P4P800 Help... please

ForgetCassettes

Golden Member
Dec 11, 2003
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I was using an asus P4P800 for the longest time and then it started crashing on me at random times and especially when I would try to play Neverwinter Nights. I would get into the game for maybe a minute or two and then it would crash. Here's my specs...

P4 2.8C with stock fan
2x512MB OCZ PC3500 Performance Series Dual Channel
Hercules Fortissimo II Sound
NEC 3500 DVD Burner
Hitachi 120GB ATA
Pansonic Floppy Drive
ATI 9700 Pro
Antec 350W PSU
Windows XP Pro SP2 Installed

First thing I tried was reinstalling windows. I must have done this a few times, each time trying to install drivers in different orders.
Second, I bought a Thermaltake 480W PSU and I got the same results
Third, I tried removing the sound card and tried onboard sound. Same. Also tried disabling sound altogether.
Fourth, I tried an older video card I had. I believe it was an Nvidia Ti4200. Same results.
Fifth, I tried pulling one stick of memory and I once again got the same results.

I finally gave up and went to the store, bought a cheap Abit VT-7 board and I've been rock solid ever since. After many failed attempts with Asus' horrible customer service, I got them to give me an RMA number. Before I sent it to them, I installed the board once more to no avail. I gave up and sent the board in and today I got the board back and the paper inside the box said "no problem found". What could I be missing?? Would it be safe to sell the board to someone else if Asus says it's ok?
 

Navid

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2004
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Download CPU-Z from here.
Install and run.
Look under memory.
What are the timings?

Go into the bios and change the timings to 3338.

Run memtest.
You can get it from here.
Run it overnight.
Hopefully, the next day, you will have no errors showing.

If that is the case, get Prime95 from here.
Change your ATI graphics card driver to 4.9.
Run the Prime95 torture test overnight. Hopefully, it will still be running the next day.

If that is the case, get ATItool from here.
Install and run. Click on "search for artifacts" or something like that. It is on the main screen.
If your computer crashes now, your graphics card is overheating.

Let us know what happens.


Edit:
You didn't say anything about overclocking. So, I assumed that you are not overclocking. If you are, set everything back to default clock rates before you start the tests.

After running memtest, if you get errors, even 1 error, increase the VDIMM in the BIOS from 2.55 to 2.65 and repeat the test.

After running Prime95 (assuming you had no errors in memtest), if it errored out, increase VCore in the BIOS by one notch and repeat the test. if it errors out again, increase the VCore again, only by one notch. Don't increase to 1.6. Stop before 1.6.
 

ForgetCassettes

Golden Member
Dec 11, 2003
1,129
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76
I did try many different memory timings. I forgot to mention that. I think at one point, I set it to the most relaxed. I tried upping the dimm voltage too. I ran memtest once for about a half hour with no errors. I know that's not nearly as long as you suggested. I just don't understand why everything runs so nice with the abit via crap motherboard and it won't run at all in the intel. I was overclocking with the asus board for a while and then it started crashing one day. I set everything back to defaults but it still happened. I was afraid I'd damaged the CPU or something but everything is solid in the Abit. Well, tomorrow, I will try reinstalling the motherboard and I will be sure to try all of the suggestions you gave. Thanks.
 

Navid

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2004
5,053
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I forgot the power supply (again)!

If you don't have it already, get Motherboard Monitor from here.
Install it. It will show the CPU and motherboard temperatures on the taskbar.
Set it up to save the log file as a text file.


Do you have a digital volt meter.
I hope so. If you do, open the case and measure the voltage on the 12V rail using one of the unused molex connectors. Then, while you are measuring, start Prime95 and see if the voltage drops. Wait for it to run for 5 minutes.

See what the voltage is. Also open MBM and see what it shows for the 12V voltage.
If the voltage measured by the meter drops too much below 12V, you may need a new power supply.