I have an Epox 9NDA3+ (nForce3 ultra) with an Athlon 64 X2 3800+. I first noticed problems when I started playing Morrowind as the game would constantly crash back to the OS. To troubleshoot the problem, I ran super pi (32mb) several times with no problems. I then ran prime95. Again, no problems. I then ran memtest86 and after 14min, I received my first error. I scribbled down the address of the error, rebooted, and ran again. After about the same amount of time, I received the same error at the same address. At this point, I was sure I had a faulty stick of ram. I?m using 2x512mb in a dual channel configuration, so to isolate the faulty stick I removed one and ran memtest86 again. I let it go 10 hours on the first stick and there were no errors. I then removed the first stick and placed the second stick in. I ran memtest86 for 9.5 hours without a hitch. To make sure I wasn?t crazy, I placed them both back in and ran memtest86 again. Sure enough, I ran into the same error at the same address with both in.
As an additional check, I removed my side panel, plugged in a desk fan, and let it blow directly into my case. I ran memtest86 for 6 or so hours and didn?t receive a single error. Now the weird thing is is that without the fan, my cpu never went above 40 some odd degrees C, and the max temperature without the desk fan was the same when running in dual channel config and with each stick of ram separately. With the desk fan, I run memtest86 at about 39 degrees C. I then started playing morrowind with the desk fan and I have been able to play longer in between crashes, but they still occur in 30 ? 45 min intervals.
Since both sticks of ram check out on their own, I?m beginning to think that the problem is either in my CPU or motherboard, but I?m kind of at a loss on how to isolate it from here. Any suggestions?
As an additional check, I removed my side panel, plugged in a desk fan, and let it blow directly into my case. I ran memtest86 for 6 or so hours and didn?t receive a single error. Now the weird thing is is that without the fan, my cpu never went above 40 some odd degrees C, and the max temperature without the desk fan was the same when running in dual channel config and with each stick of ram separately. With the desk fan, I run memtest86 at about 39 degrees C. I then started playing morrowind with the desk fan and I have been able to play longer in between crashes, but they still occur in 30 ? 45 min intervals.
Since both sticks of ram check out on their own, I?m beginning to think that the problem is either in my CPU or motherboard, but I?m kind of at a loss on how to isolate it from here. Any suggestions?
