Snail pace BIOS screen

Hi, the other day I was playing Battlefield 2 and had a server crash. The game froze and wouldn't respond. I tried using alt+F4 and task manager to close it but neither worked. The game screen wouldn't go away although it allowed task manager to appear, the desktop stayed hidden. After about 2-3minutes task manager froze up also. I went outside for about 20 minutes and had a couple of smokes to relieve my stress. When I came back, nothing had changed, so I hit the restart button.

When the BIOS screen came up, everything went normal except it got stuck at "MEMORY T". So now it takes close on 5 minutes for it to get past this stage, and sometimes it doesn't at all and just turns itself off.

So on another computer i sifted through google searches and called a friend who works in tech support and tried these steps:

Flashed BIOS
Reset CMOS
Checked each RAM stick
Tried start-up without HDD plugged in.

Finally after one successful boot, I was advised to update BIOS. Uninstall and reinstall all drivers.

None of this stuff worked in the least.

The computer runs perfectly fine when it runs. But takes a long time to boot. I've narrowed it down to over heating, since if a installer needs to restart before completing the computer won't get past the BIOS screen, just turns itself off. If I wait for 10 minutes it works.

My specs:
Gigabyte 946GMX-S2 mobo
4gb RAM
Windows XP Pro (Allows only 3.4bg RAM :cry )
Asus EN8600GT
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500
Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG

I have a feeling it's the CPU giving out on me. I know the E4500 wasn't the best choice to go for but that's all I could afford at the time.

So am I right or are there other possibilities that could fix my problem?

 

I was playing Battlefield 2 again last night and had the PC just turn off without warning. No Crash, just a click and power went off.

Does this indicate the PSU?

 

That does sound like a bad/weak PSU, or overheating. What are the temperatures in the BIOS? Core Temp is good for CPU temps (in Windows) http://www.majorgeeks.com/Core_Temp_d5665.html

GPU z is good for GPU temps:http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5796.html

See what your temps are in BIOS, and then check them with the above programs while you are in XP. Also, might be a good time to clean the dust out of the heasinks and make sure all your fans are working. :major

E

 

Yep, all fans work and dust has been cleared away. Core temp gives me a reading of 65-70c, much higher than usual (approx 50c). BIOS readings are lesser, 64c, but that's probably because I have to leave my PC for 10 minutes to allow it to cool before it will go anywhere past the BIOS Screen.

Does this mean wearing the cost of a new CPU? What about the PSU?

 

OK so I watched a movie on my computer and during the time it took to play the movie (90 odd minutes), the core temps shot through the roof, doubling the initial temp. to 124c. It took about a minute to cool back down to the 75c mark after closing VLC Player. It took another minute or 2 to cool back down to the 60's.

Is there any preventative action I can take to lesson this kind of temp increase? Or am I better off just buying a new CPU?

Also, how much would the PSU have in effecting this? As far as I'm aware, the PSU is only 500W, which I doubt is enough to provide my whole computer with the required power.

 

Desperate need of help now guys and girls!

I went and bought a new cpu (Intel Core 2 Duo E7200) and installed it according to the instructions. Since I had over heating issues I bought an after-market cooler with it.

When I turned on my computer everything worked fine. Windows XP installed service pack 3 and asked me to reset. I clicked yes and the system proceeded to shut down. As it booted up this time around it went through the BIOS screen as normal then it came up with a screen which I didn't pay much attention to. It was a white window on the black background and asked something about configuration settings or something, I didn't have a clue and left it. It had a timer on it though and automatically selected "LAST KNOWN GOOD".

Ever since then my PC hasn't been able to boot. I get power - fans turn on, cooler turns on, dvd drive turns on but the HDD light never comes on and I get no beeps no matter how long I wait.

So these are the things I have already tried:
I took the CMOS Battery out and left it for 10minutes before putting it back in. - Result = nothing.

I put the old CPU back in. - result = it works.

So then I put the new one back in, and in my frustration I didn't put the cooler back on since I expected to be pulling it all to bits again. - result = it works.

So I turned off all the power again and reinstalled the cooler. Hit the power button and NOTHING!

I thought it must be the cooler in some way so I took it back out and put the stock intel cooler back in their. - result = nothing.

So I put the OLD CPU back in, with the new cooler, and viola! it works! And it works well. I have none of the previous problems I had before, and the temp with the new heatsinc sits at a cool and constant 23c.

So now I'm back to using the old E4500. I spent all that money on the E7200 and would like to use it but can't. Any ideas on how to fix it short of going back to the shop for a replacement?