After MOVING moving all my stuff to a new case, I'm having a new problem. At the most random times my computer will just lock up and freeze. It can happen at the desktop, in bios, while windows is loading, just about anytime. Sometimes my computer will run for a day before it happens, or sometimes I wont get any video at all went I turn it on. Completely random pretty much. I'm a computer technician and i'm not sure what the problem is. My suspicision right now is that the new case is kinda funky and it prevents my AGP vid card from being completely seated in it's slot. Does that sound like a something that would happen? Could this POSSIBLY be a cpu issue? I've swapped ram and video cards, same problem.

any help plz? :-?All heatsinks properly attached?

What else is new besides the case?Raptor,

It's possible that the heatsink is not attached right, but I dont think so. The heatsink/fan I have has the most ridiculous attachment method. There are like 8 seperate lug nuts that you have to tighten - idk it's hard to explain. I have been monitoring the cpu temps all along, they are normal, and I kind of ruled out that because usually when the cpu is too hot symptons are usually a little different.. nothing else new besides case : \ case fans are new : Pto reinforce my video card theory,

I unscrewed the risers a little bit and didnt put any screws in the motherboard. (computer is on it's side)

Just 5 minutes ago I tightened screws into motherboard, a SECOND later it froze.Did you DAMAGE ANYTHING when moving the hardware but still tried to install it?

If you think the videocard is the culprit, try a PCI videocard or make use of your other PCI-E slot. Whatever kind of mainboard you have.This does seem like a problem with the graphics card.

If the graphics card's fan wasnt properly installed then it would heatup and not work at all, but there is a chance it would work for a while and then shut down so its possible. Can u check the temps and get back to me?

But i think that there is a problemw with the graphics card itself. Did it work well in the other case?
Can u get a sub 50$ PCI card to see if maybe its a problem with the AGP one.

This dosent have to mean that the heatsink(s) are put in wrong, but that maybe there is a problem with the thermal paste or something similar.Well first of all I should add that sometimes after it locks up, upon restart bios will say 'overclock failed!'

i erased bios so obviously i'm not overclocking..

Well my theory is that the motherboard is too close to the side of the chasis therefore my AGP card cannot go all the way in the slot. I know the card itself is just fine, but I have no monitoring software for it, (do you recommend any freeware?)

I'm thinking about cutting off a small portion of the metal at the end of the card to give it more room.

Also, do you guys think it would be a good idea to test this and pull the card out while my computer is running to see if I get the same problem? I have no pci card at the moment.i would like to say that its not the video card.

to mentioned you a tech, so i'm sure you ran over the basic stuff, but just in case, here are a few things that i would look for:

-Make sure that the case and connections are clean.
-try a different power supply
-make sure that the MOBO is not tweeked or bending when in the case (you mentioned screwing it in and it shuting off)
-check your outlets in your wall... maybe move it to a different outlet.
-check to make sure that your not having a short circut

The only real thing that i might think of is you mention of risers and screwing the MOBO down. Make sure that it is not having metal contact the case. The quickest way i can think to solve this is to take it out of the case and place it somewhere safe (anti-static bag), then see if it happens. if it does, keep it there and try a different power supply.Quote

Well my theory is that the motherboard is too close to the side of the chasis therefore my AGP card cannot go all the way in the slot. I know the card itself is just fine, but I have no monitoring software for it, (do you recommend any freeware?)/quote]

That's not good. It should go in all the way. What kind of screws did you use?