hi,

I've been having restart issues for some time now but I've been unable to figure out what was wrong. I've tried swaping out ram, endless fiddling with drivers and bios settings, etc.

I restart mostly when I'm doing cpu intensive things- Loading into video games, loading into windows, and playing video games. Very rarely does it restart when I simply idle, chat, or surf the net. It does restart occasionally when doing easy stuff, but only occasionally. When I'm playing games it is VERY spikey, it will restart 10 times in 20 minutes and then be fine for 4 hours.. and then restart 10 more times over the next 30 minutes.

It 'seems' like when I turn down video settings I restart less, which originally made me think it was a video card or memory issue but now leads me to believe it is the lesser stress on the CPU that is important.

Anyone have any suggestions on how I can fix this? I don't 'think' I'm overclocking, but if someone could tell me how to check I would be glad to. I clean my CPU of dust as best I can, but I can't really see deep into there so there might be some dust I can't see clogged in- I don't know how to release the cpu and am really worried about hurting it somehow.

I have an p4 northwood 3,4 cpu, I don't know the name of the fan but it is very fast a zalman. I'm using windows vista( used xp, same prob) if that matters. If you have any other specific questions I'll check this decently often and try to provide answers.

This sounds more like a memory latency issue. Take your memorys model number and see if you can find the right "Timings" or "Latency" for that memory. Then go into your bios and setup the proper timings. USually you will see timings as follows (these are my timings) 2.5-3-3-6.

Hi i tried handeling the given latency with is 2,3,3,6 for my geill ddr400 pc3200 dual channel.
But it still crashes, the strange thing is when i let my motherboard choose the optimal settings it sets it at auto?,4,4,8
And when i change it back to 2,3,3,6 it does run more stable but it still chrashes.

There is also an option Burst latency, choices are 4 or 8? do you know what that is for?

my system specs are :
motherboard asrock P4i65G
Pentium 4 3,4mhz 800mhz fsb northwood
geill ddr400 pc3200 2 x 512mb dual channel
Seagate 160g 7200rpm
geforce fx 5700ve 256mb

zalman coolers on cpu, gcard and system fan.

I have replaced the memory with new geil modules,
still same problem.

Maybe my system gets overheated ?

Can some one please help me with this problem, thank you somuch.

You can download Everest and run it and select the Computer heading and then Sensor and NOTE the displayed temps THEN minimize that screen THEN run a game WINDOWED so, after a few minutes, you can call up Everest and look at the temps.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181

Hi,

Temps are fine, altough the temp for my hd reaches above 45c, is that normal?

My PC crashes while playing games or doing cpu intensive things.
It stops and say`s something about win32k.sys and then restarts.

Can someone help me with the minidump files?

another BSOD challange

Who can help me.
I`ve followed all instructions and am now paralized not knowing how to read the minidumpe files.
Can anyone help me reading them.

I have posted them here : http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic76557.html

Thank so much.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Threads merged. Please don`t open any more threads for this issue.

One of your minidumps crashes at your antivirus programme. Make sure you have the latest version, or try a different antivirus programme.

Also, take a look at this thread HERE and see if it helps to identify the culprit.

Regards Howard

Thank you howard, i will try to learn how to read the minidumps.
Once it did crash while i did a virus scan, that`s probably why one minidump says that.
Most of the time it says something about win32k.sys or nothing at all.

On with the neverending search.
I`m getting realy desperate here guy`s, can some one help me on this?


Mem test = no errors
HDtest = no errors
system temps = not above normal cpu = 40c, hd = 45c, system 30c

what else can i do ?

Hear are my minidumpfiles Route44 the honour is yours.

One of your miniumps has a FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: IP_MISALIGNED This is usually caused by faulty ram. However, it can also be caused by a faulty mobo/cpu/psu.

Basically, I`m saying it looks like you have some kind of hardware problem.

Before you say, you`ve already tested your ram with Memtest, please be aware that some faulty ram can pass Memtest.

Regards Howard

You definitely have driver conflicts. However,I would first do Howard's suggestions. He knows tons more than me! Do the Memtest and as he has suggested make sure either a) update your antivirus program or b) get a new one. Your driver conflict did not appear because you did a scan, it appeared because, as Howard points out, there is a conflict. Since you are running Vista there are a number of anti-virus programs that conflict with this OS.

Also, you have a conflict with ati2dvag.dll which is part of your ATI video card. I suggest downloading the latest driver.

Howard thank you for taking a glimse of your time and telling me why my pc stops working.
I can tell you that I just bought new memory because i already had these problems.

I bought a new mobo aswell a asrock p4i65G with fsb800 and dual channel support.
And 2 x 512mb geil ddr400 pc3200dc
nvidia FX 5700VE 256MB`
With my Pentium 4 HyperTreading 3,4 Mhz 800fsb

Could it be my bios settings?
My bios settings are :

mem 2.3.3.6.8
cpu 200mhz
ram 200mhz
ht enabled
thermal trottling enabled

I've tried to use another ati videocard last night but it wasn`t powerfull enough.

My pc works with both ram mods seperately, ram test says no errors.
If faulty rams can pass a test then how can you test them?

Maybe not enough watts ?
Psu = 300W
got 2 hd and 2 dvd 1x r 1 x rw

And route i've removed the ati driver and refreshed with nvidia.

I have nod32 but will try a new one.

An underpowered psu can cause all kinds of symptoms as can incompatible ram.

Try running your system with just one stick of ram and see if it becomes more stable. If it doesn`t, try the other stick of ram and retest.

Unless your psu is a good brand such as Antec/FSP/Enermax etc, it is definitely suspect. Obviously the only way to tell if it`s the psu that`s at fault, is to try another more powerful psu. Something in the region of 450watts and an output of at least 24 amps on the 12volt rail would no doubt be preferable to your 300watt psu.

Again, I must stress, good quality psu`s are important. Cheap no name brands tend to have a high failure rate and often don`t put out anywhere near their advertised wattage/amps etc.

Regards Howard

Thank you Howard i will go to the shop and get me one of those power psu's 450w and i will let you know how it goes.

Thanks somuch already...

I let you know when i have bought one.

I disconnected one of my dvd/cd rw, and it seems to run more stable already.
But i will get a new one.

Grtz,

Marco

Howard or route44,

Is this a quality psu ?

Merk Cooler Master
Type Real Power ATX, 450W
Moederbord aansluiting 24-polig 24-pins
Moederbord aansluiting 4-polig 1x ATX 12V
Aansluiting IDE 7x
Aansluiting Floppy 2x
Aansluiting Serial-ATA 2x
Aansluiting PCI express 1x

This is the shop where i will get the psu.

http://www.mycom.nl/Products/636.aspx

That doesn`t look like a bad psu at all. See this review HERE.

Regards Howard

Hi howard,

I've ordered the psu as they didn`t have any in stock.
It will be there in a few weeks.
I'll let you know.

But i`ve come across a temp solution, i think.
When i let my ram run on 166 mhz in stead of 200 mhz it doesn`t crash.
When it runs on 200mha the memory seems to run above 90% usage and now on 166 it only uses 65%.
Is that normal?
Is it the dual channel memory that consumes so much power on 200 mhz?

The fact that downclocking your ram stops the crashes, indicates to me a ram problem. I`ve seen plenty of cases where running ram in dual channel mode causes crashes, even though the ram itself appears to be ok. This may be a sign of ram incompatibility. Some mobo`s are very picky when it comes to ram, particularly when run in dual channel mode.

Regards Howard