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Major Computer Problems (RAM may be the problem)

D

Dibble

Member
Ok, here are the symptoms i have been facing over the past year or so......
Well actually, before i explain to u the symptoms i should tell u how it all started.
My WinXP was ultimately messed up back in January, and i thought it was due to the fact that i had accidentally rewritten the current registry with a backed up registry (double clicked on the backup registry). So I decided to reinstall WinXP only to find out my RAM was the problem. So I bought new RAM, installed it, and reinstalled WinXP. Here is where the big big big problem began.
I started to notice weird screen artifacts and odd symptoms (This with all the same hardware from when my comp was fine except for the new Micron RAM)
These include the following
- Lag that I had never encountered before (Took twice as long to load Windows)
- Weird Screen Artifacts (http://members.rogers.com/erastrada/wtf.jpg)
- When I right click on a file and I hold my mouse over a command without clicking on it for more than 5sec, and my sound starts to skip every 2 or 3 seconds.
- My Kazaa I installed wouldn't work and would give me a fatal error (never happened before?)
- Odd lag when playing CS... It almost seems like I skip a frame every 2 or 3 seconds while playing, and the lag intervals are constant.
- Lag when I move my windows around on the desktop where I can see disfigurement of the windows while dragging (the effect u get when ur comp is on full load and you are trying to move windows around)
- Extremely long load times

So basically all my symptoms come out to one simple conclusion of .... Major LAG and F***ed up ness!

After a series of performance tests using 3DMark2000 and SiSoft Sandra, I concluded my performance was fine according to benchmarks.
My CPU, HD speed, and my RAM speeds were up to par and some even exceeded.

After upgrading my comp and installing a brand new motherboard, ram, cpu, harddrive, cdrom, dvdrom, case (lol), and even a new mouse and keyboard.... I still seem to be getting the exact same symptoms even after 3 full formats except for.......
- Weird Screen Artifacts (http://members.rogers.com/erastrada/wtf.jpg)
- My Kazaa I installed wouldn't work and would give me a fatal error (never happened before?)

But the rest of the symptoms still remain.
The conflicted hardware may be the following......
- RAM
- Soundcard
- ATA Cables

The things I can definitely rule out since they are brand new and the symptoms still stayed the same even during hardware swappage between the old and new parts are......
- Mobo
- CPU
- Vidcard
- CDROM
- DVDROM
- HDs
- Monitor (Dunno, but some ppl can think up crazy reasons)

So here's all the information I can give you to my problems. Please contact me via e-mail (dibble@rogers.com) or ICQ# 103588302 if you have a good idea as to what the problem may be. The best prediction I can give to what the problem may be is the RAM having a bottleneck problem in which there isn't enough bandwidth between the Mobo and RAM. More or less an affect of having a pipe clogged up with leaves and only a little bit of water can get through. or another reason might be that the ATA Cables are damaged so there isn't enough bandwidth between the Mobo and HD's. This causes the extremely slow transfer speeds (which is untrue when u look at SiSoft results) causing the lag. Or perhaps the benchmark isn't detecting the 0MB/s transfer rates during the lag times so it simply ignores them or counts them as an error. I don't know, there's a billion reasons why something could be wrong.

I just want a theory or an opinion as to what would be causing the big problem when u look at all the symptoms above.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, thanks! I'm a man in need of great help! (lol)
This problem has boggled a lot of comp genius's minds. I've never had such a comp problem like this, or a comp problem i couldn't fix.
 
Hi m8

Can't tell you for sure what is wrong, but I have been having major problems ever since I installed my MSI Geforce 4 Ti4200 64m graphics card. The problem may be caused by a number of things.

How big is the power supply you are using? These days, especially since you have a major graphics card, 2 HDDs and a CD and DVD rom, you should perhaps be looking at a 400W power supply.

If you suspect it is the RAM, perhaps go into the bios and do a full memory check at start up. With a quick memory check it may say everything is fine when infact one of your sims may be dodgy.

My system tends to hang when playing games, it seems to either be a problem with the graphics card or my soundcard (Soundblaster live).

Are you using any USB devices? (bt adsl modem etc) because these also require power from your system.

You say problems began after installing your new memory - Perhaps this is where you should start. Also check you have the latest drivers for your graphics card installed you can get them here:- http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

Hope this helps, good luck.

Daveylad
rolleye.gif
 
i know this is kinda lame suggestion, but check for any spyware that may be on ur comp (not sure if u formatted or not)
and always do virus checks with updated reference files.

I just want to make sure this wouldnt be it b4 u run out and pay out lotsa money.

use adaware and get refupdate and update the files
if you dont have virus software, use AVG from grisoft.com


another thing would be to boot your computer with only one stick of mem a cpu and a hd and see what happens... then load in diff sticks of memory to rule that out... then move on to hardware with full mem. this is a long process but may help you narrow down any conflicts
 
Thanks for all your help guys.

Well, the powersupply may be a problem as I am using a 350watt, not a 400... I may look into that.
Also the RAM, I will try doing the full memory check instead of the quick. Hopefully I can find a diagnostic program that I can boot up and run a long, extensive memory check.

The adware and spyware is out of the question considering I never installed the adware + spyware infested Kazaa. I have been using Kazaa Lite and have checked for any adware or spyware in the past, no problems with that but thanks for the suggestion.

I have two sticks of 256MB DDR, so I have tried using one stick at a time before. After running my comp with one stick at a time, I have concluded that my problems were still unchanged. This certainly does not mean my RAM isn't messed up though, considering both sticks were connected to the Mobo when the problems started to occure. Actually, I took out the screwed up ram from the screwed up mobo (but i didn't know the mobo was screwed up) and since I am extremely stupid, I installed the new stick of RAM (replacement) into the screwed up mobo. Therefore, the new stick of RAM could vary well be...... screwed up too. lol. Now my mobo is brand new, so there aren't any problems with it, and I will be buying a new stick of ram in approximately 2 weeks to see whether my RAM was the problem or not.

I have two questions tho. Is a screwed up RAM or soundcard contagious? Can it screw up other hardware?
Or is it a fact that it can't, and only the CPU or Mobo can screw up everything?

The second question is, if the problem were to be the psu. Would it cause the lag? Wouldn't it just restart or shutdown my computer when my comp is about to use more power than it can?
 
i dont ever think ive heard of a pws causing lag.
since u seem to be on a buying spree, pick up a PWS tester... doesn't cost much.
I dont think the diff between 350 and 400 would matter (if from a reputable company)

you may just want to bring all ur ram sticks to a shop and let them throw it into a tester or one of their systems to see if anything went wrong with them.

you may also just have one messed up OS and might try reformatting and reinstalling b4 going out with all the hardware. a "over top" reinstall might not do much. as always make sure u have correct drivers and hardware detected.

sorry i can only take stabs at the dark on this one
 
heh, ya. my PSU is an Enermax 350... so i don't see no harm in that.
also, i don't think formatting would help since I have done it like 10 times.... unless the CD with the OS on it is royally messed. lol

I'm going to be running by a local shop to get my ram tested, see if there's anything wrong with them and hopefully not. Worse come to worse, I'll let a technician fix it up or diagnose the problem
 
Hows your heat dispersment, AMD's run hot. I've seen heat cause Athlons to perform poorly especially if the problem gets worse the longer you run the box.
 
42C on cpu, 26C in case. I have a thermal reading thingy stuck onto my case, and it says 26C.
I think 8 fans should be enough, any objections?
 
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