Prime95 craps out a minute into the stress test..

[SurrealCivic]

I downloaded Prime95 today so I can do some testing, and I did the stress test (Blend) to be exact. And it craps out about 1 minute into the test.. Hardware Failure.. FATAL Error.. gives me a bunch of numbers.. something like this number was expected, but my system reported this.. I can provide the specific numbers if necessary.. Not sure why this is happening.. These are my specs

AMD Athlon XP-Mobile 2500+ (Barton)
DFI NFII Ultra Infinity
2x256 Kingston HyperX PC3700
ThermalTake A1889-01 Silent Boost Heatsink + Panaflo Fan @ 30.6CFM / approx 3000RPM
used Artic Silver compound..


Got a case that has 8 fans in it.. 4x Vantec Stealth and 4x Raidmax .. all 80mms

I was running 11x200Mhz @ 1.65V - VDIMM @ 2.7 3-3-3-8
My temps:
Case Temp 35 Degrees
CPU Temp 41 Degrees

Anyone know what might be causing this? Or maybe some advice as how I can pin-point which component might be doing this?

I don't know of much programs that can help me out with this.. All I have is this Prime 95, CPU-Z, and 3dMark03..

What are prorams that I can run in windows that will test memory, cpu, etc?

Thank you Anandtech!
Martin

 

[CJP]

For memory I use Memtest86. Though you have to run it off a DOS bootdisk. Just download the zip, extract it to a bootable floppy, reboot off the disk and run the "install" program in dos to create the memtest disk, reboot and your off the the races as it autoruns.

 

[ectx]

I'd run small fft test for a few min. If it is ok, I'd bet it is a memory problem, Otherwise, it is a cpu problem. I'd increase the volatage gradually. Have you even tried the system at default to see if it runs p95 ok?

 

[LeChuck59]

When I put my first system together, I used a DFI Infinity Ultra and two sticks of PC3200. I put the ram in slots 1 and 2. I was failing Prime at all settings and discovered that the problem was that the ram wanted to run in dual channel and to do that it needed to be in slots 1 and 3. Moving the second stick to the third slot fixed my Prime problems.

So is your ram in slots 1 and 2 or 1 and 3? That might be your problem.

 

[VisableAssassin]

Originally posted by: ectx
I'd run small fft test for a few min. If it is ok, I'd bet it is a memory problem, Otherwise, it is a cpu problem. I'd increase the volatage gradually. Have you even tried the system at default to see if it runs p95 ok?

yes !!! finally someone who sides with me !
small FFTS for isolating the CPU
use the other settings if yoru gonna stress the cpu and ram
also Id reccomend upping vcore some more. yoru chip may not do 2.2ghz at stock voltage

 

[ectx]

Originally posted by: VisableAssassin

Originally posted by: ectx
I'd run small fft test for a few min. If it is ok, I'd bet it is a memory problem, Otherwise, it is a cpu problem. I'd increase the volatage gradually. Have you even tried the system at default to see if it runs p95 ok?

yes !!! finally someone who sides with me !
small FFTS for isolating the CPU
use the other settings if yoru gonna stress the cpu and ram
also Id reccomend upping vcore some more. yoru chip may not do 2.2ghz at stock voltage

Actually I was one of the first few that promote large FFT custom test (extremely important that you do not check "in-place" testing or somthing) But I do run small fft tests. I agree that you should run different tests to test different components.

Eventually, when I be sure that the whole system is stable I do test the large fft custom test for a long time (I have a few systems that can run small fft tests for days but cannot test the large fft custom tests for a few hours). Then I do a 3D test.

 

[Megatomic]

Running the blended test also stresses the chipset. If your chipset is cooled insufficiently it'll cause you to bomb out of Prime95. My system did this until I put a Zalman NB cooler and AS Ceramique on the NB. Now I can do a blended Prime95 test for over a day. My system is overclocked, too.

 

[ectx]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Running the blended test also stresses the chipset. If your chipset is cooled insufficiently it'll cause you to bomb out of Prime95. My system did this until I put a Zalman NB cooler and AS Ceramique on the NB. Now I can do a blended Prime95 test for over a day. My system is overclocked, too.

Agree. But I suspect it won't bomd out in one min? I could be wrong, though,

 

[thetman]

what kind of psu do you have? if you're running a crappy psu, that might be the problem

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: ectx

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Running the blended test also stresses the chipset. If your chipset is cooled insufficiently it'll cause you to bomb out of Prime95. My system did this until I put a Zalman NB cooler and AS Ceramique on the NB. Now I can do a blended Prime95 test for over a day. My system is overclocked, too.

Agree. But I suspect it won't bomd out in one min? I could be wrong, though,

If the case temp is high during standard operation and if the system is on the bare edge of stability without stressing it then it is feasible for it to fail in under a minute. But a memory error is more likely in that time frame...

 

[VisableAssassin]

Originally posted by: ectx

Originally posted by: VisableAssassin

Originally posted by: ectx
I'd run small fft test for a few min. If it is ok, I'd bet it is a memory problem, Otherwise, it is a cpu problem. I'd increase the volatage gradually. Have you even tried the system at default to see if it runs p95 ok?

yes !!! finally someone who sides with me !
small FFTS for isolating the CPU
use the other settings if yoru gonna stress the cpu and ram
also Id reccomend upping vcore some more. yoru chip may not do 2.2ghz at stock voltage

Actually I was one of the first few that promote large FFT custom test (extremely important that you do not check "in-place" testing or somthing) But I do run small fft tests. I agree that you should run different tests to test different components.

Eventually, when I be sure that the whole system is stable I do test the large fft custom test for a long time (I have a few systems that can run small fft tests for days but cannot test the large fft custom tests for a few hours). Then I do a 3D test.

so far ive found i can pass small FFTs i can pass blend and large FFT custom with no problem.
if i fail small ffts i cant pass a thing.

 

[Jgtdragon]

Happen to me with my new rig and I was running everything at stock!
Founded out that the memory timing was off. The weird part was, it passed Memtest86 with no problems but fail prime in a minute.

Check your ememory setting and add voltage to dimm.

 

[Werty]

is there some sort of guide to as what test to perform on the new prime95? what or how should i setup prime for the following test::::

torture for the CPU stability?
torture test for memory?
torture test for the system stability (chipset,cpu,memory,cache)?
and system torture test together with a 3D looping test?

thanks

 

[VisableAssassin]

Originally posted by: Werty
is there some sort of guide to as what test to perform on the new prime95? what or how should i setup prime for the following test::::

torture for the CPU stability?
torture test for memory?
torture test for the system stability (chipset,cpu,memory,cache)?
and system torture test together with a 3D looping test?

thanks

small FFTs should focus just on your CPU...you can check your ram usage is about nill when running that way. on blend,large ffts or custom youll stress more than just the CPU.
the new prime is nice but I still like the older version with just the option to stress test...and nothing else.

 

[edmundoab]

In my case, I've encountered passing Memtest86

but still failing prime95 in less then an hour
so make sure the Vcore and Vdimm is sufficient to keep it stable in the stress test.

 

[VIAN]

What I would do is lower the CPU speed to below stock to make sure that it's not the problem and the rest is simple. You want to run the fsb and the RAM at a 1:1 ratio so if one speed doesn't work lower it and try again. Make sure it is the fsb/RAM speed is stable for the length of time you want on Prime before moving on to the CPU.

As for RAM I heard - and ASUS recommends inserting your RAM from the right-most slot to the left. That's the way I have it set up.