BSOD - Can't find the cause...

[Found]

Hello everybody,

Hope you guys can shed some light on this.

I have the following rig:

- K8N Neo2 Platinun MoBo from MSI
- AMD64 +3200
- GFX GeForce 6800 GT 256 Mb video card
- SATA HD Raptor 76Gb
- 1Gb of XMS 3200 Corsair Mem Dual Channel

The trouble began when I first tried to install WinXP from scratch, it simply would never finish giving me the BSOD at different times during the installation, as the messages are usually related to a RAM or drvr problem I tried taking one of the Mem Sticks and it went through beautifully with no glitch.

After that I put back on the Mem and the system became unstable again giving me more BSOD's mostly with the IRQ_NOT_LESS messages but in different moments be them during boot or while playing a game or simply on the desktop.

I'm going nuts here because I have used both modules in single mode and in different slots and the system works out fine again, but whenever I pair the memory it screws up. Before anyone asks, I am using them on the correct banks (1-2 green-purple, 3-4 green-purple).

I also ran the Memtest from Microsoft for a whole night and no problems were detected, I am using the new NForce drvrs from Nvidia and fairly new drvs for my graphics card, my guess is that the problem is with the Graphics Card but I don't have any at hand to swap and I don't know how to check out if the drvrs are really what's giving me problems.

If I use one memory module alone the system does not fault once, but whenever I pair them it goes crazy again and the BSOD start at any given time.

BTW - I have the minidumps and the cab file.

Thanks for any help you guys can give.

Andre

 

[Matrix21]

Mabey you have a bad pair. You could RMA them
Have you run them in duel channel in another system?

 

[Found]

Nope, but could it be a bad pair even when I use them alone in single mode and it works fine ?

I tried the Memtest on both of them alone and it worked fine.

Still no clue as to what it is... D@mn...

 

[Matrix21]

Just Because they work in Single channel it dosen't prove they work as a pair.
I would try them in duel mode in another computer if possible.
if they dont RMA Them as it should be guaranteed.

 

[Found]

I am goning to try them in a different rig, but RMA isn't an option for now since I'm living in abroad and brought the parts down with me...

I am curious as to what is in the minidumps and cab about the drvrs though, maybe the answer is there... I have tried to find out but had no luck...

 

[montag451]

Also, what voltages are you using them at?

Sometimes, the 'default' voltages are a little low.
They should be running at about 2.7v - maybe even upto 2.8v if needed. Start low, and work your way up if you aren't sure. Don't go above 2.8v

 

[Found]

Using them at 2.75 v... In auto mode in Bios they are used at 2.7 v... Tried at 2.8 v too but to no avail...

Do you guys know how I can read what's in the minidumps ?

 

[montag451]

Try bringing them up via the command prompt.
Start, Run, Cmd <enter>

Navigate to where you installed the support tools
example

cd\program files\support tools <enter>

dumpchk is a command line tool. You can only run it from the command prompt (dos shell).


Don't know if you'll be able to see much though.


What you would ideally want to do, is look in EVENT VIEWER [admin tools] and tell us any errors corresponding to the times you had problems when you were in Windows. - Supply the Event ID, Source and and TEXT that goes with it.
Most likely, the RAM isn't matched - but we could be wrong

 

[Found]

Hmm,

I checked the event logs and I'll try to post them tomorrow, I am also going to try another pass of the Memtest on the modules to make sure that they are not defective... More news tomorrow...

Thx to all.

Andre

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Found
Hmm,

I checked the event logs and I'll try to post them tomorrow, I am also going to try another pass of the Memtest on the modules to make sure that they are not defective... More news tomorrow...

Thx to all.

Andre

Google's down so I can't grab your info, but it seems if the problem only happens when you have the RAM in, I wonder why you believe it is a problem with your graphics card - can you explain that?

To me this is a RAM issue - didn't happen with 1 stick, happens with 2 sticks, happened even before the OS was fully installed...

I'd suggest calling your vendor of your RAM for an RMA. If you're out of the country, take comfort in the fact that, at least in the USA, RAM is at $30 per 512M stick at Fry's, so even if you had to buy new it's not too bad.

Needless to say, you have all overclocking turned off and the BIOS is at its' most relaxed settings, right? 🙂

 

[Found]

Hi all,

Yep the problems is with one of the memory Modules... I ran the Memtest and also tried a different configuration while using some games and the mem just failed on me... The first time I ran the test I must have mixed up the modules due to the mental numbness that those freakish BSOD gave me.

I had thought it had something to do with the graphics card because I tried using it in my old rig and it gave me some BSOD, but yesterday I discovered that the problem was with a malfunctioning drvr in the system and not the video card.

Now I've got to wait until my next trip visiting my parents so I can sort this mess out... And yes dclive, the prices on RAM up in the States are very good nowadays, specially compared to the prices they are charging here in Brazil, it's damn outrageous !

Thank you all for everything.

Andre