BSOD on New PC (Non Vista)

[Joeygates]

Hi, first, let me list my PC:

Windows XP Home SP2b
Intel E6600
Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 (Running Dual channel) (Auto config thru the mobo - Asus recommends)
Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W
EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard

This PC has been working without any problems up until yesterday. Its been about 3 weeks. I've been using a stick of junk RAM a friend lent me who worked at Best Buy. I think it was kingston.

Yesterday, I put in the 6400C4 and within an hour it crashed while playing WoW. I didnt change any settings or anything. It could be the place I was in the game but I doubt it. The way it happened was the game froze, and a few seconds later it went to the desktop (frozen), then a quick BSOD, then a reboot. The exact same thing happened twice. Actually, the first time I didnt wait for the BSOD. I just restarted (had to shut it down holding in the power button).

Its a bit warmer yesterday and today but the CPU hasn't gone over 41C. That's not exactly a scorcher.

I'm going to probably run mem test after easter to see if it picks anything up. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Also, which mem test do people recommend?

Thanks in advance,
Joe

 

[SickBeast]

memtest is the defacto memory test.

Prime95 is also pretty good for testing stability, but would not isolate your memory.

Windows Vista has some kind of memory test diagnostic.

Blue screens are usually memory related in my experience, but they can also be caused by excessive CPU overclocking, excess heat, and driver issues, among other things.

 

[myocardia]

Memory issues and driver issues cause nearly all BSOD's. The fact that you changed your RAM yesterday lets you know that you're having a RAM problem. And Asus doesn't know what they're talking about, as usual. Your RAM just needs more voltage (vdimm). Manually set your timings to what they are now, most likely 4-4-4-12-2T, then give your RAM 2.0v of vdimm, and your problems will magically go away.

 

[Joeygates]

Thanks Myocardia, I was hoping somene would say that . That is what the timings I just found are recommended for my mobo on the asus web site. Funny thing is it doesnt default to that even though they recommend that.

I appreciate your help.

 

[Joeygates]

Myocardia,

I'm a little lost on this. Just got back from my vacation and thought I'd try what you said. I'm somewhat clear on what the numbers mean. Looking at my bios, there are more than 4 numbers and I'm not sure what the 2T is for. Bare with me as I'm new to this.

Also, as for changing the ram voltage, I'm not sure I can do that in the bios for this board but I can seem to do it in the AI Suite that comes with ASUS. Do you know of a reason I shouldn't use that?

Back to the numbers.

You said:

Manually set your timings to what they are now, most likely 4-4-4-12-2T, then give your RAM 2.0v of vdimm, and your problems will magically go away.

Currently, according to CPU-Z, I'm set to 5-5-5-18-2T (not even sure how the 2T is set).

In any case, I'm seeing on this corsair pdf that I have for the P965 express chipset, it should be 4-4-4-12 for my RAM, as you said so I'll try to set it to them. Still, I'm a little confused about the bios ram settings. When I change it so its not configured by SPD, it comes up with the following options:

I'll assume the 4-4-4-12 are the first 4 options)

DRAM CAS Latency
DRAM RAS to CAS Delay
DRAM Ras Precharge
DRAM RAS Activate to Precharge

But then there is:
DRAM Write Recovery time (currently set to 6, not sure what it should be)
DRAM TRFC (Currently set to 42, not sure what it should be)
DRAM TRRD (Current set to 10, cant change this)
Rank write to read Delay (Currently set to 10, Cant change)
Rank to Precharge Delay (Currently set to 10, cant change)
Write to precharge Delay (Currently set to 11, cant change)
Static Read Control - Auto (There are other options like Fast and Faster)

I'm not sure what these extra options should be or what they do. Im going to look thru the mobo manual later to see if I can find out and perhaps call corsair/asus in the morning.

Also, like I mentioned, there is no voltage setting. Should I just set this thru the AI suite?

If you're busy and can't respond, I understand. Would you be able to point me to a guide on how to configure this sort of thing?

Thanks in advance for anyone that could help me out!

 

[Joeygates]

Btw, I'm also looking thru this guide:
http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=41

As well as the P5B Deluxe thread in the motherboard forums though they seem focused primarily on overclocking. They might eventually shed some light for me.

 

[Joeygates]

I found the Voltage settings and am kinda nervous about setting to 2.0v. Here's why. All the options are white that I set them from 1.90 and below. 1.95 become purple when I set it. 2.0 is slightly redder. Anything after that gets redder and redder. Red is usually a warning.

Is there something I need to worry about when messing with this number?

 

[Joeygates]

Last night I found a document for the corsair ram saying I should use 2.1 volts. I had it up to 2.0 already with no crashes, but I figured I'd go with the document.

So far, 2 nights in a row with no crashing.

Thanks again for the help with the voltage. I would not have considered that.