Prime95 question, pc crashing

[Kev_]

Hy guys not sure which section to post this one in but i'll put it in the over clocking as thats what this program is usually used for.

My pc is constantly crashing, its not overclocked its stock,
in my various attempts to diganiose the problem i have failed to narrow it down,

so the question is rather long but the short version is what is the order list of things prime95 tests when doing a blend test.



I tried various stress test apps but I find prime95 to cause it to instantly crash when running a blend test, now what I have been unable to find out is what exactly the process of testing is because what ever the first or second thing it tests is causing the crash instantly, no blue screen to even give me a lead to what the issue is,

looking online random crashing with no errors people seem to recommend a faulty psu, so having another pc with a known good psu i tried that in the pc and same thing so I think its safe to say its not the psu, tried a differant hdd same issue,

so that leaves RAM motherboard and graphics card and cpu and hdd, I have run memory tests on the ram and they all come back that everything is ok (thats not to say thats not the issue) but I do not have other ram to test and I have tried differant combo's of the installed ram (it has 2x 1GB sticks and 2x 512mb all same frequency they were stock ram with the pc) I have also downloaded cpu testing tools from intel and they all report that the cpu is working fine
i changed the hdd and installed a fresh copy of windows same issue,
i downloaded a graphics testing tool and that ran all its test and everything seemed fine,

so that leaves my suspicision down to ram, mother board or cpu

so does anyone know the chronoligical process of prime95 as to what order it tests stuff because what ever the first thing/s it checks causes the computer to restart instantly,

i would hate to be defeated and bring it into a shop, can anyone offer any advice?

 

[Kev_]

I forgot to mention that I have also re thermaled the cpu and checked cpu temps to see if that was the problem but I can get to to crash instantly once the pc starts by running prime95 and i do have cpu temps up to monitor and they did not seem that high prior to crash

 

[smorizio]

start with a simple as you can system. one dimm and onboard video if you can. if the test fails there then start with checking the cmos bios rev see if there any updates. could be missing ram code or cpu code. also use cpu-z and gpu-z check that the system reading the ram and setting the speed right. you may want to check if your running an asus bios that the mb in standard mode. in performance mode the ram to system speed may be off. also check that xmp profile is on. if the system still drops go into the bios turn off if you can the cpu cache first then rerun the tests. if it passes them the cpu cache is bad. if it still crashes try turning off in the bios some of the cpu cores if you can. one of the biggest issues if it a cpu error if it not the cpu itself it can be a bent pin on the mb under the cpu. on newer mb the ram controller is built into the cpu.

 

[Kev_]

Thanks for the speedy reply,
I have tried it with just 1 stick of all the ram and they all do the same,
there are no onboard graphics so its using a nvidia 9500gs,
the cpu doesnt have pins its a intel quad core q6600,

I will look for bios upgrades and i have not changed anysettings,
the bios menu is locked by the manafactor so i don't think i could have changed anything

I will try your recommendations and report back

 

[Y0GI]

What is your CPU?
What is your CPU Cooler?
What version of Prime95 are you using?

The latest version of Prime95 (28.something) causes extreme CPU temperature excursions. It could be that Prime95 is overheating your CPU as soon as it starts and the CPU is shutting down to protect itself.

Yogi

 

[Kev_]

Hi Yogi

cpu intel q6600 (never overclocked)
fan is something by AVC (don't see the relevence of this as long as its running)
I was using the latest version of prime95 (but the issue isn't prime95 the issue is the pc will just randomly restart even when you start the pc and its on the bios loadup just ramdomly restarts no pattern other then when i stress it it seems to restart quicker that why i'm using prime 95 so i dont have to wait around so after i try something i can see if it has resolved it)


I have just tried every combo of the ram as mentioned by smorizio and updated the bios again to the latest it was already on this still crashes

from the ram testing it didn't crash as quick when just using 1 stick of 512mb but I put this down the fact the system was a bit slower then having all the ram,

from my reasearch the only logical thing i can posibly think it is now is the motherboard itself, i have looked over it and there does not appear to be any leaking capacitors or bulging ones, thats not to say there not damaged,

i also downloaded prime95 v27.7 and that does the same,

 

[Kev_]

the motherboard is a msi ms-7502
i found someone with the same symptoms as myself on the same mobo
and they like myself tried everything they could and came to the conclusion it was the motherboard,
as there is no sure test for a motherboard other then breaking out a multi meter and going over everything,
this would be a bit to advanced for a hobbiest like myself, not that i cant use a multi meter but i can admit when i'm out of my dept and i think testing a mobo would be above my skill level