AVI to MPEG2 freezes Windows XP! ALWAYS!

[kraynex]

Hello everyone/anyone

I need help for the problem that have been previously reported on this forum, but nobody has posted a resolution.
I have:
Athlon XP 2600 - not overclocked
2 x 512 MB - Twinmos Dual DDR @ 166 MHz - not overclocked
1.5 GB - virtual memory
Asus A7N8X Deluxe rev 2.0 mobo - latest bios and drivers
Nvidia Geforce FX5200 Graphics Card (128 MB ddr) - latest drivers - v53.03
400 Watts power supply
Windows XP Pro - with all the latest patches
200 GB Maxtor 7200 rpm, 8MB cache HD (no space problems)

Basically, when trying to encode avi file to MPEG2 (regardless of the size), my PC freezes (completely, I have to press reset to restart it). This usually happens within the first 5 minutes of encoding to MPEG2. Using task manager I can see that just before the freeze, CPU usage varies between 95% and 99% and then freezes at 100%.
I used various programs: TMPEGENC, Adobe Encore, NeroVission... Always the same result: PC freezes completely.

- Tested on a different Win XP installation, with just installing TMPEGENC, still freezes.
- I disable (kill) all other CPU intensive processes and services and still the same.
- According to Assus temp. monitor my CPU temp never goes above 42C, and even when I run CPUburn utility (20 minutes) it only jumped to 47C (and PC didn't freeze). Plus I can run Seti@Home for days on end.
- Tried using default windows Graphics drivers (uninstalling Nvidia's, still the same problem).
- Checked memory using windows memory diagnostics (http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp) and it appears ok.
- Used Nero ASPI drivers, no result.

I refuse to give up, but need your help: PLEASE.
From looking at previous posts, one common thing between all of us experiencing this problem appears to be NVIDIA Geforce graphics card (one version or the other) but that could just be a red herring.

Thanks.

Kraynex

[rdgrimes]

Download and run Memtest86 for at least 6 hours. (over night). If you see any errors at all, that may be your problem. You can also run Prime95 Torture test to see if the system errors or freezes while running the full 3 test sequence.

[rsquirell]

What kind of AVI is causing you the problem? Is it an AVI video capture file? Or is it an AVI you downloaded from the web. Now days there are all kind of AVI's out there (DivX, Xvid, VBR). You can get Gspot to find out how it was made. You can also run it through VirtualDub, check for errors under video tab and save with new file name to clean it up before processing it to MPEG.

[kraynex]

Thank you rsquirell and rdgrimes for your replies.

I decided to follow rdgrimes advice first, as my own gut feeling was that this was a hardware or drivers issue.

I run Memtest86 first, for about 8 hours and no errors were reported. I was very glad, as this tallied with my own findings using microsoft's memory diagonstic tool.

Secondly, I run Prime95. Well, it is a great piece of software. It does test your system thoroughly.
Immediately after running Burn In test (in any of the 3 modes available), I would start getting errors, illegal sumouts, rounding errors...etc. What was more promising was that running Prime95 benchmark test would cause my PC to freeze in the exactly the same manner as when encoding to MPEG2. Progress!!!
I was very confident that the CPU temp. was well within the limits, but what else could it be? Again, found lots of users with exactly the same problems (same MOBO, chipset and even graphics card). Everybody had different suggestions and ideas.
Then, found a post about CPUs vcore setting.
Increased it from the default (1.65 to 1.70) firstly. Some of the Prime95 errors dissapeared. Increased it again to 1.725 and Bob is your uncle.
No errors reported in Prime95 Burn in tests.
Will let you know of the results as soon as I complete a successfull MPEG2 encoding of my first home video.

[rdgrimes]

It's possible that your MB is under-volting the CPU, you really shouldn't need 1.725v on a stock clock. I'm running the same CPU at 2.3 GHz on 1.775v. Anyway, I wonder if your PSU might be the source of that problem. Just a thought.

[kraynex]

I can confirm that increasing Vcore bios setting to 1.725 Volts resolved this problem on my pc. Whether it is a bios, CPU or power supply issue, I don't know.
I can happily encode all my AVIs to MPEG2.
Thanks to both of you for helping out.

Regards

Kraynex