Howdy, first post and hope it's in the right section.
Sorry for the long post too, anyways:
First off some info:
Built a PC last year consisting of the following:
CPU - G6950
MB - Asus P7H55-M SI
GPU - EVGA GTX 460 (768 Mb)
RAM - 4 Gb Corsair XMS3 (CM3X2048-1333C9DHX x2)
PSU - EZCool 650 watt
Win7 x64 home
Ok, the above ran fine, no major problems (please note the RAM would have been running at 1066 due to CPU)
Last week, i bought an i5 760, and another 2 Gb of RAM (corsair as above but for capacity - CM3X1024-1333C9DHX x 2), installed and ran ok for a couple of days (though that was just OS and maybe streaming video).
First time i put a game on (Alien breed 2 through steam) it locked up within a couple of minutes (with looped sound stutter). Restarted, and locked up again after about half an hour. Same thing with BFBC2 (lockups and looped sound), each time requiring forced reboot (sometimes after 5 mins, sometimes 1.5 hours), and no crash dump etc (only errors are power kernels detected after restart).
Swapped CPU back to G6950, removed new ram, all fine, several stress tests (prime95) all passed, memory tests through windows tester all fine (i havent been able to get memtest+ working, but thats my uselessness). Checked up on BIOS, and updated (had been on very old BIOS). Stress test CPU temps were around 55 degrees, with core temps around 65 each core.
Next, swapped CPU for the i5, leaving the 4 Gb RAM, no boot (RAM slots used for over 12 months were A2+B2), swapped those over to A1+B1, booted, ran fine, stress tests again and memory tests, no issues (stress tests have all been min half an hour, max 1.5 hours), temps rising to a stable 60 degrees for CPU, and for cores climbing to around 77 degrees before falling back and hovering in the 72-75 range. Games run fine for a few hours too. GPU has never been above 70 degrees, CPU temps in game around 65 core temp, 55-60 CPU temp.
Re-inserted new ram (in A2+B2), booted, stress test for 30 min all well, mem test lockup (mouse and keyboard lose power, never noticed in earlier lockups but didnt look either).
Removed DIMM from B2, booted (BIOS now only detecting 3.5 Gb RAm with 5 Gb installed), memtest again crashed. reseated in slot, right amount detected, mem test locked up again.
Swapped DIMM from A2 to B2, completed tests as before all fine.
Removed the 1 Gb DIMM from B2 and replaced with the other 1 Gb DIMM (still B2 slot), test as above, all fine.
Swapped B2 into A2, booted, stress test fine, mem test fine, so inserted the first 1 Gb DIMM into B2 (to see if it was just being 'wierd', and now back to the full 6 Gb), stress test lockup within 5 min. Reboot, and lockup on loading screen. Removed DIMM from B2, and had a looong stress test, all passed.
Since i noticed the power off on mouse and KB mentioned above, i've noticed that at least one loses power on a freeze, sometimes both.
I have tried other combinations with the memory, it has only crashed with a DIMM in slot A2 with the i5 installed. (ps i didn't try the full 6 Gb with the G6950, only individual matched pairs in either A1+B1 or A2+B2)
I'm thinking it's the MB (maybe something to do with the 1333 speed obviously with A2 occupied), or maybe PSU, however i'm not overly great at troubleshooting hence i need advice of you more knowledgable folk.
My main concern is the CPU, have i ruled that out as a problem? (the i5 i mean).
The RAM used is listed in my MB manual as compatible.
As i say, my conclusion is MB or PSU, any further advice would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance and sorry for the novel.
Sorry for the long post too, anyways:
First off some info:
Built a PC last year consisting of the following:
CPU - G6950
MB - Asus P7H55-M SI
GPU - EVGA GTX 460 (768 Mb)
RAM - 4 Gb Corsair XMS3 (CM3X2048-1333C9DHX x2)
PSU - EZCool 650 watt
Win7 x64 home
Ok, the above ran fine, no major problems (please note the RAM would have been running at 1066 due to CPU)
Last week, i bought an i5 760, and another 2 Gb of RAM (corsair as above but for capacity - CM3X1024-1333C9DHX x 2), installed and ran ok for a couple of days (though that was just OS and maybe streaming video).
First time i put a game on (Alien breed 2 through steam) it locked up within a couple of minutes (with looped sound stutter). Restarted, and locked up again after about half an hour. Same thing with BFBC2 (lockups and looped sound), each time requiring forced reboot (sometimes after 5 mins, sometimes 1.5 hours), and no crash dump etc (only errors are power kernels detected after restart).
Swapped CPU back to G6950, removed new ram, all fine, several stress tests (prime95) all passed, memory tests through windows tester all fine (i havent been able to get memtest+ working, but thats my uselessness). Checked up on BIOS, and updated (had been on very old BIOS). Stress test CPU temps were around 55 degrees, with core temps around 65 each core.
Next, swapped CPU for the i5, leaving the 4 Gb RAM, no boot (RAM slots used for over 12 months were A2+B2), swapped those over to A1+B1, booted, ran fine, stress tests again and memory tests, no issues (stress tests have all been min half an hour, max 1.5 hours), temps rising to a stable 60 degrees for CPU, and for cores climbing to around 77 degrees before falling back and hovering in the 72-75 range. Games run fine for a few hours too. GPU has never been above 70 degrees, CPU temps in game around 65 core temp, 55-60 CPU temp.
Re-inserted new ram (in A2+B2), booted, stress test for 30 min all well, mem test lockup (mouse and keyboard lose power, never noticed in earlier lockups but didnt look either).
Removed DIMM from B2, booted (BIOS now only detecting 3.5 Gb RAm with 5 Gb installed), memtest again crashed. reseated in slot, right amount detected, mem test locked up again.
Swapped DIMM from A2 to B2, completed tests as before all fine.
Removed the 1 Gb DIMM from B2 and replaced with the other 1 Gb DIMM (still B2 slot), test as above, all fine.
Swapped B2 into A2, booted, stress test fine, mem test fine, so inserted the first 1 Gb DIMM into B2 (to see if it was just being 'wierd', and now back to the full 6 Gb), stress test lockup within 5 min. Reboot, and lockup on loading screen. Removed DIMM from B2, and had a looong stress test, all passed.
Since i noticed the power off on mouse and KB mentioned above, i've noticed that at least one loses power on a freeze, sometimes both.
I have tried other combinations with the memory, it has only crashed with a DIMM in slot A2 with the i5 installed. (ps i didn't try the full 6 Gb with the G6950, only individual matched pairs in either A1+B1 or A2+B2)
I'm thinking it's the MB (maybe something to do with the 1333 speed obviously with A2 occupied), or maybe PSU, however i'm not overly great at troubleshooting hence i need advice of you more knowledgable folk.
My main concern is the CPU, have i ruled that out as a problem? (the i5 i mean).
The RAM used is listed in my MB manual as compatible.
As i say, my conclusion is MB or PSU, any further advice would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance and sorry for the novel.