crashes/bsods/errors on new system

[Jaer]

A while back i posted about my problems with constant freezing etc. Turns out the memory was bad as well as the motherboard.

Now I got the system up and running, all software installed, win xp updated, drivers up to date. And now I get random bsod's, crashes but no freezes.

Several of the errors listed memory (ram) as the culprit, I ran memtest86 1.07 for the duration with no errors. I did a diagnostic on my hard drive as well with no errors.

I'm stuck as to what is causing this issue.

I get a lot of problems if I run winamp along side of World of warcraft. I also get random bsod's in WoW itself. I'm also aware of the issues my vid card has with the game, but i took steps that were listed to prevent this. Several crashes also occur outside of WoW itself.

Also keep in mind that these errors aren't frequent, just enough to be annoying, my last system hasn't had a bsod in years.

System specs:
Asus p5n-e Bios ver. 0602
Gskill 2gb 2x1gb 5-5-5-15-1t @ 2.01
EVGA 8800gts 320mb
Intel e6600
Creative sound blaster audigy xi-fi
Samsung sata dvdrw
WD 250gb hdd

Any help/suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[Jaer]

also, forgot to list my psu:

Corsair modular hx520w

thx again.

 

[Brawly44]

Have you updated your mobo's bios?

 

[Jaer]

yep, i'm on the newest bios they have. 0602

 

[Brawly44]

Are you running Vista or XP, and if so which version?

 

[Brawly44]

Sorry, I see that you are running Windows XP. What you are describing is a driver conflict. You should know that I am not an expert, but I have dealt with this type of problem before.

Within XP is a utility that is used to help isolate driver problems and for lack of a better description - will reset your drivers. Go to your start menu, and select the "run" utility. Enter the command "msconfig" press OK. This will launch the msconfig utility window.

Select the "services" tab, check the box marked "hide all Microsoft services" then click the "disable all" button. Next select the "start up" tab, and click the "disable all" button. Finally click "OK". You will be prompted to restart your system, go ahead and reboot.

Once back to your desktop, again navigate to the run function and enter the msconfig command, when the utility window opens select the "general" tab and check mark the box marked "normal startup" select OK and reboot.

What this does is shutdown all OS functions with the exception of necessary Windows programs, this also shuts down driver function as well.
When you re-establish your startup and running programs in some cases this will eliminate driver conflict. Of course I can't guarantee this will work, but it has helped me when I have experienced similar problems.

 

[notherdude]

Run memtest 186 all night long. Rules out drivers, corrupt windows, etc.

DBL chk your temps and if at all high reseat your heatsink. This could be an overheating problem. It may only show up in high stress applications such as games.

Run speedfan and post your temps at idle and under load please.

 

[Jaer]

by looking at my asus temp monitor, the cpu itself never goes above 45 degrees celcius under a full load. the motherboard gets into the mid 50's (no active cooling on the bridges).
I'll run speedfan as well just to make sure.

 

[Jaer]

chipset after a full load of WoW plus background apps is at 45 degrees celc.
Motherboard was at 59 degrees.

had a memory error, looked up the error and found a fix.

I also believe it may be a driver conflict between my creative sound card and my nvidia vid card. whenever I run itunes/winamp/mediaplayer along with WoW or another game it has errors or lags severely.

 

[notherdude]

Your temps look good. Not sure what you mean by memory error, could you explain?

If new drivers don't resolve your problem you could always remove the sound blaster and see if errors crop up still.

 

[Jaer]

memory management error, a function windows must do. First time I've ever seen it.

I also noticed my sound card and vid card are on the same IRQ (16). could this be an issue?

 

[notherdude]

memory management error, a function windows must do. First time I've ever seen it.

I also noticed my sound card and vid card are on the same IRQ (16). could this be an issue?

Possibly, but IRQ sharing is standard in modern versions of windows. I'd say the best way to rule out the conflict issue is to remove the sound card and see if you still crash..

There could possibly be some issue between your memory and your MOBO. Perhaps if you relax the timings a bit. Or if you have some other sticks to try. I'd go download 'memtest 86' http://www.memtest86.com/, you can get the CD ver or the floppy ver, you boot off of the disk itslelf, it will run automatically, you should be able to go all night without any errors.

 

[cutthroat]

Gskill 2gb 2x1gb 5-5-5-15-1t @ 2.01

@2.01? What does that mean? I'm a bit sick so maybe I'm just not catching on.

In your BIOS there may be a setting 'NVIDIA GPU EX' or something like it, it is supposed to guarantee higher overclocks with Nividia cards with certain drivers, but driver support is discontinued, so that should be disabled.

Also, try setting the RAM command rate to 2T.

 

[Jaer]

@notherdude: i moved the soundcard to a diff. pci slot where the IRQ is different since my motherboard won't let me change the settings. I haven't had any bsod's as of late.

@cutthroat: The voltage for the chips is what 2.01 is, i can't remember what the rating is, I believe volts. I looked for the nvidia gpu ex setting/option in the bios, but I was unable to find it. I'll try out the 2t setting as well and let you know what happens (if anything).

 

[cutthroat]

If your RAM is rated for 2.01v then you should manually set the voltage to that, not sure if that's what you've done or not.

The setting I described may not exist on your mobo, just checking, I didn't know if it was an Asus thing or 680i thing.

Let me explain more about 2T thing 'cause I don't want you to slow down your PC. If your RAM is "EPP" it should be able to run at 1T, if it's not it needs to be expensive low latency RAM. 5-5-5-15-1T is kinda strange timings, I would expect to see at least 4-4-4-12-1T.

I'm not sure if you are telling me what your RAM timings are set in the BIOS, or if that's just the specs from the manufacturer.