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Please help me with my nightmare system build.... :( UPDATED

A

Atvar

Senior member
Hey guys,

I just bought components for a new sytem through NewEgg. This thing so far has been nothing short of a nightmare for me. I am in dire need of help. Here are the specs and everything that is happening:

-AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor
-DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
-eVGA 256-P2-N376-AX Geforce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
-Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
-OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)
-Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
-NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A
-Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply

I figured I was getting high quality parts, and would have little trouble, but it has been the exact opposite. Well, to start things off once I got the system built and powered on, what is the first thing I hear? The hard drive clicking and clacking like its typing out morse code. System can't detect it of course, so I rip it out and RMA it back to newegg. I need a hard drive so I run to Best Buy and pick up a Serial ATA 200g Maxtor....its all they had. Got home, installed it and detected it fine.

So I go to install XP....I format the drive and the system reboots to launch the GUI installer.....BSOD. It never gets into Windows at all. Reboot, BSOD. Reboot, BSOD. Wonderful. The BSOD I was getting was IRQL_NOT_EQUAL or something along those lines, I am at work and don't have the code with me. So I figure I set the RAM up wrong? The sticker says the timings are 2 2 2 5. The system auto detected it at different settings so I changed it to 2 2 2 5. Reboot, got into the installer. Begin to install windows finally.....BSOD. 🙁 :disgust:

I reboot and try again, and this time Windows installs. I begin to install all my drivers and update everything. I install the new 77.72 nVidia drivers, reboot....and I can't change my resolution out of 640x480 and 16 colors. Nice. I uninstall and reinstall and it works.

So I start putting games on, and begin to test out the system. I play for about 30 minutes...BSOD. IRQL_NOT_EQUAL. I check the memory dump in windows debugger and it says 'memory_corruption' as the possible problem. Reboot, test games again....they all end the same way running fine then a BSOD and reboot out of nowhere. Now when I reboot, my motherboard can't detect my SATA hard drive....wonderful, reboot same thing. :disgust: I had to unplug the power cord for about 5 minutes to get it to boot up again.

So now I have no idea what to do. I thought I was getting some high quality parts, and was hoping to have no problems. But this is a nightmare. I am on the verge of just RMAing the entire thing back to newegg and get a new mobo, ram, and video card.

I have a few more tests I can run, I am going to run memtest when I get home, and try the ultimatebootcd to run some other tests.

Does anyone have any ideas what I can do? I find it hard to believe that I got multiple peices of bad hardware in the same order, what are the chances of that? 🙁
 
This reeks of a RAM problem. Download MemTest86+, use the ISO image to create a bootable CD, and test your Ram for about an hour. If you get a lot of errors, and I think you will, you have faulty RAM. Try 1 stick at a time to isolate the faulty stick, and then just run your system with the stick that is not broken.

RAM difficulties are incredibly frustrating, but OCZ has really good customer service. If that is your problem, it could be worse.
 
Check your cpu HS/fan to make sure it's seated correctly. What are your temperatures?

Try the ram 1 at a time if that doesn't help.
 
Thanks for the replies, as for the temperatures I'm not totally sure, but from just putting my hand around the case everything seems very cool. Would it really overheat that quickly from jus ttrying to install Windows?

I feared it was a RAM problem. I forgot to mention that I wasn't totally sure how to configure the correct timings. So I set all the ram options to auto for everything. When I did this, the computer can't load windows. As soon as it starts to load the main GUI it BSODS and reboots. I finally figured out which settings to change the timing to 2 2 2 5, and once I did that it was more stable.

I will try memtest tonight for sure.
 
Thats the thing crispy, when I set the bios to auto detect the memory, windows doesn't boot. 🙁 🙁 🙁 I originally thought I had set it up wrong. This is the first system I've built in years and all these new timing settings are a bit confusing.
 
1) do you have all four of the mobo's power cables hooked up. FOUR. ATX main, ATX12v secondary, floppy-drive-style, CD-ROM-drive style.

2) crank up the memory voltage to 2.8-2.9 volts
 
Originally posted by: fishstickz
This reeks of a RAM problem. Download MemTest86+, use the ISO image to create a burnable CD, and test your Ram for about an hour. If you get a lot of errors, and I think you will, you have faulty RAM. Try 1 stick at a time to isolate the faulty stick, and then just run your system with the stick that is not broken.

RAM difficulties are incredibly frustrating, but OCZ has really good customer service. If that is your problem, it could be worse.
Click to expand...

A first reply that is right on the money? Amazing. Good job.

I've built my share of computers, and from the sound of things, that is exactly your issue.

Just recently I put together a new PC for myself and I got the exact same problem. I thought it was the hard drive as it was insanely old and made a slight clicking noise. Swapped drives and same problem. Used 1 stick of RAM, worked fine. Switched sticks, BSOD.

Used memtest, the first stick was solid, the second was almost entirely filled with errors.

The question remains, was it bought defective or did my mobo do the damage to the RAM? I'll find out when I get the replacement RAM in sometime next week - you should find out, too.
 
Let us know what happens after you've run memtest86+. Doubtful both RAM sticks are bad, and you should be able to run fine once you've isolated the bad one while you RMA it. Does newegg cross ship on RMA'ed items? I bet they would if you called them and explained the problem - especially that you've already had one bad drive from them.
 
1) do you have all four of the mobo's power cables hooked up. FOUR. ATX main, ATX12v secondary, floppy-drive-style, CD-ROM-drive style.
Click to expand...

Yes, I made sure all 4 plugs were connected as I've heard this board is quite power hungry.

Thank you all for the replies, if it is just the ram that is bad that is more manageable than having to RMA the motherboard.

I will run memtest86+ as soon as I get home tonight and will report what I find.
 
And you are giving the RAM enough voltage, right, not leaving it on AUTO? Good RAM + inadequate voltage = errors. It runs on electricity, so don't starve it, especially not on a DFI 😉
 
And you are giving the RAM enough voltage, right, not leaving it on AUTO? Good RAM + inadequate voltage = errors. It runs on electricity, so don't starve it, especially not on a DFI
Click to expand...

Right now the voltage is set to auto. I'm not totally sure how that works, I'm guessing I can tell the mobo how much power to send to the ram? If I remember it was around 2.7, do you think that could cause a problem?
 
Crank it up. Or run Memtest, then crank it up and run Memtest again and compare your results. With that board and OCZ memory, I'd be starting with 2.8 volts if it were me.
 
Run memtest86 at 2.7 on both sticks. If you get failures run it at 2.9 on both sticks. If you still get failures, remove one stick, test, remove the other, test, and RMA the bad one. Chances are one is good, one is bad.
 
You guys rule, I will try all this tonight. THANKS!

You all get a :beer: on me. :thumbsup:


EDIT: One more thing, I got a big power supply on purpose for this board. 550 watts is enought for all this right?
 
Originally posted by: Atvar
You guys rule, I will try all this tonight. THANKS!

You all get a :beer: on me. :thumbsup:


EDIT: One more thing, I got a big power supply on purpose for this board. 550 watts is enought for all this right?
Click to expand...

yes dfi recomends 480w but you can run it on any quality psu
 
Also, might I suggest, and I am suprised that no one else has, update the Bios to the newest version, that almost always helps out with DFI, because if I remember correctly they used to have problems with the OCZ rev 2s.
 
Originally posted by: pulsedrive
Also, might I suggest, and I am suprised that no one else has, update the Bios to the newest version, that almost always helps out with DFI, because if I remember correctly they used to have problems with the OCZ rev 2s.
Click to expand...

Well the problem I have is that I don't have a floppy drive anymore. Can you make a bootable CD to flash the BIOS?
 
you have memtest built into your bios, all the way down the bottom in the genie section, just enable it. as mech said, put the vdimm (dram as its listed) at 2.8v and run at least a full pass without errors.

in the advanced screen, disable the full screen logo, all the way at the bottom again, so you can see what bios revision you have. visit dfi.street and there is a thread with all the bios imaged to burn. you'll have to do a search, i forgot to bookmark it. it should be in the bios factory.

get at least the 5.10-2 or 5.10-3 bios.

also, your vcore undervolts a bit so don't be afraid to set that to like 1.4v +104% special.

 
Originally posted by: rise4310
you have memtest built into your bios, all the way down the bottom in the genie section, just enable it. as mech said, put the vdimm (dram as its listed) at 2.8v and run at least a full pass without errors.

in the advanced screen, disable the full screen logo, all the way at the bottom again, so you can see what bios revision you have. visit dfi.street and there is a thread with all the bios imaged to burn. you'll have to do a search, i forgot to bookmark it. it should be in the bios factory.

get at least the 5.10-2 or 5.10-3 bios.

also, your vcore undervolts a bit so don't be afraid to set that to like 1.4v +104% special.
Click to expand...


Great post.

Do exactly as he says. I have this mobo. You have memtest built into the bios, just enable it.

I too can't boot at stock voltages with my RAM, OCZ VX GOLD PC4000.
But once I crank it up to 2.9 (my ram can take 3.3, which I do when I OC to 250) the system runs rock solid. I recommend making sure memtest passes at least a few hours, though I personally run it for 18 hours to be sure.

Set your timings manually as well. I run my CPU at 1.5Volts. Then again, I am overclocking to 250 with a 10X multiplier on a Winnie.

Goodluck!
 
Wow nice posts. So if I just enable memtest in the bios and reboot will memtest start to run?

Also, can you list me the correct settings under DRAM to set the timing? The memory says it is 2 2 2 5, but I am not 100% sure which settings to change, there are about 20 in the memory section.

So you guys suggest to set my ram voltage to 2.8-2.9 and my cpu voltage to 1.4-1.5? I just want to make sure so I don't screw anything up.

Thanks again you guys are helping alot.

EDIT: One more thing, you suggested to use the 5.10-2 or 5.10-3 bios. Any reason why this one and not the most current? I think 6.23 is up on DFI's site.
 
first thing is to disable that boot logo and see what bios you're on. it will be a waste of time memtesting on 1.25 bios. additionally, when you get rid of the logo splash, you'll see what your timings are defaulting to on the first post screen.

and yes, just enable memtest, save and exit and it will run for you. frank is right, its good to do a longer run, but i know you're itching to have a bit of success. 😛

also, once you're memtest stable on the proper bios i'd do a clean install. its a pita, but matters well start with a clean plate. then do your chipset, video, etc. make sure to NOT use nvtune and imo wouldn't use the nv ide drivers, just use windows. the only tool i use is the ITE guardian for temps.

when that is done, at stock, run prime95 for a few hours, a superpi32m run and some 3d marks before bothering with games and such.

edit-btw, my ocz rev2 defaulted to 2-3-5-2 (as read in the timings) when you get the bios flashed, you'll always load optimized defaults, reboot and then tweak the volts up. you can leave everything on auto for now and then play with timings later.
 
i suggested the 5.10 because i have more experience with them. i only just flashed the 6.23 on one system. seems fine. i guess i'm a creature of habit, lol
 
Thanks again for the reply.

Ok so here is the plan:

1. I've downloaded a cd image that contains the 6.23 bios update. When I get home I am going to flash to this.
2. I am going to set my memory voltage to 2.8. Question: Should I leave the timings at the default rate?
3. Question: Should I up my cpu voltage to 1.4?
4. I will run memtest and see if there are any errors. If so, RMA and get new ram. If not, then the voltage should have fixed it.

I've been reading on dfi-street that Maxtor hard drives sometimes cause errors with this board. Some times they won't detect on boot up (which has happened to me). I am probably going to return this to best buy if I can, and get a new seagate HD from newegg.

5. Reinstall everything.

You suggested to run Prime95 and superpi32m. Where can I get these and what exactly do they test?


Did I miss anything?
 
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