After finally getting around to taking a closer look at my XP box’s problems, a couple things pop out:
1) The 5V and 3.3V busses are running a bit low, usually at around 4.5V and 3.08V respectively according to the BIOS monitors. Vcore and the 12V bus seem fine, though.
This is a nearly-brand-new power supply from a good name, so I’d be surprised if it’s failing already. However, I recall reading somewhere that recent supplies tend to favor higher drains on the 12V bus, whereas older systems tend to draw more on the 5V bus. Maybe this supply just doesn’t deliver enough 5V power, expecting most of the drain to be on the 12V bus instead. *shrug*
2) The fan on the northbridge chipset is stuck, and difficult to turn. I have no idea how long it’s been stuck, but at least it doesn’t seem to be causing any harm. The system still works fine most of the time, but overheating due to the faulty fan might explain some of the instability.
So, first I need to fix the fan and see if that helps with anything. If I still have trouble with the hard drive, I’m not sure what else I can do besides start replacing components like the motherboard, power supply (again), and the drive itself.
I really don’t want it to have to come down to that since I don’t really like the choices available right now and was hoping to delay the upgrade cycle a bit longer…