Bulldozer + MSI = BSOD?

[evanswill]

Hey everyone,

This is my first post.

I recently built a new PC. Intended for mid to high-end gaming (Skyrim, SWTOR, Deus Ex: HR, etc...).
First, here are the specs:

Operating System
MS Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
CPU
AMD FX 6100 Black Edition

RAM
8.00 GB Ripjaws Dual-Channel DDR3 (9-9-9-24)

Motherboard
MSI 870A-G54 (FX)

Graphics
Acer LCD LED 23in (1920x1080@60Hz)
AMD Radeon HD 6700 Series (ASUStek Computer Inc)

Hard Drives
488GB Seagate ST500DM002-1BD142 ATA Device (SATA)

Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10L ATA

All parts were purchased on newegg.com. Received and assembled the machine Feb 1st, 2012.
I've had about a half a dozen BSOD since I assembled it. Other than that It's running pretty fine, except for some lag in Skyrim unless I turn AA off.
Can anyone help me with deciphering these BSOD? The most recent one happens everytime I try to start Deus Ex: HR. I just purchased it on Steam tonight. But every time I run the game, my computer just instantly reboots. When she comes back on, windows tells me it suffered an unexpected error, citing the BSOD (that never actually appeared on my screen, oddly enough) and points me to a minidump file, and an xml file.

Have I made a rookie error? This is my first build, and most of the parts were recommended to me by a knowledgeable friend.
Let me know if I need to provide any more info for troubleshooting purposes.

Thank you in advance,

Will Evans

 

[Raiddinn]

Does the computer only restart during games, or is there some other thing that you can do that will crash it?

What PSU are you using?

Is that a 6750, 6770, or 6790?

Sucks that you have problems playing Deus Ex, I was playing it 15 min ago, its a cool game. If you get it working make sure to get hacking up to level 5 and try to keep at least 5 upgrade points available at all times. Many times you will go to a boss fight and see that it would be really nice if you had some upgrade and you want to be able to get it.

Anyway, back to the issue at hand, I think you should download two programs and run them to see if you can get any crashes or errors that way.

One is MemTest86+ for the RAM, you will want to DL it and run it on your computer while you are sleeping.

The other is Prime95 and it should be able to test your CPU.

 

[buddharock]

Hey everyone,

This is my first post.

I recently built a new PC. Intended for mid to high-end gaming (Skyrim, SWTOR, Deus Ex: HR, etc...).
First, here are the specs:

Operating System
MS Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
CPU
AMD FX 6100 Black Edition

RAM
8.00 GB Ripjaws Dual-Channel DDR3 (9-9-9-24)

Motherboard
MSI 870A-G54 (FX)

Graphics
Acer LCD LED 23in (1920x1080@60Hz)
AMD Radeon HD 6700 Series (ASUStek Computer Inc)

Hard Drives
488GB Seagate ST500DM002-1BD142 ATA Device (SATA)

Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10L ATA

All parts were purchased on newegg.com. Received and assembled the machine Feb 1st, 2012.
I've had about a half a dozen BSOD since I assembled it. Other than that It's running pretty fine, except for some lag in Skyrim unless I turn AA off.
Can anyone help me with deciphering these BSOD? The most recent one happens everytime I try to start Deus Ex: HR. I just purchased it on Steam tonight. But every time I run the game, my computer just instantly reboots. When she comes back on, windows tells me it suffered an unexpected error, citing the BSOD (that never actually appeared on my screen, oddly enough) and points me to a minidump file, and an xml file.

Have I made a rookie error? This is my first build, and most of the parts were recommended to me by a knowledgeable friend.
Let me know if I need to provide any more info for troubleshooting purposes.

Thank you in advance,

Will Evans

Your processor is an AM3+ socket but your board only supports AM3. It is possible to make it work, maybe, but it will require an upgraded BIOS. Bulldozer is supposed to work only with AM3+ but there are some sites that say otherwise. Officially, however, it's AM3+ only.

 

[evanswill]

Does the computer only restart during games, or is there some other thing that you can do that will crash it?

What PSU are you using?

Is that a 6750, 6770, or 6790?

Sucks that you have problems playing Deus Ex, I was playing it 15 min ago, its a cool game. If you get it working make sure to get hacking up to level 5 and try to keep at least 5 upgrade points available at all times. Many times you will go to a boss fight and see that it would be really nice if you had some upgrade and you want to be able to get it.

Anyway, back to the issue at hand, I think you should download two programs and run them to see if you can get any crashes or errors that way.

One is MemTest86+ for the RAM, you will want to DL it and run it on your computer while you are sleeping.

The other is Prime95 and it should be able to test your CPU.

So far it's just been games. I updated my BIOS and I believe that resolved the BSOD issue. It hasn't occurred since then. However, I am experiencing some lag spikes and periods of poor frame rate in certain games, specifically Skyrim (Skyrim shouldn't lag on this machine, right?). Deus Ex doesn't BSOD anymore, but it does c2d occasionally. (This, I believe, is caused by the widespread incompatibility with certain Steam/CEG games and Bulldozer processors.)

My PSU is here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148022

I have the 6770 GPU. Here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121474

If I didn't already say, this is a 64bit system.

Also, any tips for running Prime95?

Your processor is an AM3+ socket but your board only supports AM3. It is possible to make it work, maybe, but it will require an upgraded BIOS. Bulldozer is supposed to work only with AM3+ but there are some sites that say otherwise. Officially, however, it's AM3+ only.

This is my motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130632

Clearly, it supports AM3+ Socket. I made sure before I purchased the components. I also have the latest BIOS.

 

[Raiddinn]

A 6770 is not a powerful video card, it is the bare minimum budget gaming card.

If you have lag spikes in high end games using it, I wouldn't be surprised at all, especially if it is paired with an AMD processor and if you are playing with very high settings.

I think some of the highest of the high end games will have to be played with reduced screen resolutions and certainly with AA off if you want to keep good frame rates at all times.

I personally have a 6850 paired with an Phenom x4 840 and I beat Deus Ex without a single crash or lag, I think. That was on whatever settings are the default and my monitor is only a 19 inch.

Deus Ex is kinda a low end graphics game, though, I doubt even with my better card I could get through those other games without lag even with a small monitor.

Still, it sounds weird to me that the games would crash because of a processor. I mean back in the Windows 95 days when direct hardware access was the norm, yeah that kinda thing happened all the time, but these days direct hardware access isn't common at all. I would think if the developers regular .NET APIs such problems wouldn't exist.

In any event, the MemTest86+ is the most important test at this moment in my eyes. Try to get that done ASAP. As for Prime95, if you just get an old free version you should be able to do a basic test with all defaults pretty easily, just do that.