• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Intermittent fault in NEW system, possible CPU flaw?

I

iNertia

Junior Member
So basically, I built a new computer a couple of months ago, and it has been one of the worst thing's to have to deal with so far.

Here is the current configuration:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3
CPU: AMD Athlon II x4 635
RAM: 2 x 2GB Corsair Dominator GT 1600MHz (CMD4GX3M2A1600C8)
Hard Drives: G-Skill 64GB SSD, 1.5TB Seagate 7200.11 HDD
DVD Drive: Lite-On 24x DVD-RW
Graphics Card: MSI Nvidia 1GB GTX 280 (Factory Overclocked)
Sound Card: Creative SoundBlaster 5.1 VX
Power Supply: 550W Thermaltake EVO Blue (75% Efficiency)
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Max Orb
Case: Antec Six-Hundred w/ all fan slots full.
Keyboard: Razer Lycosa
Mouse: Razer Deathadder v2
OS: Windows 7 x64

No matter what I do to it, it doesn’t seem to work perfectly. The system will randomly freeze in Windows. By randomly, I mean whenever.. While booting into the OS, while the system is idling, sometimes in-game, sometimes when converting video, sometimes when I open a program, whatever, whenever. I haven’t attempted to overclock it at all yet, as it would be pointless on an already unstable system. I feel like I have eliminated all issues other than the CPU, or power supply.. I was wondering if you guys had any idea what might be the case. Here is what I have done so far:

• Removed Sound Card
• Installed on the HDD rather than the SSD, also installed on 2 other HDD’s (Maxtor DiamondMax 21, and another 1.5TB Seagate 7200.11)
• Tried installing Windows XP SP2, Windows 7 x86, and Ubuntu 10.04 rather than Windows 7 x64
• Tried using my old Radeon x700 Pro, instead of the GTX 280 (Thus testing the extra graphics card power cabling from the PSU)
• Tried using different RAM configurations (1 x 2GB of the Corsair, 1 and 2 x 2GB OCZ Reaper 1600GHz (OCZ3RPR1600GK))
• Tried the ram in all different RAM slots
• Tried using different keyboards and a mouse (Razer Arctosa, and a generic PS/2 keyboard and mouse)
• Tried the stock CPU heatsink (CPU has never gone above 40-50C degrees, averages 25C degrees with Thermaltake cooler)
• Replaced the motherboard with an ASUS M4A87TD EVO, still no luck.
• Disconnected the DVD Drive and installed off a USB

One other thing I should mention, is that with the Gigabyte motherboard, sometimes the system would just crash and reboot before I even got to the stage of booting off the Windows disk.
So as you can see, I’ve been through a lot of avenues to try and sort this out. It has worked with an OS installed for a while, but still, I would get that annoying intermittent system freeze.

My best guess is that It could be a problem with the CPU, but please let me know if you have any solutions

MUCH Appreciated,
Niv
 
Did you run a complete Memtest86+ test?

Most of the time instability or freezing on a system I was working on was caused by a bad DIMM. Defective CPUs are very very rare.

Run it a few times and see if you can ID a bad memory module.
 
Sounds like a problem with the memory, to me, as well. Agree with the above poster that you should probably run Memtest.
 
Well, the OP did try some different memory, though I supposed it is possible that both are defective.

Defective CPU's ARE very rare though they do happen. Perhaps buy a $35 Sempron and test with that?
 
mfenn said:
Well, the OP did try some different memory, though I supposed it is possible that both are defective.

Defective CPU's ARE very rare though they do happen. Perhaps buy a $35 Sempron and test with that?
Click to expand...

I missed the part where he tried diff. memory. Sorry, OP!
 
Yeah? Well, its seemed more stable at slower memory speeds... Ill run a full memtest and someone else mentioned doing a Prime95 test with CPUID open to monitor temperature... So I'll give that all a go and let you know what happens, thanks
 
Haha, yeah, OK, so here is an update... So I tried to boot it then, and it crashed and restarted before I could get into Windows.

Then I took 1 stick out, and the computer froze before I could start the test. -_-

So I upped the RAM voltage to 1.65v as someone else suggested and tried it again, checked the Rounding Error option in Advanced, and ran the Blend Torture test for an hour, no troubles... The temperature didnt go above 28C, but it was definitely running, because task manager said that the CPU was running at full..

Now I'm running the Small FFT test as we speak.. Ill see how it goes (I'm on a different computer) So far its been running torture tests for an hour an a half and the temp hasn't gone over 30C....

I've been pretty much always running the RAM at 1333MHz as it seems more stable than the advertised 1600MHz, but I lowered it to 1066MHz as it doesn't even seems to want to boot at the moment, it seems to be working now.

What timings do you recommend? The advertised is 9-9-9-24

Do you think it could be a fault in the PSU?
 
iNertia said:
Haha, yeah, OK, so here is an update... So I tried to boot it then, and it crashed and restarted before I could get into Windows.

Then I took 1 stick out, and the computer froze before I could start the test. -_-

So I upped the RAM voltage to 1.65v as someone else suggested and tried it again, checked the Rounding Error option in Advanced, and ran the Blend Torture test for an hour, no troubles... The temperature didnt go above 28C, but it was definitely running, because task manager said that the CPU was running at full..

Now I'm running the Small FFT test as we speak.. Ill see how it goes (I'm on a different computer) So far its been running torture tests for an hour an a half and the temp hasn't gone over 30C....

I've been pretty much always running the RAM at 1333MHz as it seems more stable than the advertised 1600MHz, but I lowered it to 1066MHz as it doesn't even seems to want to boot at the moment, it seems to be working now.

What timings do you recommend? The advertised is 9-9-9-24

Do you think it could be a fault in the PSU?
Click to expand...

The difference between your ram running 1t and 2t is enough to crash your system. If its 1t ram run it at 1t, if its 2t run it at 2. If its 9-9-9-24 ram, run it at 9-9-9-24. DDR3 1600 should be no problem for the Athlon, I'd just make sure your timings are correct.

No sense in missing out on performance, just sounds like you're missing a timing setting somewhere which is why it's not letting you hit the rated 1600 speeds and also acting flaky.
 
OK, cool, well I'll have another look through them and make sure theyre right. The entire systems was pretty much shot to bits once I upped the speed to 1600 from 1066, couldnt even get windows booted before it froze. Once I got it booted, it crashed and restarted.. What about the rest of the timings? Is it just the 9-9-9-24 and 2T that matters, or do you have to make sure the rest are right? (I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to RAM timings... haven't really dealt with them before)
 
Sry for double posting, but I was wrong with the recommended timings for the CMD4GX3M2A1600C8, its supposed to run at 1.65v (default with mobo was 1.4v :S) 8-8-8-24 and 2T.

....Which I just put in. Loaded up the correct timings/voltage/speed and no matter how many times I tried, I couldnt even get past the boot screen with the 'Starting Windows..' text down the bottom.
 
Last edited:
I see you're using Win7 and an SSD, when you installed Win7 did you install AMD's AHCI drivers? I know that I had some very strange system issues using AMD's driver, caused me some BSODs and booting up was always hit or miss. That all went away though when I re-installed Windows without the extra driver.

One way to test this without a full-on reinstall (yet) is by going in the BIOS and changing your SATA controllers from AHCI to "Legacy" and seeing if your problems persist.
 
MemTest x86+ all combinations of the memory. I know you've already tried different memory -- but MemTest x86 failures aren't always from memory. It also tests the memory controller and portions of the motherboard.

Try the same sticks if they fail in another machine. They might pass. If they do, replace the motherboard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top