard as everything else in your system depends on it.

As 'no hands' said, it looks like Abit have just come up with one dodgy one in the Max 3 model.