Cant get system stable. even with stock setting

[livingrock21]

Please, Please help.

I have a Q9450 processor, Gigabyte GA-EP45T-DS3R motherboard, 4gb OCZ platinum ram, and an Radeon HD3850 video card.

I got vista ultimate x64 loaded on my rig. I can get it to boot up vista with stock settings, but I get random reboots with no error messages. Some times I'll get blue screens with memory dumps.

I think I have it down to my problem being either a ram, or video card setting. There are so many settings with this motherboards bios though. It's extremely overclockable, but I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes to overclocking. I'd like to get this thing running a little bit overclocked with it being stable.

Please help my out guys. Hopefully some one is familiar with this board.

 

[rodney_ws]

Memtest86 bootable CD is your friend.

http://www.memtest86.com/

I had a devil of a time with system stability before I narrowed it down to bad memory.

 

[Onus]

Did you reset your BIOS to defaults?
This sounds like memory.

 

[erocker]

What are your temperatures and voltages? AUTO doesn't mean anything, look in the bios for some readings or some sort of Windows based program to check. It's possible you are having a overheating problem, or the motherboard is automatically setting a value poorly.

 

[elbert]

Could be your PSU failing to supply enough voltage. What is your PSU and how long have you been using it?

 

[nh484000]

id check the voltage on your ram, your motherboard maybe automatically undervolting the ram and you dont even know it

 

[Onus]

Hmmm, yeah setting BIOS to defaults is probably setting the RAM voltage to the JEDEC default 1.8v.

 

[livingrock21]

You guys are awesome.

Voltages are stock 1.25 for cpu, 1.8 for ram, and I can't remember what the mch(northbridge) value is. System idle temp is around 36-38 degrees celcius, and cpu temp is 28-30 degrees celcius. Overheating isn't an issue I don't think.

I just bought a new power supply because I was thinking the same thing. It's a 650 antec earthwatts. I researched everything and I believe it's putting out more than applicable watts. On the 12v rails it puts out 25 amps. I can't quite remember what the other amperage values. I beleive it's around the same though.

You guys have been great. Keep the great information comming please.

 

[livingrock21]

Jtt283- Isn't 1.8V more than enough with my ram settings being set on auto?


Everyone- I'd like to get my system overclocked slightly. Maybe 2.9mhz. I wan't to be able to keep my temps cool though so my system will last. If anyone has any settings they think would be worth me trying i'd def. be willing to try them.

The thing about this board is that there are so many settings that I'm not even sure what to do with. Like there's an advanced dram settings that baffles me. I'm not even real sure what MCH is besides that it's the northbridge. If no one is familiar with the bios my mother board has. I could write down all the different settings, and maybe someone could give me a value for everything I should be running (or atlease an approximate value). Anyone think they maybe able to do that? I'll def. write down all the values if someone thinks they can help.


Thanks for all the help so far everyone! Please keep the great information comming!

 

[livingrock21]

By the way. Sorry if it takes me a little bit of time to get back to everyone. I'm trying my best to get back to you all a.s.a.p., but I'm currently passing som kidney stones. I'm in some def. pain, but I'm also trying to keep my mind off of all that! lol. I wanted to thank everyone for getting back to me so quickly.

 

[pont]

i agree with elbert check the ps at stock settings it should be stable unless theres a power issue

 

[pont]

after check your ram out 1.8v
may not be enough if its this ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227139 it calls for 1.9-2.1 V

 

[Kari]

isn't GA-EP45T-DS3R a DDR3 board? so 1,8V might be plenty allready?
In either case check that you are using the manufacturers recommended voltages for your ram...

 

[livingrock21]

This is the ram I have (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227324). I guess I should have mentioned it was ddr3 ram. I have the voltage set at 1.8V. Does this all sound good.

Pont, You said i should check the ps (power supply)? How do I check and make sure it's stable? It's brand new. I just bought it last weekened. It should be ok, unless it defective I guess. Like I said, how would I check and see if it's stable? Under PC health status in the bios?

 

[livingrock21]

That link I just put in parenthesis didn't work. Here it is again. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227324

 

[livingrock21]

If I write down all the different settings in my bios, is anyone willing to give it a crack at giving me a value for each?

Another quesiton. Could this possibly by due to pci-e bios settings? I have no idea what the values for that should be?

This is why I was willing to write all the differen't values down so someone could possibly help me out.

Thanks again for all the help everyone has provided so far!

 

[livingrock21]

update:

Memtest86 is still running. I ran it the first time with auto timmings and it gave me 64 ECC errors. The second time I ran it (right now), I set it to factory timmings, and I'm getting nothing but errors it seems.

I'm running it at stock volts which is 1.8v

Should I be running it on auto settings since some of the other settings may not be correct (ie cpu, mch, ect).

Another question I have. The ram is running at 1333mhz right now, but it's ddr3 ram. Shouldn't it be running at factory settings of 1600mhz? The only way I'm able to acheive 1600 mhz is to over clock the cpu with 8x400, and that gives me 1600mhz memory.

Thanks for all the help, and hopefully someone here can help me out with these questions along with the rest of my questions. Thanks again.

 

[kyeana]

manually set the timings to 8-8-8-26 and the voltage to 1.8 (you could even try increasing it to 1.9) and then run memtest again and see if it works.

 

[kyeana]

if that doesn't work then try running memtest on each individual stick, and moving the RAM sticks to different slots

 

[pgaur82]

Yeah definitely try each stick individually. You can also try just switching the DIMM slots and see if you have any luck with that.

 

[livingrock21]

Thanks for the help everyone. Ram was deffective. What ram should I get that's DDR3 and around $270, and recommendations? While I'm at it, I'm going to return my video card. Any recommendations on a video card for around $150? I'm getting ready to order, so hopefully someone will have an idea here pretty quick. I'm obviously looking for something better than what I had before. I'm also looking to order off of newegg.