Is it my crucial ballistix, or something else???

[monkelyoy]

Frustration?
Trying to build a new computer for about a month and had a number of issues. Wanted to upgrade my old Athlon/AGP system- purchased an ASUS P5N-E SLI, 8800GT, Coolermaster 750 PSU, G. Skill PC 6400 RAM and 6750 CPU.

At first, couldn?t get the system to boot at all- read about the RAM requirements of the ASUS board so I switched to Crucial Ballistix PC 6400. Was able to get Windows loaded but had significant system instability including error with memtest. Thought it was the NVIDIA chipset giving me grief so I replaced it with Gigabyte P35 DS3R mainboard. More stable, but still with problems with random BSOD and lock-ups. Unfortunately, I had the motherboard power cord only half plugged in on one of my many rebuilds, heard a ?pop? smelled some smoke- dead motherboard.

My current set up includes an Abit IP35 Pro motherboard, same 6750 CPU, same Coolermaster 750 W CPU, Same Crucial Ballistix memory. Read about having to manual set the memory timings and increased the voltage to 2.2. Voila! Stable under multiple memtest passes and ortho for hours. My joy was short lived, as I walked in this morning to see the old blue screen buddy.

After 3 motherboards, I?m thinking it?s a memory, PSU or CPU problem. I have new OCZ PC8500 memory coming and I purchased an X3 1000 Watt power supply to test.
Any thoughts before I start randomly testing?

 

[M1A]

Overclocks can always be time consuming. I have an Abit IP35 and the same memory and have done some testing. Let me tell you my Ballistic need at least 2.2v for overclocked stability in stressing. I have to keep my e8400 clocked down to 400x9 running 24/7 with the memory at 880 mhz to be stable running all 3 of these at one time (folding,prime,and orthos) but thats just what I like to do to say I am stable. Any higher FSB and I have to over juice my memory to 2.3,2.4 volts. I need some better memory than the Ballistic that I have to really check this E8400 out. I am not up on the 6750 but what FSB are you trying to get with the 800 rated Ballistics. As you see below I can run to 456 FSB but not 100% stable in my opinion.

 

[monkelyoy]

Tried my new PSU yesterday.

Ran Memtest86 X 3 no problem. When I ran SP2004 after 30 minutes received a brief blue screen flash and computer rebooted. Ran memtest86 again without errors. Have not tried to stress system since then.

Well, changing the PSU didn't help. Memory seems to be more stable with no memtest86 error since I increased the voltage to 2.2 and manually entered timings. Could it still be my memory? I have new memory arriving today that I'll test. Could it be a heat or CPU problem? Could it be since I loaded Windows with unstable memory in the beginning my Windows install is faulty or corrupted? Pretty much out of ideas...

Currently, no overclock, everything at default except memory as above...

 

[JustaGeek]

DDR2 memory voltage, frequency and timings MUST be entered manually. I never let it run on Auto settings.

You might want to try to increase the Northbridge voltage, even to the maximum values (generally >1.5V), but provide adequate cooling. Add a fan if necessary.

And try to find the DDR2 memory rated at a maximum of 2.1V.

Good luck!