PC keeps crashing - advice please - what are you folk running

[fluffykeith]

OK - here's the problem.

64bit AMD PC - I've put Windows 2000 on it and for much of the time it works. But....

On an almost daily basis it blue screens with driver issues, various different ones with various different blue screen codes. Generally it happens when watching a recording or live tv. The driver indicated in the error is often different.

I ran a memory test that went through the memory a number of times over a few hours and all was fine. The power supply is within spec.
I can still accept it as a memory error as the rate of bsod is less than the time I spent testing the memory. However it would have to be a timing error rather than just a bit error. ie, I could slow the access times and see if that imporves things.

Am I expecting too much of win 2k on 64 bit platform? Should I change to XP 32 bit or even 64 bit? if so what version is home ed. sufficient?

What are you running?

Any advice would be helpful as I'm getting desperate and sour looks from the other half each time it reboots.


cheers

Keith

[gEd]

64-bit win2k is a rather rare platform and I could easily image there being unresolved driver problems for this platform.

I would clone your c: partition as a backup and try xp 32-bit. you don;t need 64bit at all. home edition should work just but pro version give you more control over network / shares / permissions etc.

are you sure you don;t have an overheating problem with either graphics card or cpu?
maybe try running with the lid off that lovely case for a while.

also try running a cpu stress test with prime95

[K.S.]

let memtest run for at least 24 hours. otherwise: it could also be the MB. what PSU model do you use?

if possible, switch the RAM & see if it still happens. i would move to XP 32bit of your choice, but don't expect to much, w2k was to stable to start with BSOD with different drivers... 64bit wont gain you much + there is the risk of not getting drivers for all HW parts you want to use

do you ran it 24/7? if so, check your temps (speedfan or other SW), might also be overheating (2xHDD + 3 PCI + ???)

[fluffykeith]

Hi thanks for the help

Yes the PC runs 24/7 - temps are very low 23C for processor and about 30C in the case. Its a so called low power AMD! and the graphics is on board.

Does the cpu stress test also stress the memory as well ?

I have 2 other PCs running the same win 2k set up and they are very stable so its not really win 2k just possibly the drivers. I agree the drivers are probably not well tested on this platform.

cheers

Keith

[mbox]

WinXP might be your safest bet for this setup. It's more reliable and stable. Just run the 32bit and you shouldn't have any issues.

[fluffykeith]

Hi gEd

Well I loaded up prime95 and it failed within 5 to 20 seconds with a rounding error. My Shuttle PCs run it for ages with no problem.

If I run it with a small FFT, ie, just in the cache it works fine. According to the instructions the AMD has the memory interface on the CPU so either the interface, motherboard or memory is at fault. So I've order some new memory.

I wanted to slow the access timing down on the memory but the bois doesn't have that option however it did have a voltage option so I raised that by 50mV to improve the timing however the PC failed to start after that. Luckily I got it back with a cmos reset.

Hopefully the new memory will be better although its a slower speed, it's 2 sticks rather than 1 so it should works in dual channel mode.

mbox - I agree XP will also be safest - I will probably have to change it soon but so far it seems to be hardware related.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for the help.

Prime95 is a great way to max out the cpu and memory in a way that memtest doesn't do.

Thanks

Keith

[gEd]

Perhaps the default ddr2 and vcore voltages are not high enough for your ram and cpu.
try giving them a little tweak (use the easytune util so you can do it in windows and re-try prime95 without having to reboot the pc.

make sure that you are on the latest bios.

[K.S.]

I wanted to slow the access timing down on the memory but the bois doesn't have that option however it did have a voltage option so I raised that by 50mV to improve the timing however the PC failed to start after that. Luckily I got it back with a cmos reset.

you have a gigabyte MB... you do know about the advanced settings in BIOS? if not: press CTRL+F1 while in the BIOS. the screen display will quickly flash & display the full BIOS settings possible
that's one of the annoying quirks of gigabyte, hidding settings away from users just because some noob might set something wrong

[Torque]

It's good you're trying new memory. If you're using onboard video that shares system memory, your memory timings and voltage have to be spot on and stress tested thoroughly or you'll get this problems. I went thru the same thing on my setup initially.

[fluffykeith]

Hi KS

Your right I didn't know about the ctrl-F1 thing - I'll give it a try later when I get home. I find it odd that I have the rather destructive voltage settings available but not any memory timing settings :/ I'll see if they appear with a ctrl-F1.

I have some new memory arriving but I slowed down the system by setting the multiplier from 12 to 11 and it works fine.

So now I'm not sure if to use 2 sticks of 667MHz in dual channel mode or the 1 stick of 800MHz.

Thanks for your help.

cheers

Keith