Microsoft Level 3 Support Can't Help - can AT? **STILL UNSOLVED AS OF 2/6/12 - help**

[tami]

Okay, so I'm at my wit's end about incessant bluescreens since I bought/built my computer in August. I bluescreen once every 24-48 hours, and the ONLY way to get back into boot mode is to reset the CMOS, or better yet, just reseat my RAM. (Otherwise, it hangs on POST.)

I've REPLACED EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF HARDWARE (RMA'd everything!) but... no love.

My hardware currently is:
* Antec HCG-900 (900W PSU).
* Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB internal card reader with USB port
* HIS IceQ X Turbo Radeon 6950 video card
* Lite ON DVD Burner iHAS124-04
* Seagate Barracude ST31000524AS 1TB
* OCZ Vertex 3 128GB SSD
* Thermaltake Armor A60 Gaming Mid-Tower Chassis
* MSI Z68A GD-65 (G3) Motherbord
* G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB DDR3 1600
* Logitech G110 Keyboard
* Logitech Performance MX Mouse
* Intel i2600k CPU with its own heatsink (not an issue of heating) and nothing is overclocked.

I have the latest BIOS, latest drivers, latest everything. I either RMA'd the hardware or upgraded it to hope that it would eliminate the bluescreens (and yes, I *did* reformat a zillion times) - nothing.

The first PSU I had was an OCZ Fatal1ty 550W. I upgraded to the Antec 900 assuming it was loss of power.

I tried two different keyboards and two different mice to eliminate problems there.

I previously had the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 mobo, but I went to MSI thinking ASRock's mobo was the culprit. It wasn't.

I replaced the wiring on my computer case.

I tried different RAM at different DDR speeds (the other RAM I used was the Corsair DDR3 12GB 1333MHz - CMX12GX3M3A1333C9). Oh, and yes, before you ask, I did try each and every piece of RAM individually. Memtest86 also found nothing.

Intel processed an RMA for my i2600K.

I RMA'd my video card.

I RMA'd my SATA drive.

I RMA'd my SSD card.

I tried a watered down version of my setup - no USB devices, no SATA, nothing except critical devices, so yes, I've removed the Rosewill, the DVD, and monitors (which, in case you're wondering, are 2 Dell U2711 displays, though IIRC, this started before I got my monitors).

The errors I am getting are:
The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x000000f4 (0x0000000000000003, 0xfffffa800de85760, 0xfffffa800de85a40, 0xfffff8000318e8b0). A dump was saved in: C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP. Report Id: 012812-30388-01.

I had Microsoft Level 3 support analyze my issue for 6 weeks. This guy remoted in from India to check out these dump files and found nothing. The bugcheck is related to some memory/driver issue, but we can't figure out what. He basically decided to shut me up by sending me a new install OS DVD and that didn't fix the problem.

Maybe Microsoft can't fix it, maybe not conventionally anyway. But can the AT audience take a stab at this pain in the ass issue?

thanks in advance

 

[mechBgon]

As a quick test, kick your memory voltage up to 1.6 volts if you haven't tried that yet.

 

[tami]

Got it. XMP enabled, AHCI on, and DRAM set to 1.601v. Here goes nothing.

Thanks mechBgon - let's hope this does something!

 

[denis280]

As a quick test, kick your memory voltage up to 1.6 volts if you haven't tried that yet.

Yes this is what i would do.unless in your new stuff you did get a bad part.(again)

 

[tami]

Thanks. Curious to know why you think 1.6v will help. Is this a known issue?

In October, I had an RMA approved by G.SKILL and they had me increase the RAM voltage to 1.5v. I never went up to 1.6v.

If this *does* fix the problem, what exactly does this 1.6v increase do to improve stability? I'm just wondering why stock wouldn't work (and why the default voltage isn't compatible).

Thanks!

 

[ch33zw1z]

I looked through MSI's memory support list, the 16GB set is not listed. if you continue to have issues, purchase something from this list: http://www.msi.com/file/test_report/TR10_2428.pdf

Minimum config, one stick at a time, Memtest86+ for 24 hours each stick....sounds like you know the drill.

A Voltage bump to 1.6 could help if the RAM is power hungry, or the DC to the RAM sags a little.

 

[Matt1970]

You mention Intel processed an RMA for your i2600K. Did you get a replacement yet?
About the only thing left would be your copy of windows?

 

[tami]

ch33zw1z, I can't imagine that MSI won't support more than 4GB of RAM. That file seems dated.

I tried this on the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 motherboard and the ASRock techs told me it was compatible, but I had the same issue. Again, I also tried the 4GB sticks only, so I know it's not an issue of having too much RAM.

I don't think it's an issue of RAM not being compatible with the mobo. That's why I tried 4 different mobos (2 ASRock, 2 MSI) and 2 different types of RAM (Corsair and G.SKILL).

Hopefully the voltage bump will help...

These bluescreens usually happen when the computer is in idle mode, though - e.g. I leave the computer on overnight and see a bluescreen in the morning.

 

[tami]

You mention Intel processed an RMA for your i2600K. Did you get a replacement yet?
About the only thing left would be your copy of windows?

Yes, I did get the replacement months ago. No change.

The post mentions that I reformatted a billion times. Even Microsoft tired to shut me up by giving me a brand new OS install DVD and I used that for my latest install, but no love.

 

[tami]

Here's a pretty picture of my reliability history: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6783080327_0b1f0f6e0a_o.png

It is very sad

 

[ch33zw1z]

ch33zw1z, I can't imagine that MSI won't support more than 4GB of RAM. That file seems dated.

I didn't say that. My suggestion would ensure you're using known supported RAM for problem determination. It can't hurt. Did you check compatibility on any of the RAM you install in any of the mobo's?

You may also give a Linux distro a try. If you still have issues, that will help indicate some hardware problem. If Linux doesn't crash, investigate drivers again.

Any luck with the RAM VDC bump?

 

[tami]

Yeah, understood - I tried that with the previous mobo so I don't think it's a RAM+mobo compatibility issue. I guess I could ask MSI to verify but it seems unlikely.

As far as the VDC bump, no problems yet, so fingers are crossed - it's only been 15 hours though and usually I will encounter a BSOD within the first 24-48 hours (and sometimes a few days later).

 

[Puppies04]

Have all these problems occured while plugged into the same wall outlet? Do you have anything else running from the same socket? Just wondering because I have heard about certain home electrical equipment "dirtying" the power and causing this type of BSOD before.

 

[tami]

Have all these problems occured while plugged into the same wall outlet? Do you have anything else running from the same socket? Just wondering because I have heard about certain home electrical equipment "dirtying" the power and causing this type of BSOD before.

That was one of my considerations. I've tried two surge protectors, but still no go. I'll try to switch it up a little more and see if that helps though. Thanks.

 

[ch33zw1z]

That was one of my considerations. I've tried two surge protectors, but still no go. I'll try to switch it up a little more and see if that helps though. Thanks.

Surge Protectors are useless for the issue Puppies04 is describing. You have to try a different outlet, and maybe even a different circuit. Invest in a quality UPS, that will help with shitty power up to a point.

 

[Neesnu]

Question - Have you verified the newest drivers on your OCZ Vertex 3?

 

[tami]

Thanks ch33zw1z - noted.

Neesnu - I did earlier before I RMA'd the Vertex 3 the first time around. I don't think it's a driver issue there. If need be, I'll revisit this.

So far, I've been up for 1 day, 17 hours, and 45 minutes, so we'll find out in the next day or two if the increased voltage on the RAM was the solution

 

[Neesnu]

Hope it works!
The only reason I asked is alot of the SSD's newer firmwares fix BSOD's on awakening from suspend or going into suspend, with mine (a Kingston drive) I would have to cold boot it to get it to reboot (reset switch it still wouldn't wake the drive after the crash).

 

[DarkWarrior2]

Have all these problems occured while plugged into the same wall outlet? Do you have anything else running from the same socket? Just wondering because I have heard about certain home electrical equipment "dirtying" the power and causing this type of BSOD before.

I had a similar problem to yours a few years back. I was killing myself trying to track down the problem, even building a new system didn't help. It was dirty power. Every electrical outlet was shot, and one of them even caught on fire. (Crappy cheap apartment)

A voltage regulator fixed my problems right up. I used an APC Line-R. (My surge protectors and UPS didn't help at all, by the way.)

Hope this helps.

 

[tami]

Hope it works!
The only reason I asked is alot of the SSD's newer firmwares fix BSOD's on awakening from suspend or going into suspend, with mine (a Kingston drive) I would have to cold boot it to get it to reboot (reset switch it still wouldn't wake the drive after the crash).

It doesn't ALWAYS crash when waking up - it's usually already dead. However, it has bluescreened in the middle of some activities in the past... normally things slowly die, then I get a memory error with a few open apps, and then it bluescreens.

 

[tami]

I had a similar problem to yours a few years back. I was killing myself trying to track down the problem, even building a new system didn't help. It was dirty power. Every electrical outlet was shot, and one of them even caught on fire. (Crappy cheap apartment)

A voltage regulator fixed my problems right up. I used an APC Line-R. (My surge protectors and UPS didn't help at all, by the way.)

Hope this helps.

Cool. Thanks! I hope that won't be needed. This outlet serves other devices pretty well, so I'd be surprised... but this is very good info to know.

 

[nleibert]

I had a problem exactly like this and it turned out to be my memory needed a voltage boost...it's surprising what just a little bit of extra voltage to RAM can do.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I had a similar problem to yours a few years back. I was killing myself trying to track down the problem, even building a new system didn't help. It was dirty power. Every electrical outlet was shot, and one of them even caught on fire. (Crappy cheap apartment)

A voltage regulator fixed my problems right up. I used an APC Line-R. (My surge protectors and UPS didn't help at all, by the way.)

Hope this helps.

Thanks Warrior, I'll keep this in mind as well.

 

[tami]

yeah, the voltage boost looks promising. Current uptime is 68 hours

If this persists, I think we figured out the solution! Wish G.SKILL would have told me that as I specifically even mentioned 1.6v ... to which they replied 'you should have it running at 1.5v'

Lovely.

But if this is really the problem, I'm curious to know why the voltage boost would work across mobos+RAM combos - what is it about this setup/RAM that doesn't allow this working at its stock voltage? It's strange that it consistently crashed no matter what I did.

 

[THRiLL KiLL]

the memory you have installed. was it a set of 4 sticks matched or was it 2 sets of 2? you will be surprised the instability it adds.

And for your ssd, do you have the latest firmware.

When you bluescreen, are you infront of the computer, or is it when you are away?

How do you have your ssd setup? do you have trim enabled?