New Rig Problems

[Lufbery]

Hey folks,

I built a rig early in June, and it’s been causing me some problems. Sometimes the computer will just freeze or completely reboot on its own (usually just freeze). It’ll happen usually when the computer is under load, but the cores don’t have to be near 100% to crash it. I thought it could be a PSU problem, but I wouldn’t think it would be able to do other things if this were the case. I’ve been able to game just fine with it (L4D, COD4, COD:WAW, etc.) on max settings for hours with no problems.

I’ve tried installing Windows countless times (it’ll freeze during install, too). I thought it might have been the HD, so I just got a new one from WD and it still does it. I’ve got OK temps (never over 60C under load). I’ve moved components to different ports/plugs. I’ve resat the CPU.

It doesn’t last more than a second with Prime95 on the internal drive. I installed Ubuntu on a jumpdrive and ran stress (a stress tester – wonder where the name came from? lol) and it was fine for 30 min. with all the cores loaded.That’s part of why I thought it was the HD, but this new VelociRaptor from WD didn’t fix the problem. I’ve also tried a memtest and it didn’t come up with any problems. I’ve tried clearing the CMOS several times, using the Fail Safe settings in BIOS, and the Optimized Defaults.

I’ve tried installing 32-bit and 64-bit Vista Business. It didn’t make a difference (it’s frozen during install on both).

Thanks so much for your help!

John

System:
NZXT Alpha Black
Dell 2209WA
MSI x58 Pro
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.6Ghz
XIGMATEK Dark Night Cooler
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4870 1GB
Antec EA650 650W
Corsair Dominator 6GB DDR3
WD VelociRaptor 300GB
Samsung DVD Burner
MS Vista Business 64-bit
RAZER Lycosa
Logitech MX518

 

[buzznut]

The first thing I thought of when reading your post is it sounds like it might be a bad power supply. But that's just a sort of gut feeling, not very scientific.

Have you tried removing one or more of the memory sticks? How about memtest? Try that first, its an easy thing to check.

Freezing on install in my experience is typically indicative of a bad HD, but it could be ram as well. There's a lot of drive and memory access during an install, but very little with graphics, no sound etc.

It doesn't sound like heat is an issue..What are the temps like on your graphics card?
gl

 

[Lufbery]

The first thing I thought of when reading your post is it sounds like it might be a bad power supply. But that's just a sort of gut feeling, not very scientific.

Have you tried removing one or more of the memory sticks? How about memtest? Try that first, its an easy thing to check.

Freezing on install in my experience is typically indicative of a bad HD, but it could be ram as well. There's a lot of drive and memory access during an install, but very little with graphics, no sound etc.

It doesn't sound like heat is an issue..What are the temps like on your graphics card?
gl

I thought it could be a bad PSU, but I doubt it because it's an Antec. Always an option though.

So, I ran memtest again, and it first wouldn't get past 7% when it was testing the last 2GB stick. So I removed it. Then it would get to like 20% and the computer would restart, so I removed the second stick. It did all of the tests just fine without errors with one stick. I then tried with a second stick and it got to 20% again and restarted. I tried the other stick (I have 3, 2GB sticks) and it still restarted. I then tried putting the sticks in the third DIMM and it did the same thing. Ideas?

The GPU stays around 50C under load. The fan seems to do a good job cooling it off (it's at around 20% spin when under load).

Thanks so much for your help!

John

 

[shortstuff_mt]

It sounds like either your RAM is faulty or not getting the correct voltage. Did you manually set the RAM speed/timings/voltage to the manufacturer's specs in the BIOS? If you didn't, you should. Which exact 6GB Dominator kit do you have?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=6gb+corsair+dominator&x=0&y=0

 

[Lufbery]

It sounds like either your RAM is faulty or not getting the correct voltage. Did you manually set the RAM speed/timings/voltage to the manufacturer's specs in the BIOS? If you didn't, you should. Which exact 6GB Dominator kit do you have?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=6gb+corsair+dominator&x=0&y=0

I have this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224

I checked the speed, voltage, and timings and they were in fact wrong. 1333MHz (changed to 1600MHz), 9-9-9-24 (changed to 8-8-8-24), and the voltage was on auto (manually set to 1.65V). It still didn't pass a memtest, but it lasted a lot longer in Prime95 (3 min). Ok, so that's not long, but it's getting somewhere. I'm trying each stick now in memtest.

Thanks for your help. I think we're getting somewhere!

John

UPDATE:
Just ran memtest on each stick individually without problems. What the hay. Lol.

I'm going to try installing Vista 64 with just one stick in and then adding the other two later and seeing where that gets me. What do yall think?