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System Crashing, tried Memtest, crashed in test without error?

A

A554SS1N

Senior member
A neighbours PC is crashing all the time - when I first switch on, it crashes at black screen before winxp 'welcome', then on reset in would crash at just after welcome screen, then a few seconds later on so on for a number of times until it lasted a lot longer. Trying memtest to see if it's the memory, and it crashed almost immediately the first time, but ran for several minutes on the second attempt before crashing - problem is, at the time of locking up on my screen, it still says 0% errors - another, when it crashed the first time, the printer started making noises as though it was starting up - it isn't even connected to the computer!!! So I'm wondering whether there are just too many power cables into one wall socket, or dodgy house wiring that could be causing power surges? Also, the mouse is wireless, and I'm wondering whether that could be causing some lockups? I originally suspected the motherboard or RAM, but I'm starting to look at other simple alternatives just to eliminate them from being a problem. The motherboard has done weird things in the past, like OC the processor to 2.2Ghz, when I had set in to 1.1Ghz in the BIOS (I underclocked it to test it) - the multiplier just changed all by itself!!!! It's currently running at 1.6GHz now.... memory trying it at 100Mhz (DDR200)

System is:

Sempron 2800+ Socket A
512MB DDR333Mhz Corsair ValueSelect
MSI K7N2-DELTA-LSR
MSI FX5200 128mb (64-bit)
Hauppage TV Card
DVD-RW (Sony)
Floopy Drive
Wireless mouse and keyboard
550watt Generic PSU

Thanks for any suggestions on what it might be.... I must note, it has NEVER had a BSOD - it always just freezes.

 
Just an update: currently running memtest on 300MB of the 512mb RAM, and it's got to 587% so far, with no errors, so I'll leave it a little longer :/

[edit] Now at 987% after an hour (ish)..?
 
Hi A, Now you have the right idea. Test each stick of mem by itself. That is only one ram on the MB at the time. Also, it is pretty difficult to have a SICK machine diagnose itself. You will have to do some head scratching. Good luck, Jim
 
I suggest checking to make sure everything is set properly in the BIOS. (CPU specs, DDR timings, etc) Make sure the CPU heatsink is properly seated and the fan is spinning. After that, I would suggest upgrading the BIOS, if possible.

Are you able to stay in the BIOS and do things without it locking up? What are the reported temps and voltage rails?
 
Originally posted by: JimPhelpsMI
Hi A, Now you have the right idea. Test each stick of mem by itself. That is only one ram on the MB at the time. Also, it is pretty difficult to have a SICK machine diagnose itself. You will have to do some head scratching. Good luck, Jim
Click to expand...


Only one stick of RAM unfortunately - I've been waiting for a mate to lend me another stick so I can test it, thanks for your reply.
 
Originally posted by: jamesbond007
I suggest checking to make sure everything is set properly in the BIOS. (CPU specs, DDR timings, etc) Make sure the CPU heatsink is properly seated and the fan is spinning. After that, I would suggest upgrading the BIOS, if possible.

Are you able to stay in the BIOS and do things without it locking up? What are the reported temps and voltage rails?
Click to expand...


The heatsink is securely attached - fan works fine, and temperatures only seem to go into the low 50C's for the tasks my neighbour does (most demanding task is when she watches TV, with the TV card creating a bit of heat). All otehr settings in the BIOS look fine - the motehrboard only seems to allow preset options, though, so when I set the memory to a lower speed (Auto to follow the FSB) the timings are getting tighter. The 12V rail seemed a little high when I checked with SpeedFan and Everest (about 12.8V) but all others were fine. Thanks also for your reply.
 
Memtest. run TESTS 5 and 8. If you're running all tests, thats a waste. 5 and 8 are the ones that kill mem.

If you can get past that, I suggest you running Prime 95.

24 hours of each is minimal. I've seen errors occor in memtest only 12 hrs later. I've seen prime fail at 23 hours and even 33 hours.... I usually prime for 36 before I declare it stable for 24/7 use.
 
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