Vista 64-bit BSOD

[Hozer]

I built a computer ~2 months ago.

Q6600
GA-P35-DS3L
4 Gig (2x2 Crucial Ballistix) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
8800 GTS G92 512MB
7200.11 500 Gig / 7200.11 750 Gig

Built mostly for gaming, but I use dual screen and am constantly doing multiple things. (Youtube/game/AIM/firefox/music) all at once.

For about 1.5 months everything was great, I oc'd to ~3.2, very low temps, prime95 for 12 hrs not a single hiccup, memtest for an entire night, nothing wrong.

One day I get home from work and I have a BSOD. I figure, "eh, something random must have happened" so I restart and go from there. Since then (~2.5 weeks) I get a couple BSOD's every day. I use Vista 64 bit Business, and I have looked at all the different dumps, and they point all over. So I figure memory must be the problem. So I run memtest, get no errors. I reseat them memory, trying every configuration possible with the 4 slots and two sticks. I try each stick individually over ~6 hr periods, no problem. I run dual channel and get a couple errors, so I try having both on the same side, get no errors.

Throughout all this, I will get BSOD at basically any time during computer usage. Just start up and browse the web it could happen. Play a game for 8 hours, it could happen. It never really happens more than 2 or 3 times a day, so its not reproducible at will.

I have since reset my bios back to original settings, I have tried updating the bios, still get random BSOD.

So my question is, what is the best way to proceed? Each of the two sticks have gone ~6+ hrs on memtest with no errors, but at the same time they have shown numerous errors at times.

Do I just call crucial and RMA the ram? Should I be worried about the MoBo? Is there something else that I might be missing prior to those steps?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, this is just driving me nuts with the spontaneity of the problem.


Thanks in advance for anyone able to shed some light

 

[blacksci]

Try resinstalling your operating system. If you still continue to get the errors, i would rma the ram and the mobo to get both done and out of the way and work from there.

 

[Hozer]

Would the operating system have something to do with it, if I had memory errors even while booting to a CD with memtest on it?

Also, would it be better to use 64-bit XP instead of 64-bit Vista Business?

 

[Zenthar]

Each of the two sticks have gone ~6+ hrs on memtest with no errors, but at the same time they have shown numerous errors at times.

Just to make sure I understand what you said:
■Each stick, alone, can run memtest for 6+ hours without errors.
■When using both sticks at the same time, you sometimes get errors in memtest.
Is that right?

If so, my guess is that either the MB is having trouble dealing with dual-channel or not enough voltage gets to the RAM so when using both, they start to fail. What is your Northbridge and RAM voltages?

 

[monst0r]

I had a sort of similar problem with Vista64. I was getting BSODs (memory related), and my solution was to download the 4GB hotfix. Make sure that you installed the OS with ONLY 2GB RAM in the system. Add the last 2GB after the install/patches. SP1 should solve the problem too.

For now, try reinstalling with only 2GB RAM, then after all is patched, put in the rest.

 

[Shadow703793]

@OP: Make sure that the RAM voltage is correct. The Ballastix usually run at 2-2.2v.

 

[Hozer]

Thank you very much for the responses.

When I installed, I did not pay attention enough I think because I stuck all 4Gb's in and installed. I will check the voltages right now, that would seem very plausible that when I reset the bios I did not ensure they were at the proper voltage.

 

[Hozer]

Thank you very much for the responses.

When I installed, I did not pay attention enough I think because I stuck all 4Gb's in and installed. I will check the voltages right now, that would seem very plausible that when I reset the bios I did not ensure they were at the proper voltage.

@Zenthar: Sorry for my poor description, running each stick alone was fine. Running multiple sticks is sometimes fine, and sometimes not. There have been errors in dual channel, and with 4GB single channel.

I will look at voltages now and post shortly!

Thanks so much

 

[Hozer]

The DDR18V is at 1.856, so I changed the value to +.3V, so it should now be at 2.156, correct?

CPU-Z Shows my memory like this:

Type: DDR2
Size: 4096 MBytes

DRAM Frequency: 525.0MHz
FSBRAM 2:3
CAS L : 5 Clocks
RAS to CAS Delay : 5
RAS Precharge : 5
Cycle Time : 18

Command Rate: 2T

 

[Zenthar]

Are you still experiencing problems?

The RAM voltage should be ok, but as Shadow said, the Ballistix are rater @ 2.2V so you might want to try +.4V.

Why is your DRAM frequency 525MHz if BIOS settings were resetted?

 

[Hozer]

Well, I changed the voltage, to 2.156, and have yet to have a BSOD. But it has just been an hour or so.

I'm not sure why the DRAM is at 525

 

[Zenthar]

I'm not sure why the DRAM is at 525

Might be a clue to what is wrong, your RAM is running at DDR2-1050 (which is greater than the rated DDR2-800) and, from your FSB/DRAM ratio, it seems your FSB is running at 350MHz (1400MHz) but the Q6600 has a 266MHz FSB (1066MHz). My guess is that you simply have an unstable overclock.

 

[Shadow703793]

OP:

Set the SPD (aka FSB: RAM) to 2 or 1:1. This will ensure that the RAM is not OCed. Download UBCD and run Memtest86+ to makesure RAM is working correctly.

 

[Hozer]

So I guess my question is, how would I overclock the processor from 2.4 to something faster, and still have the RAM be stable?


I have it set to 2 right now, and and the FSB to 266, so the processor is 2.4 and the ram is 800.

The only other option for SPD is Auto and then ~2-4.5 increments of .5.

 

[Shadow703793]

@FSB 266 the RAM would be at 532Mhz. @FSB 400 then only will RAM run at 800Mhz if the SPD is at 2.

 

[Hozer]

Ahhh, I see. So the processor will be at 3.6 Ghz. I will try this and run UBCD memtest.

Do you think that reinstalling with only 2 gigs in during install would be worthwhile?

 

[Hozer]

I set the multiplier to 8, SPD to 2, and FSB to 400.

I ran memtest for ~2 hours with no errors. After loading Windows, and basically idling and browsing the web(for ~1 hour total), I have had 2 BSOD. One with fltmgr.sys (Windows Filesystem Filter Manager) and I forgot to write down the other one.

 

[Shadow703793]

Increase RAM voltage and try. Imo, that problem looks like a driver/software problem.

 

[Hozer]

I reformatted the computer and installed with just 2 gig's in. Soon after using the computer after reformatting I got a few BSOD. Then I swapped out to some CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) that I had extra. Soon after using this memory I had a few more BSOD. When I look through the Problem Reports and Solutions, the errors are all over the place.

I was curious where I should go from here. This is just getting to the point of being too frustrating. For 1.5 months I did not have a single problem. I didn't change anything that I can think of and since I got that first BSOD, it's just been consistently happening.

Any more advice/suggestions would be very greatly appreciated.

 

[Shadow703793]

Revert to stock settings and see.