Levi

I just built a new system a few weeks ago, the MOBO was DOA but I got it RMA'ed through New Egg and the replacement worked fine.

MOBO: ASUS P5N-D 750I ATX INTEL

INTEL CORE 2 DUO E6750 CONROE 2.7GHZ

VID CARD: ASUS EN800GT/G/HTDP/512m PCIX 2.0

RAM: CORSAIR 4GB (2X2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) MATCHED DIMMS

POWER SUPPLY: ENERMAX INFINITI 650W

HD1: 74 GB WD RAPTOR 10K RPM SATA 1.5GB/S
HD2: 750 GB WD CAVIAR 7.2K RPM SATA 3.0 GB/S

SOUNDCARD: SOUND BLASTER 0570 AUDIGY SE 7.1

OS: WINDOWS XP PRO W/SP2

The problem that I'm having is that the system seems randomly unstable. I can run games and everything perfectly fine, but there seems to be a problem when I switch from one application to start another or when I alt-tab through applications.

Nothing is OC'ed (can't get it stable enough as it is) and I'm using all stock coolers (thinking of getting a better cpu/gpu cooler when I get paid next month) but all the temperatures are definately in the acceptable range. None of the components have any real hotspots, the air coming out of the blowhole in the top of the case and coming out of the power supply is super cool (barely any different from ambient).

I'm just really confused. I've flashed the bios and updated all the drivers, downloaded the microsoft updates and I'm still stuck. There isn't any spyware or viruses that I've been able to detect and since it had this problem before I really used it on the internet I'm almost 100% sure that's not the problem.

Does anybody have any ideas or advice? Think it may be a futzed component? I can still RMA whatever it is to Newegg for another week I think so let me know what you think.

Thanks for the input.

-Levi

sc1ence

first thing I would do is check your bios out for any unusual settings you my may not realize are on. Make absoluty sure that the timings on the memory are correct as well as the voltage.

Disable hardware in the mobo you do not use like extra on board ethernets and IDE. Basically just make sure you are loading the bare minimum hardware from the mobo via the bios.


remove the following
all but one stick of ram.
the soundcard
if possable, check out the smart readings of your hard drives to to make sure one is not acting up.

my guess is that this is a memory issue. I would fool with timings voltage etc and look for stabilty before I rma.

that being said, I no longer trust corsair. I have been burned too many times by them with bad memory.

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Long Bow

Some times memory doesn't like the default timings or the mobo doesn't put the correct voltage to the ram. I would try the above but also try upping the memory voltage a 0.1 or 0.2 and see if it goes away if you are in fact running the required voltage to begin with.

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Acreo Aeneas

Is that RAM listed on the 'Compatible Memory' for your motherboard? ASUS tends to be picky when it comes to RAM.

Going on what Long Bow said, check with Corsair as to the proper memory timings for your specific RAM and the correct voltage. After you get that information, boot and go into BIOS and update the memory voltage and timings. You may need to overvoltage.

Depending on the model, your BIOS may not let you overvolt more than .2v. In which case, you'd probably be better off getting RAM that doesn't require a extreme OV.


You shouldn't flash BIOS unless you find out something is majorly wrong with your current one (as easy as it is in ASUS boards....

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Acreo_Aeneas
Former 9th Member

Levi

Well I went and manually set the latency and voltage to the manufacturer recommendations (they were previously set on auto from the motherboard) hopefully this fixes the issue.

I just got a blue screen right before I started doing this so I hope it fixes the issue or else I'm going to have a conniption.

Levi

Manually setting the voltage and latency didn't help. I'm RMAing the memory. Kind of unhappy with NewEgg though it's probably not their fault, because I already had to RMA a DOA motherboard from them. But oh well. At least I don't have to pay the restocking fee or shipping.

Always remember to be firm with the live help people over there, they'll give you free shipping and no stocking fee everytime.

Maybe it is the brand of memory, I'm definitely buying off of the qualified vendors list this time.

Bamboo

You should never have to use the sentence "I'm definitely buying off of the qualified vendors list this time"

NEVER!!!!

You get what you pay for with computer parts, and while yes, even the good stuff requires the RMA every once and a while, it is no where near as much as the cheaper stuff. Just not worth the hassle.
Less hassle is just saving up a little bit longer so you can buy the parts that won't give the headachs and frustration of bad parts.

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Levi

Well, the thing is that I bought Corsair RAM, matched 2GB DIMMS, so it's not really budget RAM. It's just that the actual model number isn't listed in the qualified vendor list in the MOBO manual. They don't list any 2GB DIMMS for DDR-800 in fact. Corsair is listed under different sizes and different models, especially the DHX C4 style.

For the record I'm using Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5.

I manually set the voltage and timings to what the specs (and the corsair forums mod) said was appropriate but I'm still having stability issues.

I ran MemTest but I had both sticks in, I don't know how this affects the test. I ran it for about 3 hours without any errors and tried it again without using Mozilla (I had thought it was linked to me almost always using Mozilla at the same time that it locked up so I was using IE7) and it still locked up. So I took one of the sticks out and am running MemTest again.

How long do you generally have to run MemTest on each stick? I've seen guys who are OC'ing their rigs running it for 24+ hours to check stability. I'd be happy if I could just get it to not lock up every hour or two.

KillDaddy

you using 64 bit XP? Cause the 32 bit wont recognize all 4 gigs of RAM and what it doesnt recognize goes unused.

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Bamboo

Also check to make sure you don't have any Windows updates.
There was one for Vista once I put 4 gigs in, but you had to hit the Manually Check for updates or whatever.
Might be something like that for XP pro too.

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Levi

I'm using 32 bit windows. But I'm using 2x2 so that I can use Dual channel. Windows recognizes 3.5GB for use so it's not so bad.

It seems the problem isn't my memory. Potentially it's a hard drive issue perhaps? A MOBO issue? Honestly I have no idea. Any other ideas would help.

Bamboo

So you still had crashes with just 1 stick in?
Do you have a spare PSU you could try to elimante that.

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Levi

Yeah I still have crashes with 1 stick, and I don't have a spare PSU unfortunately. I do have CPU-Z however which shows the voltages.

Vcore 1 is 1.2v
Vcore 2 is 3.3v

Everything else +5, +12 etc, are showing values consistent with their labeling...except for the -12v is showing -16.97v...

But I don't know that much about voltages or power supplies honestly. Is this really far out of parameter?

Acreo Aeneas

Try this: http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_winxp_8.43.html

Reference: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=54030

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Acreo_Aeneas
Former 9th Member

Levi

I tried loading those drivers but for some reason they wouldn't install and in fact uninstalled my ethernet drivers (which is part of the suite) so I couldn't get online. But I pulled out my MOBO disk and it actually has the same version of the NForce drivers on there direct from Nvidia, so that's not the issue.

I'm starting to have a sneaking suspicion that it's the power supply. Occasionally when restarting either soft or hard I'm just getting a black screen. I have had bad luck with this build I tell you what.