My friend and I built a computer last night. My build--
Case-- Cooler Master WaveMaster TAC-T01-E1C
Power Supply-- Antec NEOPOWER 480 ATX 480W
Motherboard-- ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD
CPU-- AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor
Heatsink--THERMALRIGHT XP-120
Fan-- VANTEC SF12025L 120mm 2 Ball
RAM-- Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit
Video Card-- eVGA 256-P2-N516 Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16
Sound Card-- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 8 (7.1) Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface
I also have a Plextor DVDRW, and added a 36GB 10k RPM SATA hard drive. In addition, I used my old hard drives, an 80GB and a 40GB.
I had several problems putting it together-- it had odd quirks, such as refusing to boot from a CD, forcing me to use a boot floppy. It read the CD just fine, however. After much trial and error, we yanked the sound card and it was working fine. We installed Windows, installed mobo drivers and such, then tried to run World of Warcraft a few times-- each attempt, it would lock the computer and give graphical errors. We loaded newer drivers, still occurred. We removed one RAM stick at a time, still occurred-- since it's a matched set, maybe both are bad, no idea. To add to the fun, I also get the Blue Screen of Death occasionally--
"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shutdown to prevent damage to your computer.
If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again follow these steps:
Check to be sure you have adequate disk space. If a driver is identified in the stop message disable the driver or check with the manufacturer for driver updates. Try changing video adapters.
Check with your hardware vendor for any BIOS updates. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select advanced start up options, and then safe mode.
Technical info:
***STOP: ((bunch of binary here)).
Beginning dump of physical memory.
Physical memory dump complete."
Once, it came up while installing Windows XP SP2, and it stayed up until I restarted the computer. The other time, it stayed up for a split second, then restarted the computer on its own.
I have no clue what to do now. One person suggested MemTest, but I'm not a tech-- the site baffled me. Another suggested testing the power supply, but I won't have access to a voltimeter until Tuesday. Another said the graphics card may be faulty. Still another suggested a bad motherboard.
Checked the BIOS version, it's 1007. I tried using one each of the RAM sticks, got the same error-- the entry screen of WoW would lock up while having graphical errors (little squares of pixels at regular intervals going odd colors). I removed both sticks, and popped in a stick of 256 Crucial from my old box. I got the exact same error at the exact same spot.
I have the newest nvidia drivers installed. I'll tried re-installing them, no change.
I checked the memory vs. the ASUS QVL, and it's not on the list-- in fact, only 3 gig-sticks are. Would that make a difference? I read a rant on the ASUS boards about mystery "blue screen of death" occurrences being linked to incompatible memory. Could that be it? That both my 256 stick and my gig-sticks are incompatible with the motherboard, thus causing the errors?
Or, could the motherboard be doing this? The exact same error in the exact same spot? I don't know enough about motherboards to tell, either way.
I'm going to get a voltimeter, just to eliminate another suspect. If it is the power supply, it still seems odd that it's the exact same spot-- perhaps that's when the graphics kick up, and drain power?
Note-- a few times I've gotten beyond the "spot of doom" in the game, only to crash in the exact same way a few seconds later on. Also, I've had a few "blue screens" as stated earlier. There doesn't seem to be a common denominator in their occurrence, it can happen when I'm not doing anything strenuous.
This is going to give me a nervous breakdown. Next time, I'll blow too much money on a pre-made computer and add parts to it.
--Edit-- something new-- I hit keys after the WoW crash, and it revealed... the Blue Screen of Death! Does that help diagnose the issue? God, I hope so. I'm curled in the fetal position, crying as I type this.
Case-- Cooler Master WaveMaster TAC-T01-E1C
Power Supply-- Antec NEOPOWER 480 ATX 480W
Motherboard-- ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD
CPU-- AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor
Heatsink--THERMALRIGHT XP-120
Fan-- VANTEC SF12025L 120mm 2 Ball
RAM-- Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit
Video Card-- eVGA 256-P2-N516 Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16
Sound Card-- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 8 (7.1) Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface
I also have a Plextor DVDRW, and added a 36GB 10k RPM SATA hard drive. In addition, I used my old hard drives, an 80GB and a 40GB.
I had several problems putting it together-- it had odd quirks, such as refusing to boot from a CD, forcing me to use a boot floppy. It read the CD just fine, however. After much trial and error, we yanked the sound card and it was working fine. We installed Windows, installed mobo drivers and such, then tried to run World of Warcraft a few times-- each attempt, it would lock the computer and give graphical errors. We loaded newer drivers, still occurred. We removed one RAM stick at a time, still occurred-- since it's a matched set, maybe both are bad, no idea. To add to the fun, I also get the Blue Screen of Death occasionally--
"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shutdown to prevent damage to your computer.
If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again follow these steps:
Check to be sure you have adequate disk space. If a driver is identified in the stop message disable the driver or check with the manufacturer for driver updates. Try changing video adapters.
Check with your hardware vendor for any BIOS updates. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select advanced start up options, and then safe mode.
Technical info:
***STOP: ((bunch of binary here)).
Beginning dump of physical memory.
Physical memory dump complete."
Once, it came up while installing Windows XP SP2, and it stayed up until I restarted the computer. The other time, it stayed up for a split second, then restarted the computer on its own.
I have no clue what to do now. One person suggested MemTest, but I'm not a tech-- the site baffled me. Another suggested testing the power supply, but I won't have access to a voltimeter until Tuesday. Another said the graphics card may be faulty. Still another suggested a bad motherboard.
Checked the BIOS version, it's 1007. I tried using one each of the RAM sticks, got the same error-- the entry screen of WoW would lock up while having graphical errors (little squares of pixels at regular intervals going odd colors). I removed both sticks, and popped in a stick of 256 Crucial from my old box. I got the exact same error at the exact same spot.
I have the newest nvidia drivers installed. I'll tried re-installing them, no change.
I checked the memory vs. the ASUS QVL, and it's not on the list-- in fact, only 3 gig-sticks are. Would that make a difference? I read a rant on the ASUS boards about mystery "blue screen of death" occurrences being linked to incompatible memory. Could that be it? That both my 256 stick and my gig-sticks are incompatible with the motherboard, thus causing the errors?
Or, could the motherboard be doing this? The exact same error in the exact same spot? I don't know enough about motherboards to tell, either way.
I'm going to get a voltimeter, just to eliminate another suspect. If it is the power supply, it still seems odd that it's the exact same spot-- perhaps that's when the graphics kick up, and drain power?
Note-- a few times I've gotten beyond the "spot of doom" in the game, only to crash in the exact same way a few seconds later on. Also, I've had a few "blue screens" as stated earlier. There doesn't seem to be a common denominator in their occurrence, it can happen when I'm not doing anything strenuous.
This is going to give me a nervous breakdown. Next time, I'll blow too much money on a pre-made computer and add parts to it.
--Edit-- something new-- I hit keys after the WoW crash, and it revealed... the Blue Screen of Death! Does that help diagnose the issue? God, I hope so. I'm curled in the fetal position, crying as I type this.
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