ASUS Crosshair crashing

[Kotcha]

Just built my new rig. Loaded the OS and drivers and ran it for a few days and everything looks fine. Loaded EQ2, BF 2142 and Ventrilo. While playing EQ2 it randomly will crash to complete shutdown. Power on and everything appears fine. I have not tried BF yet because i frankly don't want to do any damage to components. I have seen crashes in the past but never to complete shutdown. I suspect heat as a possible issue, but I am confident that the thermal compound and heat sink and fan are applied correctly. Any other thoughts?

ASUS Crosshair
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+
2GB Corsair XMS DDR2 800 (TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX)
ATI X1950GT PCI-e
HD Audio (came with the Mobo)
BFG 800W PSU

 

[Tmagic650]

Try running the computer with the case open...

 

[Kotcha]

Yep, ran it with the case open and still no joy. BIOS is at 0905, Temps are all well within specs, but it is still happening.

When nothing is running but the OS, there are no problems. I am not sure if the sound card is the issue either. I just haven't seen a sound card error, instantly shut your machine off.

 

[Tmagic650]

The only other possibilities:

Power Supply
Motherboard/CPU

 

[Kotcha]

I checked the PS

I built it with a BFG 800W

also have a Thermaltake 750W

Same with both.


Update: I am going to slap the Thermaltake back on there, I haven't tried it since I updated the rest of the stuff. Saw some info on the BFG being a POS. I will update if thats the issue.

 

[Tmagic650]

Reset the bios to defaults, or change the motherboard... If motherboards are going to fail, they usually do it within just a few days or they are "dead on Arrival"

Good luck

 

[Crosscourt]

Your videocard I would be more suspect of as far as heat is concerned as its going to be more prone to issues during gameplay than your cpu.
This is happening only when you game?
Do you have all recent patches installed for the games?
Are you using the most recent Ati driver?

Have you tested your ram?
Is the ram voltage ok?
You might try increasing the ram voltage to improve stability....

 

[Kotcha]

Crosscourt thanks for the response.

Video drivers are the recommended by SOE and are the latest drivers. EQ2 patches itself and works fine on another PC with a different MoBo, same video card with the same drivers. Also my ATI X850 also experiences the same issue as the X1950 with this MoBo, so it is not a card specific error.

RAM test appears OK and I have tried both the default RAM settings for the mobo and the recommended settings from Corsair. Both work fine until I start the game. Sometimes I can play for an hour before shutdown. Sometimes only five minutes.

I have read some issues on the PSU, so I am looking into using the Thermaltake again, I just haven't had the time to swap it since last post.

 

[guantan]

I was reading somewhere yesterday that bios version 9.0.5. was giving alot of people problems and to stay at 9.0.4.

I don't remember where it was I saw this at. I've been doing some research on the mobo because I'm planning to get one in a couple days.

 

[Kotcha]

Board came with BIOS version 0702, and I have installed and tried 0802, 0804, 0904 and 0905. All with the same results. Some research led me to 0905 which I was wary about, but it comes recommended by a lot of users using the AMD X2 6400 + processor. Issues they had experienced went away with 0905.

I will run through them again with the new power supply if 0905 doesn't work.

 

[ukwildcat]

Well, I've been running this setup for over a year now with no problems.

I was at BIOS rev 0904 last (did not install 0905) and it ran just fine.

In preparation for possibly upgrading to a Phenom, I went ahead and grabbed the 1103 BIOS (even though 0904 should support it).

Big mistake. First thing I notice is that my overclock is gone. What was rock-solid for over a year is gone, and it won't honor any overclocking settings. They TAKE, but they don't WORK.

The BIOS was the ONLY change I made and now my box has app crashes or BSODs SEVERAL times a day.

I think I'm going to have to force flash 0904 back on it.

 

[Kotcha]

I have been problem free for a few weeks now.

Problem was the PSU

After research the BFG Power supply has had an issue. Got the RMA and I have been watching it since.

Tried for a week with XP and then reloaded 64-Bit Vista.

BIOS version is 0905
Had some issues with upgrading SATA drivers but Vista repair fixed it easily. I must give MS some credit. If you load any drivers and bluescreen, put in the Vista CD/DVD and boot from it. It has repaired it three times now without any trouble and I was trying to break it.

Also I didn't need the SATA/Raid drivers to load before installing Vista. My version detected and loaded RAID default (as set in the BIOS). Updated the drivers after the fact.

Definately have to download the latest sound drivers from ASUS and recommend supplier Video drivers immediately.

I cannot say what was causing the crash specifically, but I suspect that either the video card power draw or the mobo power draw was too much for the faulty PSU. I never had an opportunity to test another power supply a second time. Work kept me busy.