6800GS and 8I945PL-G crash processing graphics

[oRB06]

Thing about the drivers is, that this problem was happening with my old drivers, some new ones i downloaded and yet still, even after i wiped the HDDs and reinstalled.. and they were working fine for 5 days until this problem started, ill be back with some minidumps.

Minidump update : last minidump in the folder is from the 26th, so every lock since then has failed to create a minidump. Also note i dont have BSOD, more like Black screen of death...i have to reboot manually.

oRB06

 

[paranoid guy]

I was just looking through the thread again, did you get that memtest program KingCody was talking about? He seemed to think it might be faulty RAM, it can't hurt to check, though I'm clutching at straws here.

 

[oRB06]

Ran memtest and got a bunch of errors the second time round. loads of them, gonna run it a couple more times and see wht i get.

Update: MEMtest showed up a sh*tload of errors, touching the RAM caused the PC to crash, reseating it didnt help. 4 consecutive MEMtest failiures. RAM is the culprit, replacing it tomorrow ASAP.

oRB06

 

[paranoid guy]

Well, I don't know whether to be happy or sad about that, at least you found the (most likely) problem. Sorry I couldn't have been of more help, but KingCody does know more about this sort of thing than me. I'm now just praying that you don't go and buy a gig of quality RAM only for it not to solve the problem, or worse, make it worse.
Good luck.

 

[oRB06]

Everest reports that my CPU fan speed drops dramatically when doing heavy processing....could this be the cause of the random lock ups?

oRB06

 

[paranoid guy]

I used Heavyload to stress the CPU for 30 minutes, the CPU load was 80%-100%. The temprature as calculated by Everest stayed at around 49, 50 degrees throughout, there were no crashes.
Heavyload again, I allocated ALL of the ramspace that i have, until i had none left. There were no crashes.
I ran both the CPU and RAM tests simultaneously, and there were no crashes.
I downloaded and ran 'Video Stability test', by freestone group. After 5 minutes of running, the whole PC bombed out to black, and sat there.

I restarted the PC, now convinced that I had nailed the problem on the graphics card somewhow. I ran the test again, looking closely at the temprature. Strangely, it didnt go above 55 degrees centigrade, so it wasnt overheating, sure enough after about 5 minutes it crashed out to black again.
Applying logic here suggests that the GPU isnt actually malfunctioning because it DOES provide top notch graphics, and it DOESNT overheat. but for some reason, the whole system dies when you run some graphics for more than 6 minutes. The time isnt exact either, it varies, between 5 and 10 minutes sometimes.
I went back and retested the CPU watching the temp carefully for a whole, again there was no crash and the CPU temp didnt tise above 53 degrees.
I ran the GPU test and watched the CPU temp, again nothing above 53 degrees.
So nothing is overheating, the GPU runs fine for a while, then dies and it doesnt appear to be the RAM. what is going on here.

I thought you said the temperatures weren't getting too high? So I'm guessing the new RAM didn't fix the problem. This problem is almost as bad as this one here: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic49034.html and I just don't know what to say now. I hope someone else gets on board here and offers their advice. I can't believe nothing will work.

 

[unnua]

Your problem sounds so similar to mine! Like you I'm pretty sure it's not the graphics card, as I have the same problem with the onboard one AND my new nvidia GeForce 7300 GS. Next I thought it might be the power supply, so I'm looking into that, but your story is depressing because you bought a new power supply and it didn't help. I don't want that to happen to me! I guess I'll try testing my ram like you did.

 

[oRB06]

To everyone reading this thread, I went down to my local PCworld and swapped out the OLD DDR2 1 gig stick for a new one, as its only a few weeks old. I installed the new RAM and am now running Guild Wars fine without any problems whatsoever. I can only surmise from this that the RAM was bad, or that i damaged it somehow with static electricity. Unnua, Ill read your thread and see what sounds similar. Although my problem was almost definately the RAM.

new PSU
replaced RAM
wiped HDDs and reinstalled drivers and windows

fixed.

oRB06

 

[paranoid guy]

So the problem with the cpu fan no longer persists? Glad to hear everything's ok, I was beginning to fear for your sanity :knock: I know I would've flipped a long time ago.