Strange behavior... please help!

You can see my system in the sig below (no longer overclocked due to issues).....

It all started last May. We went on vacation for a week. When I came back, replugged in the computer and tried to boot I got a C1 post error. From other posts on the net, etc it looked like a memory error. I got 2 of the sticks to work so I called Crucial and got them to RMA the other 2.

Even using the new sticks, I had to loosen the timing to get all 4G working.

Everything seemed to work ok until around November. During a seemingly innocuous reboot one day, I again got the C1 code. I had to lower everything even more to get the system to work. I lowered the memory clock ratio to 1:1 instead of normal 1:1.2 and timing to 5-5-5-15.

This seemed to go ok until a few days ago when I started getting random BSODs with varying messages. I haven’t run the .dmp files through a debugger but I’ve seen ntfs.sys and pagefault_in_nonpaged_area areas during the dump (probably some others as well). The BSODs got so bad that at one point I was getting them within 1-5 minutes of booting up.

During one of my BSOD reboots, I once again got the dreaded C1 post error. This time, I could only get 1 stick working in 1 slot.

During my various combinations of memory and slot, I got this very strange message a few times:

Award BootBlock BIOS v1.0
Copyright © 2000, Award Software, Inc.
Detecting floppy drive A media…
Drive A error, System halt

BTW, I have no floppy. The only things I’ve tried so far are clearing the CMOS (many times) and loosing various parts of the memory timing.

My 1st inclination is to completely scrap the crucial memory (which is 2.2V memory) and go with something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 820231122] which is 1.8V (which is the default of the mobo).

Any other suggestions? Please help!!

So how do I inspect the mobo for bulging caps? I have no idea what that even means

Thanks for the links. I've inspecting all of them and don't see any visible bulging or leaky traces on the mobo.

Any other suggestions? I've got most of the monitoring tools. If it has something to do with voltage regulation shouldn't I be able to see that with Everest, etc?

Thanks again for the help...