Very Frequent Bluescreens On Asus X58 Sabertooth

[tomasjevne]

Hello, and I would like to apologise in advance for the inherent lack of actual understanding in this post.

The problem I am trying to solve is the very frequent (almost daily, mostly) random bluescreens happening with my brand new system.

I have an ASUS X58 Sabertooth motherboard, with 6x2 GB Corsair Dominator TR3X6G1600C8D RAM.
The processor is an Intel i7 950, which is not overclocked.
Apart from that, I have connected an SSD drive and 4 harddrives. The PSU is a Corsair 850W and the GPU a Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 Vapor-X.
I run Win 7 Ultimate.

At first, I thought the bluescreens happened due to some peripheral hardware failure, and sure enough, a Creative Live Vista webcam was not recognised. Since I don't use it, I removed it, and things went fine for a short while. I have a Logitech cordless keyboard connected, if that's of any importance and I have

But, the bluescreens keep recurring, and with no regular pattern.

I also noticed that my 6 pieces of RAM have all been set 1066 mHz rather than the 1600 mHz in BIOS and on less than 1.65V they supposedly run on.
Is this one possible explanation? I have updated my BIOS after installation, and should also have the latest Win updates and driver updates for the relevant hardware, with the possible exception of the eSATA thingie. I suppose my eSATA drive could cause this, but it worked fine on my old rig.

Should I have put less RAM in my computer? Is Triple-Channel impossible with all the RAM slots in use? I have tried to understand whatever information I have found on the web, but I simply am not that tech literate.

Finally, after a Trojan was detected and removed by AVG Free, the ASUS PC Probe II decided to go insane with messages of Enumerate Device Win 32_<insert every possible failure here> fail.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[jaquith]

Welcome to Tom's Forum!

Sounds like 'fun' - not! You're trying to make this SIMPLE!!! Yes I see your questions, and I could speculate answers for them all; test first.

Q - Are the HDDs in a RAID?
Q - Are their other OSes on the HDDs?
Q - If there are other OSes was ONLY the Primary SSD connected when you installed the OS?

The Corsair {TR3X6G1600C8D} is good for the MOBO; BUT DO NOT USE XMP! Just set the DRAM Frequency -> {DDR3-1600MHz}; you can set the CAS timing {8-8-8-24-2T} & DRAM {1.65V}, Save & Exit.

Do the following:
1. BIOS set RAM as stated above.
2. Unplug the SATA cables at the MOBO {leave other connections in place}
3. run MSCONFIG -> select Diagnostic

Post findings - we'll take it from there...

 

[tomasjevne]

Thanks for the swift reply.

1) No, they are not. I am uncomfortable with setting up devices that way.
2 & 3) No. No other OS, and it's on the SSD. The other devices were connected, but not yet recognised by the system. They were recognised in BIOS, though.

Thanks for the memory tips, maybe that'll do the trick. I am slightly (well, very) embarassed at my lack of up-to-date knowledge in this particular area. I did build the computer myself, though.
Could a fan or similar also cause a blue screen? They all work and are brand new too, but who knows.

So I should select Diagnostic boot?
Or is there some tool I am missing under one of the tabs here?

Edit:
I am proud that my motherboard did not explode when I changed the DRAM Bus Voltage to 1.65 and set the frequency to 1600.

Should there be some sort of report when I run Diagnostic boot? In that case, I haven't got one...
Ok, I am going to stop embarassing myself now.

 

[jaquith]

Also, cannot hurt download and install ALL of the latest drivers for your OS and OS type (64-bit or 32-bit); the "CD" has only OLD drivers and in the future don't use them. Link http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=AM2RChl84MZrKh6J&templete=2

Next, check your BIOS version 0603 is the latest and DOES address stability issues. If you do not have that version then use EZ Flash2 'How To' -> http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20070215223109668&board_id=1&model=P5B+Deluxe/WiFi-AP&SLanguage=en-us&page=1

MSCONFIG - http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/msconfig_win7.html It disables 'extra' apps from potentially causing a conflict -> BSOD.

My 'assumptions' 1. Do NOT use ANY ASUS Utilities {frequent BSOD}, 2. Possible Conflict(s) -> BSOD, 3. Mis-configured BIOS -> BSOD, 4. Mis-configured RAM -> BSOD, 5. Bad Drivers, 6. BIOS Update. MSCONFIG is for items 1 & 2.

'I' am NOT a PC snob and actually prefer to help than needlessly argue point-by-point with someone who is either a semi-know-it-all or stubborn. It makes my day if I can help someone solve a problem. {Been there too }

Impressive that you corrected the RAM in the BIOS!

 

[tomasjevne]

Thanks a lot, I will try those tips step by step, and I think I am going to throw PC Probe into the bin, since a search has revealed that a lot of people experience the issues I do after removing a Trojan. Rather strange if you ask me, but that seems to be how it is.

I think my BIOS says version 5.05, which is older, and I did do an update. However, I discovered now, like you said, there is a newer version out there.

Thanks a lot! This has been very helpful, jaquith!

 

[jaquith]

Run ESET Online Scanner {Excellent AV software} http://www.eset.com/online-scanner

Good Luck! Keep me posted

 

[tomasjevne]

Two days and no BSOD. I think setting the RAM at the right settings and the BIOS upgrade may have helped me out of my misery. Consider this solved.

 

[jaquith]

Cool - Ain't no fun otherwise!