Ok guys, I need some fellow expert advice..

[jyare]

Description of Problem:
I recently built a new computer from scratch. My problem is random freezing during windows use (just browsing and other non intensive use) and blue screens of death and reboots in games. Games I have had this problem in are Unreal Tourney 2004, BfME II, and Oblivion.

My Specs:
2 gig (2 sticks) ddr2 buffalo firestix FSX800
EvGA 8800 GTX
EvGA 680i SLI motherboard
Conroe 6600 2.4 ghz overclocked @3.2ghz
Arctic Cooler 7 (cpu heatsink and fan)w/arctic silver 5
WD 150gig Raptor

What I have tried so far:
I am pretty sure that it is not my CPU overheating, I have run orthos beta (cpu stress program) overnight and my CPU never exceeded a temp of 60 C.
I figured then it could be my ram, so I took ran memtest86+ overnight for over 10 hours yet no errors were detected at all.

Very rarely when I run orthos beta and include ram it will give me errors saying there is a possible hardware failure, but when I run just the cpu portion it works fine. I dont know if thats a software glitch or maybe both sticks of ram are bad?

I also took out one stick at a time and played my games and ran orthos, both were fine on orthos but both still experienced crashes in my games.

I'm beginning to lean towards it being a problem with my 8800 GTX, but I dont have the means to swap out the card for another..
I guess I would just like some additional expert feedback if you guys can think of anything I haven't thought of yet..

Thanks in advance.

 

[CompuTronix]

Since you've pulled the memory modules out one at a time, they've obviously been reseated, so what is the memory voltage setting in BIOS, what is the recommended voltage for the FireStix, and have you tried to bump it up a little? Also, how stable is your CPU and FSB overclock? At 3.2Ghz, 9 x 356 shouldn't be a problem, so have you tried giving vCore a bump?

 

[techgeek]

Something you may want to try, is running everything stock for a few days just to see if that's your problem. At least then you can determine whether you in fact have a hardware problem, or it's something to do with the overclock.

Also I just thought of something else. All the reviews I've read about the 680i, is that the Northbridge on them gets really hot. Do you have a fan on the NB? Could be chipset overheating, not CPU, especially with FSB bumped up like that.

 

[raginaznx]

I think ive heard something about the FSB on the 680i's acting up. Not sure but you should look into it.

 

[jyare]

I'm using a PC Power and Cooling 610
cpu voltage: 1.45
Ram 2.1 (manufacturer's specs call for 2.1v) running 800mhz
-tried bumping up the voltage a little to 2.2, no difference.
CPU FSB 1.5v

Northbridge fan is installed an appears to be running just fine,

I just downloaded the latest bios for my board and the latest motherboard drivers, hopefully this will help solve some of my problems.
If that doesn't work then I will take your advice and run stock for a while and see if the problem goes away.

BTW my cpu and FSB overclock is very stable as far as I can tell. I ran orthos cpu stress all night long, cpu never went above 60 C. No errors on either core.

Already ran the memtest86+ all night long, no errors detected... not what I was expecting..

Thanks guys for your input! I really appreciate the help.

 

[jyare]

Update:
New bios and motherboard drivers seem to have solved the problem..

Sometimes its the most obvious things you forget to look at until you've tried everything else.. Now I just feel stupid. . .