System Problems

[Matrinix]

Hello everyone,

I recently built a new system with the following specs:
Case: Antec Solo
PSU: Antec TruePower Trio 550W
Motherboard: Jetway N650GE nForce 650i SLI
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Rev. B3
Memory: OCZ Gold 2GB DDR2-800 5-5-5-12
Graphics: EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB
Hard Drive: Western Digital SE16 320GB SATA
DVD Drive: Lite-On 20X SATA
Operating System: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit

The problem I am having is whenever I play a game like Command & Conquer 3 or Oblivion, it will randomly crash with an error of "The application closed unexpectedly." After some research, I found that this error is most likely due to bad memory. Later on, I started getting randomly occuring BSODs whenever I'd install software or just do anything memory intensive. The STOP errors were "MEMORY_MANAGEMENT" or "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL". After more research, these could also be caused by bad memory.

I tested the memory by running Memtest86+ for 12 hours straight and it returned no errors and 32 passes so I assumed my memory wasn't bad. I continued testing if it could be the memory by reseating the memory, placing them in different slots, and removing one of the DIMMs. The problems still existed. This is where you all come in. I can't figure out what is wrong. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I think it may be a processor, hard drive, or motherboard problem but I hope that is not the case.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[mechBgon]

Welcome to the Forums Matrinix If you haven't done so already, try boosting the memory voltage to 2.0 volts and see if that helps with the crashes. Just like gasoline comes in different octane ratings, and there's engines that require different octanes, so it can be with RAM and voltage.

 

[Matrinix]

I have already tried running my memory at 2.0V and 2.1V per guidance by OCZ. My system still BSODs and applications still become unstable. Someone told me that he thinks it may be my motherboard, so I am in the process of deciding if I want to go through the process of RMAing individual parts until it works. Is there anyway to figure out what part is causing the instabilities? If I end up getting another motherboard, I will probably replace this Jetway N650GE with a EVGA 650i Ultra. Thanks for any help.

 

[mechBgon]

One method of narrowing down the possible culprits is to test individual items (such as the video card, CPU, and RAM) on known-working computers, as well as looking for common building/configuration problems.

Looking at a photo of the board, I see there's a 4-pin power receptacle just above the video card, so if that isn't plugged in, you might give it a power plug and see if that helps stabilize it.

 

[Matrinix]

I have tried it with it plugged in and without it plugged in. Both had the same result. Based on my research, the molex connector is to provide extra power to the PCI-Express bus for when SLI is being used.

 

[dclive]

Find the dumps in c:\windows\minidump and zip and mail them to me.
Run mpsreports and mail me the output computername.cab file.
Read over my webpage (you can analyze the dumps yourself if you want for faster results - you could find the solution in a few minutes.)
Let us know.