Jump to content
Corsair Community

New computer not working


Areck

Recommended Posts

Well, about 3 weeks ago i finished building my first computer. The first problem i noticed was that when I boot up my computer after not using it for a period of time, it almost always freezes after about 15 seconds. Whenever it freezes I just restart it and it doesnt freeze anymore. Then when i try to install Windows, i get tons of different blue screen stop errors, like PAGE_FAULT_FOUND_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (0x00000050), or something about IRQ_NOT_LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL. I have also got other errors that are just numbers like 0x0000007F and sometimes the install would just freeze.

 

After trying to install windows many times it finally got through the install without any errors and i could use windows, except it was very glithcy (even after installing all the drivers). It would randomly shut off and close programs. Also, when it was turned on it would get to the welcome screen, restart and give me the options to start windows normally or in safe mode. I chose start windows normally and after a few more restarts, it finally logged in. This series of restarts also happened whenever i restarted my computer.

 

I then tried to reinstall windows, and again it took many tries to finally get through the install without errors. The new install had the same problems as before, so from then on i kept trying to reinstall but each time I reinstalled, I tried changing a bios setting (most of which i have no clue what they mean:(: ) or using a different hardware configuration, like changing which memory slot i used. Unfortuanately none of these resulted in a working install of windows. While i was switching around my hardware in noticed that i had accidently plugged in both a SATA power connecter AND a 4 pin molex power connector to my Western Digital Caviar SE hard drive, so i tried a different hard drive (a Hitachi 80GB EIDE 7200/2MB/ATA-100), thinking that this was the problem, but it still didnt work. So far i have probably tried to install windows about 20 times and about 3 have worked, but were glitchy. I now think that maybe my hardware isnt compatible or faulty.

 

My Computer:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (socket 939)

DFI Lanparty UT CFX3200-DR

ATI Radeon X1900 CrossFire Edition*

Western Digital Caviar SE (WD1600JS) the hard drive i plugged 2 power connecters into

Hitachi 80GB EIDE 7200/2MB/ATA-100 the new hard drive

Corsair CMX1024-3200PRO (just 1)

Pioneer DVR-111DBK my optical drive

Ultra X connect 2

ViewSonic VX922

 

*I got the CrossFire Edition because my friend could get it for me half price and i didnt get another, regular X1900, because of the price and i didnt think i needed it, could this be the problem?

 

Well, if you have any idea what's wrong, please reply, I'll appreciate it alot, and sorry for the excessively long post:p:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing wrong with informative posts, regardless of the length :)

 

First thing I'd do is to Test your memory in each slot using Memtest86+.

 

Try these settings:

 

CAS Latency (tCL): 3

RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD): 3

Row Precharge (tRP): 3

Active to Precharge Delay (tRAS): 8

 

Memory Voltage: 2.7-2.8 Volts (Warrantied up to, but not over, 2.90 volts)

All other settings to defaults.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My motherboard had a bios setting that enabled memtest86+ v1.65, so i just used this to test my memory in each slot at 2.76 volts and the latency settings you suggested. I didn't get any errors and I ran it on each slot for at least 2 and a half hours. I dont really know whats normal, but it took 30 min for each pass, so in 2 and a half hours, i only got 5 passes for each slot.

 

Some other stuff that i noticed, is that my ram module has 18 activity lights (3 pairs of green, 3 pairs of yellow and 3 pairs of red), but it seems that only the red ones ever change. The green and yellows are always on, no matter what im doing with the computer, while the red ones light up in relation to memory usage. Is this normal? Also, when i turn off my computer, i sometimes get a split second, random flash of a yellowish-green shape, could this be because of a graphic card problem? Thanks for the help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
Well, seeing as no one replied:(: , i took it to a computer shop and for 25 bucks they determined that it was a ram compatability issue. After trying and then returning 2 different makes of ram i finally got one that works (VS1GBKIT400). Now everything works fine except that it still freezes when i cold boot windows xp home when the blue bars are going across. After i rebbot it, its fine until the next cold boot. Anyone know why???
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, they lied through their teeth and from the sound of it didn't fix anything. If you didn't get any errors in Memtest for that long a test run, I seriously doubt there's anything wrong with the ram. Did you set the timings and voltage to the values Wired provided?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yea, well i used all the settings wired suggested, but it was still problamatic. But now with the new ram things are working great though, and i took it to a different computer store and they came up with the same solution. Basically everything is working except that it freezes, or sometimes restarts during the cold boot, whats up with that?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Randon thoughts: which Ultra supply are you using (a LinK?), did you plug in all of the power connectors on the board (there should be three-main atx, cpu, and the extra one that keeps the Pci-e video card(s) from starving), are you running windows off the SATA or EIDE drive?, have you run CHKDSK on the drive?, according to your boards manual the board has cpu overheat protection that will shut down during cold boot if temperature exceeds critical threshold (it's possible the heatsink isn't sitting flush)- what kind of cpu temps are you seeing in the bios under the PC Health Status section?, what kind of voltage values are you seeing in the same section?, Does the supply support the ACPI functions in the bios under Power Management Setup-might try temporarily dissabling the ACPI function to see if the problem goes away, I'd also try dissabling "K8 Cool & Quiet Support" under Genie BIOS setting. Without actually seeing the system, it's going to take a bit of work to track down what's going on. More to come.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

WOW. Thanks a lot:D:. K, im using a ultra xconnect2 with dual rail technology and im running windows from an EIDE hard drive, but i didnt plug in the floppy power connecter on the motherboard for pcie video cards, cause the manual said its only needed when you have 2 video cards, so im gonna try that now. My temps seem fine, max 40ish for cpu; my volts, im not sure but i think they are all withen a .3 variance, and i know this may seem dumb, but whats CHKDSK? Thanks a lot.

 

P.S. Probably random, but the last 2 times i cold booted my computer, it didnt freeze, ever heard of a problem solving itself:bigeyes: ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, that's what I read in the manual as well but more than a few have found that plugging in the extra connector even while using a single vid card can add to stability. The high end Pci-e cards (the x1900 has 384 million transistors) are a might thirsty at times and can cause the type of symptoms you're seeing so the extra juice spigot can't hurt. The six pin Pci-e connector on the end of the video card must also be plugged in. If it is plugged in, sometimes switching to the other six pin connector from the supply works. With the x1900 being one of the most power demanding cards out there, I have a sneaking suspicion it's running short on power at times, subsequently causing the crashes and behavior your seeing. CHKDSK is a Windows utility for checking for errors on the hard drive and with the problems you mentioned installing Xp, there's probably quite a few, which can also be the cause of some of the freezes and problems your seeing. To run CHKDSK, hit start, then MY Computer, then Local Disk (the drive Xp is on), right click, hit properties, then the Tools tab, and then l-click error checking. "I'll be back."
Link to comment
Share on other sites

SWEET! It works now, no cold boot problems, no nothing, all i did was plug in that extra power connecter! ive cold booted it like 9 times now and everythings fine! Thanks a lot people, garvin, you're a genius:D: .
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, i ran CHKDSK and it said my drive was clean:biggrin: . My comp seems to be fine now, the only thing that could be odd is that sometimes when i turn off my comp, i get random, chunky, yellow thingies (i think they're called artifacts?). Thanks again for all the help!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OMG. My computer screwed up some how. Basically alll i did was try the old ram again, because you guys said it should be compatible, but it gave me a stop error. So i switched back to the vs1gbkit400, and now it doesnt work! Basiacally i turn it on and it says, windows did not start succesfully etc. and gives me the option to start windows normally. If i start windows normally, it just restarts and gives me that message a gain. I set my ram to run at 200mhz with 2.5-3-3-8 latency. What is going on???
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry for spamming posts, but this is so wierd... I tried my comp again without changing anything except for reducing ram voltage to 2.6 from 2.7 and its running fine, for now. Any idea whats causing this randdomness:confused: ?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Corsair Employee

Form what you have posted I would suspect some other problem, but I have no problem replacing your modules if you want to try that. Howeve, I would check a few things first since you get no errors in memtest.

1.Make sure that you have the latest Bios and load setup default and or clear the bios and load setup defaults and reset the settings.

2. Set the memory voltage to 2.8 Volts

3. Tes the syste with one module at a time to see if you can isolate the problem to one module.

4. Make sure that you have the latest drivers for Chipset, CPU and Video card and any other cards in your system.

5. Check the event long and see if there are any errors that you can track or trace at http://www.microsoft.com/technet

6. If you installed the Chipset IDE drive un-install it. that solved some problem I had with this chipset and some third party software when burning a CD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry about not posting back sooner, had a bunch of stuff that needed to be done immediately. I'd follow Ram Guy's advise including the bit on the chipset IDE driver, seen that posted in other forums with that board; it will then just use the default Window's IDE driver. I'd still leave the extra Pci-e connector plugged in as well, that 1900 is one of the thirstiest cards out there. With the Corsair stick in, I'd use the 3-3-3-8 (Wired)timings at 2.8volts first and see is it's stable, then bump the 3 to 2.5 on the timing at 2.8volts(Ram Guy). Good Luck.

 

ps: Out of curiosity, are you trying to run missmatched modules, one Corsair and one another brand?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well i tried most of those things arlready and still nothing worked. By the chipset IDE driver, do you mean the "ALi M5229 PCI Bus Master IDE Controller" and where can i find the event log? Right now i am using a corsair VS1GBKIT400 and nothing else. Im pretty sure the 3-3-3-8 timings wired recommened were for my single stick of CMX1024-3200PRO which i couldnt get to work on my computer (or my brother's which has an asus A8N-E mobo).

 

Right now I'm really confused because before, my system was working fine except for the cold boot problem, and then with out changing anything, the cold boot problem just dissappeared, i then plugged in the third mobo power plug and things remained stable. After that, i tried my old CMX1024-3200PRO again and it couldnt load windows (gave me stop errors) as expected so i switched back to my VS1GBKIT400 and it continually restarted when i chose start windows normally. Then i changed the voltage to 2.6 (dont think this made a difference) and it finally booted (on the warm boot). All i have changed since then is the voltage to 2.8 and I still have the cold boot problem. How could trying my old ram mess things up? Well thanks for all the help and its not like its a serious problem now because i can still use my computer, its just a minor annoyance every time i boot it up :sigh!: .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Corsair Employee
Please load setup/optimized defaults and then set the Dim Voltage to 2.7X volts (+.2 Volts W/Giga-Byte) and then set the timings manually to the tested settings for the specific module you have, XMS2700C2 Cass 2-3-3-6 for example or if you have Value Select "BY SPD" and then test the module/'s one at a time with http://www.memtest.org! If you still get errors, please follow the link in my signature “I think I have a bad part!” and we will be happy to replace them or it! However, if you get errors with both modules that would suggest some other problem and I would test them in another system or MB to be sure.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well i tested the ram with the settings i have now and i got 4 passes and no errors but i couldnt push esc to reset my computer or push c to configure the test. Basically the test worked but i couldnt stop or change it with out actually pushing the off button. So i am going to try loading default settings and testing it, but even if it is a ram problem why is it that it only freezes on the cold boot???
Link to comment
Share on other sites

it might be your PSU, and CPU restarts or just turns off your PC if the temps are getting high reseat and apply some good thermal grease if that's the case.A faulty PSU might be the suspect then again a good PSU with perhaps a bad quality control, I thought my Antec was best of both worlds till I got the FSG. I could be wrong, but I would flash my BIOS and find out if there's a problem there. Bad drivers are suspects also. You might want to look into that too.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well it's a good sign if it passed Memtest. I'd still go into the bios though and Load Optimized defaults. Succesive crashes at boot canhave a way of messing up the stored device parameter and settings data within the cmos. The easiest way to clear the garbage is by using the Load Optimized defaults option in the bios. This will force the board to use the hardwired default version of the bios to startup which will also cause the bios to bypass the Quick Boot option and physically query all of the hardware devices to collect a fresh set of correct parameter data. The fact that the keyboard isn't functioning correctly while Memtest is running and the cold boot issue leads me to suspect that some of either the settings data or transparent to the end user data has become corrupt.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

K, thanks for all the advice. I loaded setup defaults in bios and things seem to still be stable. Im gonna run memtest again and see what happens, and again, when u guys say the chipset IDE Driver do u mean the one called "ALi M5229 PCI Bus Master IDE Controller"?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...