Newly built computer experiencing two different crashes.

[babycakes]

Hello. I apologize if this is in the wrong section, but I'm not entirely sure what is causing the problem. I recently built a new machine using parts from newegg. Here are the specs.

Windows 7 Ultimate with SP1 64 bit.

Intel i7-2600k CPU @ 3.40 GHz
Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 (Version 296.10)
Gigabyte Z68xp-UD3 motherboard (rev 1.3)
8 gigs of RAM. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231308
Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AZRX 500GB IntelliPower SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Seasonic SS-850HT 850W ATX12V v2.31,EPS12V v2.92 80Plus Silver Certified, Active PFC Power Supply - OEM

(sorry for such a long-winded description: I'm not sure exactly what might be useful)

As previously mentioned, I am getting two different freezes.
Freeze 1) Everything instantly freezes and the keyboard and mouse become unresponsive, requiring a hard reset. I have gotten this during the welcome screen, using firefox, playing games.... It's seemingly random.
Freeze 2) Everything freezes for a few moments, then the screen goes black. When the screen returns, I almost everything goes back to normal. if I am playing a game, the sound will no longer work. I have noticed this error when I am not playing a game. "Display driver NVIDIA windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 296.10 stopped responding and has successfully recovered."

The second crash didn't start happening before today. Yesterday, I suspected a RAM issue and the windows memory diagnostic detected a hardware error. I tried this test with both sticks of RAM and only one failed the diagnostic. I even took the good one through 7 passes of memtest86 with no issues being found.

Today I tried using my computer with the supposedly good stick of ram but I am still getting crashes 1 and 2! Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have been working on this thing for 4 days and am reaching my wit's end (PS. I am fairly certain I have all windows updates installed, as well as all drivers for my graphics card, motherboard, and CPU)

 

[smorizio]

the ram ram not quite on the ram guild the model that on the guild looks like it 9t timing ram and not 7. I would go back to one dimm. and download cpu-z and read the dimm jdec. I would then reboot and see what the mb has set for ram speed. i would also see if in the over clock section the mb has an xmp profile. most rams posted speed on new egg is the xmp speed. i would then run some memtest to see if it fails.if it does i would reboot into the bios and up the dram voltage from 1.5v to 1.6 and retest. most time with ram errors..it timming or the voltage it not quite right. if it still locking up if you have a computer or best buys near your or a friend that can let you used another dimm try it. if it locks up with another dimm. power off the pc and unplugg it from the wall. i would reset the ram but i would also look under the cpu and at the cpu for any bent pins. new intel mb the memory controller is inside the cpu. if you have a know good stick of ram then it could be a bent pin. a bad cpu or a bad mother board. also before you pull your hair out have you done all the bios updates for the mb the bios is up to rev f10.

 

[babycakes]

Hey Smorizio,
Thanks for the reply
the BIOS menu lists Memory frequency as 1066 Mhz, and timing at 7-7-7-20
CPU-Z lists 535.0 DRAM frequency at Mhz, and timing at 7-7-7-20

I am not sure exactly how to find an xmp profile.... what am I looking for?

 

[babycakes]

I should also mention that I inspected for broken pins and found none. I am also up to date on BIOS with rev f10.

 

[smorizio]

in cpu-z under spd tab. in tahe jedc #1..#2..then one will say xmp. most times it the last one.