struggling to find hardware fault

[Lee768]

Have a new motherboard , ram and processor and am pretty sure one of them is faulty but am really having problems identifying which one it is.
suppose first thing to do is ask if my parts are compatible.

intel core 2 6300
2 gig corsair 533
asrock 775-dual vsta
agp asus v9999 128 mb

have a new 550 watt antec trio psu so it's not a power issue

I've tested the memory with memtest, and no errors, also with windows diagnostic, using the standard and extended tests, and no errors after test been done at least once. Am going to test each stick separately as these tests can be wrong. If problems are still there then i guess it aint memory related.

Problems are bodog randomly crashin, planetside and fear having really messed up graphics. So does any1 know if it is possible for me to work out whether it's cpu or board?

 

[Lee768]

Games like halflife2, lost coast, DM match all run at good frame rates with no slowdown so am pretty certain there is no overheating going on with the graphics card.

Also, quite randomly the screen will alter, to what looks like a close up of some part of the windows screen. When this occurs i have to use the reset button as have not found a way of sorting it. Sometimes hapeens 4/5 times a day other days it doesn't happen. Have moved pc away from radiator to eliminate the overheating thing but it still does this enlargement thing. :?:

 

[sruane]

Drivers and patches. Make sure everything is up to date.

 

[Lee768]

got most recent drivers from asus and tried new nvidia forceware ones. But same probs. planetside automatically updates and don't think there is a patch for the fear demo.

 

[sruane]

Deinstall then reinstall the games which are failing.

 

[Lee768]

have reinstalled the fear demo, same problem, am just about to do planetside as fear was only a demo .
did not use driver cleaner to remove all old drivers when i reinstalled it ,not sure if that would matter or not. Will test sticks of ram on there own this evening. if i can't work out the problem what are the chances of them replacing my motherboard on warranty if i just say it is faulty?

 

[Lee768]

have taken a stick of corsair 1 gig ram out and same problem.
have replaced it with the other and same problem so its not a memory problem.
so seeing as all the other parts work with my old settup, diff cpu, diff ram, diff motherboard. By work i mean planetside runs problem free and bodog never crashes , then it has to be the new cpu ( intel core 2) or the new board ( asrock 775 dual vsta) that is faulty?
so with me spending a month and a half ( yup i know , i'm pretty sad and slow) would i be better off buying a new motherboard, think it's a bout £40 to save what is left of my sanity. Or can i get away with a warranty replacement. Problem being if i get it replaced on warranty and the problem persists then it is the core 2 that is the problem. and of course this costs a fair bit more than my asrock board. So if i replace my board on warranty and the errors keep occurring will i be screwed when i ask for a new core 2 replacement on warranty?

 

[JMecc]

Watch out for the long solder points and metal protrusions on the back of that Dual-VSTA mobo. They are so long they can touch raised spots on the case and short out.

Also, that C2D is not overclocked is it? That's your problem if it is.

Jo

 

[Lee768]

no overclocking whatsoever.
will check the board for protrusions. cheers