bad mojo

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

I recently built a system with the following specs:
XP3000+
Abit NF7-S mobo
2x512GB PC3200
nVidia 5200 ultra
Windows XP

At first I was using an old trinitron monitor until I could pay for a
new LCD. I got the LCD this week, it's an NEC 17".

Also this week I started having problems running Far Cry. I've never
had an issue before, but now it often quits in the middle, with no
"Windows would like to submit this error blah blah" message - it just
quits. Today I got a stop error and had to restart.

I can't imagine this is caused by a new LCD. The monitor DOES have
software installed that adjusts the image from within Windows, but again
I don't know why this would be an issue.

The one other thing I've chaged this week is my RAM configuration. The
NF7-S has 3 RAM slots, 1 and 2 are channel [1] and 3 is channel [2]. I
had the RAM in the wrong channel so I switched one stick so I am now
running dual channel mode. But unless that slot is damaged or something
I don't see why that would suddenly cause problems.

I don't have enough games installed to say that one works while another
doesn't, etc., but I haven't noticed a problem with any other games.

Stop errors are a little scary. Any ideas what my problem is or where
to start troubleshooting? I have all the latest drivers installed for
everything.

In case it matters, XP is running on a 120GB SATA drive.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 00:51:24 -0400, David Besack
<daveREMOVEbesack@mac.com> wrote:

>I recently built a system with the following specs:
>XP3000+
>Abit NF7-S mobo
>2x512GB PC3200
>nVidia 5200 ultra
>Windows XP
>
>At first I was using an old trinitron monitor until I could pay for a
>new LCD. I got the LCD this week, it's an NEC 17".
>
>Also this week I started having problems running Far Cry. I've never
>had an issue before, but now it often quits in the middle, with no
>"Windows would like to submit this error blah blah" message - it just
>quits. Today I got a stop error and had to restart.
>
>I can't imagine this is caused by a new LCD. The monitor DOES have
>software installed that adjusts the image from within Windows, but again
>I don't know why this would be an issue.
>
>The one other thing I've chaged this week is my RAM configuration. The
>NF7-S has 3 RAM slots, 1 and 2 are channel [1] and 3 is channel [2]. I
>had the RAM in the wrong channel so I switched one stick so I am now
>running dual channel mode. But unless that slot is damaged or something
>I don't see why that would suddenly cause problems.
>
>I don't have enough games installed to say that one works while another
>doesn't, etc., but I haven't noticed a problem with any other games.
>
>Stop errors are a little scary. Any ideas what my problem is or where
>to start troubleshooting? I have all the latest drivers installed for
>everything.
>
>In case it matters, XP is running on a 120GB SATA drive.
>
>Thanks.

First thing to do after ANY memory change is to run
http://www.memtest86.com for several hours. Do not boot to the
OS before memory stability is tested. Otherwise you are subject
to data corruption, to the extent that you could now need to
reinstall the operating system, have corruption anywhere a file
was written, copied/moved, etc.

After memory is tested, uninstall the monitor software, see if
problem persists. That is the only thing unique that you've
mentioned other than monitor itself, so perhaps you'd want to try
another video driver too, but I doubt that's it.

Other areas to look at are the typical, progressive failures.
For example, higher ambient temp that causes CPU or video card
overheat, or a fan failure, power supply failure, or dust
accumulation. Odds are that problem came after some system
change, not a progresive failure, yet common problems could
instead be coincidental to your other changes.

Memory problem seems most likely. If you're seeing errors you
might increase memory timings, revent back to single-channel
mode, or replace the memory. If there is some kind of "turbo"
(might be worded differently) then change to more conservative
mode (usually just a semi-automatic way the bios applies timings
instead of setting them manually).