PC slows down and occasional crash

[Sharam]

BIOS updates are rather safe, I have never had a bad flash. With your board, all you need is the BIOS image file on a USB stick or on your drive, perhaps the root of C:\ and use the EZ Flash which does not require a bootable floppy/ CD.

The Express Gate is the "mini linux" that laods before OS to give you access to Internet, Skype and such, this also is a good way to "check" the hardware since Windows is not running.

The LAN Option ROM you will most probably not use, I would still like to see the board flashed with the latest image file.

Let's see how the test goes and how happy you are with performance since the chipset and video driver updates plus the RAM running with relaxed settings.

Another short trip to North Carolina tomorrow, might be some time in between replies.

 

[gbu]

Done the four back to back tests at 50% :-
1 error for the RAM Error Verifying Data in RAM this only occured in the first test though, the next 3 everything passed!

at 75%:-
4 Errors for the RAM the rest all passed

then 100%;-
2 errors on the RAM and 1 error for the 2D graphics thuis was the same for the 4 15min tests.


Will have a go at the BIOS update tomorrow.

What is Error Verifying Data in RAM?

Enjoy your trip, as always no rush at all for your replies i just appreciate you taking the time with me on this

 

[Sharam]

Verifying Data points to corruption, DATA is written to RAM and once read back, it is different or can not even be read..
Let's try another test with all hardware selected and the RAM at 667MHz but the voltage at 1.85V instead of 1.8V.

Seems as your RAM has at least one chip that was passed with marks close to upper oe lower limits. A little boost in voltage might help it stay stable or prove an RMA is needed..

As for the 2D Video, I have to look in your board and see what values we can change to test the card again.

So far, not bad at all with everything running together full load. How is the overall system performance since you first posted with issues?

 

[gbu]

The system doesn't seem to bad, before i set the RAM to 667 there was an MS update and the lag was hardly noticeable(possibly still there but not as bad as it was)

How do i set the volt to 1.85V is that in the BIOS too?

 

[Sharam]

Yes, in the BIOS, go up 0.05V each time and see

 

[gbu]

Checked in BIOS and at the moment the Voltage is set to Auto, the minimum value i can set is 1.85 and the max is 2.243.
I presuming then that the setting is already at 1.85v, will i still need to increase it?

 

[Sharam]

The idea is to see if little increase at a time to the voltage is going to stop the memory test errors, so if it is at 1.85V, increase it a notch, maybe 1.875V then try 1.9V and so on till your RAM is stable with memtest. If not, you'll need to get new module/ s.

 

[gbu]

I'll start this tomorrow then

Keep RAM at 667 and add 0.25 increase in volts.

How many tests and at what load should i run with Burnin Test?

Also up to what max voltage shall i go, is it safe to keep increasing it?

 

[Sharam]

I would do Memtest if I could.

You are the one with experience in this test, you had Memory test fail at certain speed and voltage, the idea is to repeat the failed test but with increased voltage,

We should assume the RAM set to 800MHz would fail the test, the voltage is same for both the 667MHz and the 800MHz. The range should be from 1.8V to 2.3V.
If you can't get the RAM to pass the tests at 667MHz with up to 1.975V, I would not bother 2.0V and try to get other module /s.

 

[gbu]

Memtest hasnt reported any errors after being left for around 10 hours, this has been the case for each 0.5 increment, and was done for both 667 and 800.

I reset back to 800 and ran BurninTest again and that does report the errors, so not sure whats happening?

These tests where run iver the weekend.

I have however had my first reboot since the 16th of Aug I was burning a dvd and it rebooted.
BlueScreenView reported this :-

 

[Sharam]

OK, increased voltage proved to help the RAM stay stable!

When it failed at 800MHz the voltage was set back to 1.85V, correct?

Even though there were no need to increase the voltage any more after the first pass with higher voltage, it is rather good you did it.

Chances are the motherboard doesn’t supply enough voltage to your modules, your modules need about 4.4W each that is 2.4A at 1.85V. My thoughts are you might need a new motherboard down the road but we could run your RAM at 667MHz and ... let's say 1.9V and see how things run, we might even increase the CPU voltage a notch.

The BSOD you had, was it with the RAM at 1.85V or higher?

I'll go over the thread again to refresh my memory then will have few more tests if you are willing, cannot ignore the fact your +12V is reading low!

 

[gbu]

Yes BSOD occurred with RAM set to 800 at 1.85v(After the tests i reset it all back to default)

Hope its not the MB as its only 6 months old!

 

[Sharam]

I don't understand why you set your RAM back to defaults when you yourself say Memtest errors out!

800MHz at 1.85V = ERRORS
800MHz at 1.90V = ERRORS
800MHz at 1.95V = NO ERRORS

If the results were something like the above example, we stop testing as soon as we get no errors and run the RAM at 800MHz 1.95V from that point on (these are just examples)

What I understood from your last post is that they pass the tests when set to 667MHz or 800MHz with any voltage higher than 1.85V which means, DO NOT run your RAM at 1.85V EVER with your current configuration!

I suggest running your RAM at 667MHz and the first voltage that did not fail the test for a day or 2 and see how stable it is, I believe that would be 667MHz at 1.9V!

This way, we can leave the RAM out and look at other factors when and if your system crashes.

 

[gbu]

I set them back to the default setting after memtest gave no errors at any level so i could re test again with BurninTest to double check. i just never changed it back.

So which am i to believe Memtest with NO errors or BurninTest with some?

I'll reset it back to your suggestion and see how it gets on for a couple of days

 

[Sharam]

I see ... you/re saying Memtest did not report any errors even with 800MHz at 1.85V?

BurnIn Test is used for other purposes than testing alone, Memtest does not necessarily apply 50% load while testing.

Using both tools we can see what voltage makes your system stable even under full load (that is where BurnIn Test comes in)

 

[gbu]

Sorry there has been no replies from me as I have been away for a while and only been back this week

I come with bad news im afraid, the PC seems more sluggish then ever and so I decided last night to run memtest again, whereas it passed before last night I was getting continues errors, I have posted the images for you to see.

I have contacted the supplier Microdirect where I bought them from and they said to send them back for analysis however if they are deemed working I will incur the costs, so I want to check that you think it is indeed the RAM and with these latest tests I believe they are.

 

[gbu]

After testing out my RAM the company I bought them from agreed they were faulty and was giving errors and have since replaced them.

However after installing them today I got a BSOD!!

This is what BlueScreenView showed-
SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
Log attached, really frustrated now as there was deffo errors with the old RAM but the problem still seems to be there.
I will re-test this RAM as well just in case

 

[gbu]

I have had to go back to XP the crashes were getting more frequent and nothing was solving the problem.

I have now been running XP for nearly a week now and have had no problems what s ever so im presuming its a WIN 7 fault.

Its a shame really as i loved that OS but id sooner have one that doesn't crash so often.

Will i just have to put up with XP for now do you think?

 

[gbu]

Still having this trouble and it has been suggested to me that its a possible Hard Drive fault.

When i say fault i mean it was said to me that seeing as my hard drive is a Cavier 'Green' drive it only spins at a max 5400rpm compared to the usual 7200rpm, thus being slower when installing etc

Does this sound like a probable cause to anyone as i dont want to fork out for a new HD if this doesnt seem correct?

i did try and use my old IDE drive which spins at 7200rpm and must say i didnt really notice any lag, but its very old (about 8years) so dont want to rely on this one in case it packs up as its very noisy.