Vigilante
Posts: 1,634 +0
Hello all, happy new year!
My system has been working fine for some time now. But fairly recently in the last 4 months or so I started getting some random BSODs. I did a full reload of XP Pro SP2 with all fresh drivers about 4 months ago when the BSODs started happening to often for comfort.
It didn't seem to work though. The BSODs were fewer, as in maybe a couple in 3 weeks. My system runs 24/7 and rarely ever gets restarted except for a BSOD or update.
Trying to fix the BSOD, I have upgraded my graphics drivers each time a new one came out, and checked for others. I keep my startups simple, I run Avast and use mostly common sense to keep myself clean.
Ok, just recently I upgraded my graphics Forceware drivers to 6.12, restarted, and then I got a BSOD within a few minutes! Upon restarting, this ATI error (attachment) popped up like 4 times within 25 minutes. But then never happened again.
Anyways, after much troubleshooting, nothing was good. But then the MS error report starting saying it was bad RAM! They asked me to download the MS RAM tester, which I did, and ran, with no errors. Then I ran memtest86 overnight and through the following day while I was at work, no errors.
I went back into Windows and ran memtest (not 86), which is a Windows-based tester, and it popped up saying it found an error within 2 minutes!
Now that's strange, why the non-Windows testers all say the RAM is fine, and the Windows tester says there is an error. I still suspected drivers until I did some more detective work.
I went into the BIOS to see if my timings were right, and to lower them if they were good, for testing purposes. Turns out, in "optimized" mode, the timings were set to 2.5-3-3-8. I changed it to 3-4-4-8 just for the heck of it, and Windows wouldn't even get past the logo, it was frozen up solid. These timings were all that could work. Strangely, when I looked up my RAM, the correct timing is supposed to be 2-3-3-6!
When I changed the timing to that, Windows wouldn't even try to get past the logo. Only on 3-3-3-8 does it go into Windows (but with errors and BSODs).
Ok, the RAM I'm using is Corsair XMS Extreme TWINX1024-3200C2PT which is two 512 sticks. This on a MSI K7N2 Delta2 Platinum mobo. This mobo is on the Corsair list of compatible mobos. And my video is ATI X850XTPE, AGP.
So then, I started swapping sticks. I tried one stick, on Corsair's listed timings, still couldn't get Windows to boot. So I swapped sticks and turned the BIOS back to auto mode, which set to 3-3-3-8. Windows booted right up. I ran the memtest and it found no errors overnight! Also, no BSODs. And this is where I'm left.
I can swap sticks again and check memtest using the slower timings. But the problem is, my mobo is compatible and yet I can't run this RAM at the recommended timing, why? Is the RAM bad? Is the mobo bad? With this one stick memtest passes, but Windows won't run with the correct timing. Is there something else in the BIOS I should check for the RAM to run at the right timings?
I'm not sure what to do at this point. I think Corsair has lifetime warranty, I could try sending both sticks back as a kit. Or I could test the other stick and send just one back if it's bad. What if both sticks test good individually? I don't want to buy another kit of RAM off the cuff if these are really good.
So anyway, give some advice, I've included the last couple minidumps as well.
Thanks
My system has been working fine for some time now. But fairly recently in the last 4 months or so I started getting some random BSODs. I did a full reload of XP Pro SP2 with all fresh drivers about 4 months ago when the BSODs started happening to often for comfort.
It didn't seem to work though. The BSODs were fewer, as in maybe a couple in 3 weeks. My system runs 24/7 and rarely ever gets restarted except for a BSOD or update.
Trying to fix the BSOD, I have upgraded my graphics drivers each time a new one came out, and checked for others. I keep my startups simple, I run Avast and use mostly common sense to keep myself clean.
Ok, just recently I upgraded my graphics Forceware drivers to 6.12, restarted, and then I got a BSOD within a few minutes! Upon restarting, this ATI error (attachment) popped up like 4 times within 25 minutes. But then never happened again.
Anyways, after much troubleshooting, nothing was good. But then the MS error report starting saying it was bad RAM! They asked me to download the MS RAM tester, which I did, and ran, with no errors. Then I ran memtest86 overnight and through the following day while I was at work, no errors.
I went back into Windows and ran memtest (not 86), which is a Windows-based tester, and it popped up saying it found an error within 2 minutes!
Now that's strange, why the non-Windows testers all say the RAM is fine, and the Windows tester says there is an error. I still suspected drivers until I did some more detective work.
I went into the BIOS to see if my timings were right, and to lower them if they were good, for testing purposes. Turns out, in "optimized" mode, the timings were set to 2.5-3-3-8. I changed it to 3-4-4-8 just for the heck of it, and Windows wouldn't even get past the logo, it was frozen up solid. These timings were all that could work. Strangely, when I looked up my RAM, the correct timing is supposed to be 2-3-3-6!
When I changed the timing to that, Windows wouldn't even try to get past the logo. Only on 3-3-3-8 does it go into Windows (but with errors and BSODs).
Ok, the RAM I'm using is Corsair XMS Extreme TWINX1024-3200C2PT which is two 512 sticks. This on a MSI K7N2 Delta2 Platinum mobo. This mobo is on the Corsair list of compatible mobos. And my video is ATI X850XTPE, AGP.
So then, I started swapping sticks. I tried one stick, on Corsair's listed timings, still couldn't get Windows to boot. So I swapped sticks and turned the BIOS back to auto mode, which set to 3-3-3-8. Windows booted right up. I ran the memtest and it found no errors overnight! Also, no BSODs. And this is where I'm left.
I can swap sticks again and check memtest using the slower timings. But the problem is, my mobo is compatible and yet I can't run this RAM at the recommended timing, why? Is the RAM bad? Is the mobo bad? With this one stick memtest passes, but Windows won't run with the correct timing. Is there something else in the BIOS I should check for the RAM to run at the right timings?
I'm not sure what to do at this point. I think Corsair has lifetime warranty, I could try sending both sticks back as a kit. Or I could test the other stick and send just one back if it's bad. What if both sticks test good individually? I don't want to buy another kit of RAM off the cuff if these are really good.
So anyway, give some advice, I've included the last couple minidumps as well.
Thanks
