BSODs and Random Reboots with AMD - Help Needed

[BigCTM]

I custom built a new PC a couple of months ago. It is a AMD 64 3200+ with a Abit KN8 Ultra board (Non SLI), a Connect 3D X800 GTO video card, 1024 Crucial Ballistix memory,etc. It has been working flawlessly up until about 1 week ago. For the past week, I have been getting random reboots, BSODs with error messages like NFN_LIST_CORRUPT and SPECIAL_POOL_DETECTED_MEMORY_CORRUPTION. The random reboots often occur when the PC is just sitting at the desktop and not being used. What could cause a PC to reboot when no activity is occurring?

I had a 3 year old AMD before this one and I had literally the same type of issues. This is why I built a new one and now I am back in the same boat. I have tried updating all drivers, reinstalling Windows, running memtest86 (memory tests out fine), etc. Nothing works! All fans are working and the system is running cool. Could this be power supply related? I have not installed the Nforce firewall or IDE drivers, which I head can cause problems. Could it be related to the Nforce chipset? Thanks for any suggestions. I can usually solve these type of problems but this one is hard to pinpoint.

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

Same issue, huh ...

Did you reuse any components from the other system? If so, what components did you reuse? For that matter, why don't you just list your complete system specs including what make and model powersupply you're using.

Your Crucial Ballistix ... they are good sticks, but they like more juice than value ram. Find your exact ram specs ... the timings and voltages ... and set it exactly that way in the bios for now. Generally speaking, high performance ram can run very poorly if you're trying to run it at "value ram" 2.5 volts .... which is the default setting in the bios.

Which ATI drivers are you using? The newest catalyst drivers or Microsoft's version? If its the Microsoft flavor, dump them and use the newest catalysts from ATI.

Lets have that information. It can only help us identify your troubles.

 

[Green Man]

Are you over clocking?
What parts are you reusing from the AXP system?

I'm leaning toward a buggy driver

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

I'm leaning toward a buggy driver

Thats kind of the way I'm seeing it ... other than he's running those ballistics. They like to run at about 2.8 volts.

 

[BigCTM]

I am not overclocking at all.

I reused none of the parts from my old system. Everything is new. The only thing in common is that both systems were AMD with Nvidia chipsets with an ATI video card.

I was using ATI Catalyst 5.7 then updated to ATI 6.2 trying to solve the problem. Of course it did not work.

The power supply is a Thermaltake TR2 430W.

My memory is running at the exact specs 2-2-2-8 (think that's it) in the bios. Not sure about the voltage...I have a friend of mine checking it out.

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

Once upon a time, nVidia chipsets and ATI graphics card didn't play all that well together. Lately, thats not been the case.

Your error message is memory related. Its either buggy drivers or your undervolting your ram. Your ram may very well be rated to run 2-2-2-8 timings, but not at 2.5 volts. It won't run those timings very well unless you give it the juice it requires.

Sometimes when you have video driver errors that don't go away when you upgrade your drivers, you need to take an extra couple of steps. You will want to find a driver cleaner to remove all reference to the old ATI drivers .... unless you want to remove them all by hand ....

At any rate, before I get into that, lets be sure you're ram isn't being starved.

 

[BigCTM]

I have been running my memory the same way ever since I built the machine. Why would it all of a sudden start giving me problems? If I needed to increase the voltage, I would think the problem would have appeared sooner.

This leads me to believe that it's a driver issue and somehow a driver has been corrupted. Finding out which one is the hard part!

I tried driver cleaner on my old AMD and that did not work. Haven't tried it on the new one yet...

 

[Green Man]

Well, it takes about a minute to reboot and check the voltage in BIOS. Another minute to up it to what is needed and get back in the OS.
I will take way longer to sort out any driver issues.
You already spent close to 2 minutes wondering why it did this and why it didn't do that when you could have been ruling out insufficient voltage to the RAM. You should solve the problem and then ask why it did or didn't do this or that.

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

Checking and changing your ram voltage (if needed) is so easy to do there is no sense in not looking at it. You won't hurt your ram .... Its supposed to run at 2.8 volts. Check at Crucial's site.

Did you use the driver cleaner tool correctly?

Steps:

1) Change your video adapter to Microsoft's VGA by manually changing the drivers in device manager.

2) Reboot into safe mode and run driver cleaner. (Tap F8 repeatedly right after the post)

3) Install new catalyst drivers and reboot back to windows.

If you run driver cleaner while you're using the drivers you're trying to clean, it won't clean em.

If none of that works, whats the amperage rating for your 12 volt rail? It will be printed on your powersupply.

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: BigCTM
I have been running my memory the same way ever since I built the machine. Why would it all of a sudden start giving me problems?

Because memory degrades over time. Run it at the recommended voltage or a couple notches higher.

 

[BigCTM]

I did notice one thing yesterday that might be part fo the issue. When I went into device manager, I noticed that the PCI System Management Bus Driver (Nforce SMBUS driver) was not installed. Then I checked and there were 2 I/O ranges that were listed in the conflicting device list. All that it said were that the 2 ranges could not be used. I tried removing the driver and reinstalling with the latest NForce driver but the conflict was still there. Not sure what is causing the conflict...

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

Ah .... lets solve the sharing violation issue first then. What happens when 2 objects try to share the same space at the same time? Boom ... crash.

Once you've rid yourself of the conflicts, we'll re-address the voltage/driver issue if necessary.

 

[BigCTM]

After trial and error, I finally found the problem. You guys were right on! It was a corrupted driver - specifically a Turtle Beach sound driver! I yanked the cheap soundcard out and deleted the drivers. I am using the onboard sound for now and the Nforce audio drivers. I had to reinstall Windows from scratch but everything is good for now.