BSOD's and I'm lost on this one?

Fire488

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 14, 2007
Messages
438
Hello to my tech friends here at [H]ard|Forum.
I recently started getting BSOD crashes with my system and eventually it would not boot at all. I was using WinXP Pro 32bit . I decided to go with Vista Ultimate 64 Bit when I did the re-install. All of my hardware supports 64Bit and Vista so I expected smooth sailing. Boy! Was I wrong. This OS upgrade was a nightmare. I did get all the drivers installed and I have no hardware conflicts in the device manager.
This is where the problems begin and raise my questions. After shutting the PC down and re-starting, I would get a BSOD just before Vista reaches the spot where you would add your password. I thought it might be bad drivers, so I uninstalled and re-installed them all. I even tried an OS re-install. All to no avail. I started removing hardware to see if it may be a bad card or something. All was going well. I finally got to the RAM. I went through each stick in each mobo slot and they all booted the system with no problem. I ran Memtest86 through 10 passes and the RAM passed. This is where I get lost. I placed 2 sticks of RAM in the first channel of slots and the system works fine. No more BSOD’s at all. I added 1 more stick for a total of three GB’s. No crashes or BSOD’s. The system seems to run slower with three gigs rather than two. I add the fourth stick and the system boots up. I have no idea why. I wait for the complete boot and then try to restart. BSOD on re-boot ! I remove 1 stick (doesn’t matter which slot) and the system boots fine.
64 Bit systems are supposed to support eight GB’s I thought?
Does anyone have an idea of what else I should try?
I did purchase more RAM to replace what I have now. Just incase.
If you need more info, I can supply it.

Thanks.

My system specs:
Fire’s Rig: (Windows Vista Ultimate 64Bit)

COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: RC-1000-KSN1-GP
Item #: N82E16811119138

ASUS Striker Extreme Formula LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX The Ultimate Gaming Motherboard - Retail
Model #: Striker Extreme Formula

MSI NX8800Ultra-T2D768E-HD-OC GeForce 8800Ultra 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Model #: 8800UltraT2D768EHDOC
Item #: N82E16814127288

COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-850-EMBA ATX12V / EPS12V 850W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: RS-850-EMBA Item #: N82E16817171017

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6850 - Retail
Model #: BX80557E6850
Item #: N82E16819115028

2 of CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C5DHX - Retail
Model #: TWIN2X2048-6400C5DHX
Item #: N82E16820145175

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD7500AAKS
Item #: N82E16822136131

SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Model #: 226BW
Item #: N82E16824001096

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail
Model #: LH-20A1L-06
Item #: N82E16827106072

ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T - Retail
Model #: DVD-E616A3T

Creative 70SB046A00003 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series Sound Card - Retail
Model #: 70SB046A00003
Item #: N82E16829102014

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Model #: ARCTIC SILVER 5
Item #: N82E16835100008

2 of Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
Model #: WD1500AHFD
Item #: N82E16822136011
 
4 sticks of RAM does stress the MCH/Northbridge far more than two sticks. So its possible that there isn't enough voltage on the MCH/NB to handle that many sticks of RAM. So up the voltage on the MCH/Northbridge.
 
I agree with the above, it sounds like your mobo is stumbling on the RAM, try upping the voltage on the NB.
 
Yup, sounds like what Danny described.

For future reference, please list error codes of BSODs. ;)
 
I just got home. Thank you s much for the help. I will be trying your suggestions out. I will post the results as well. Thanks.
 
I added my new RAM and still have the problem. My NB is set up at 1.40v. Do you think I should go higher?
New RAM is:
Corsair Dominator CM2X2048-8500C5D
XMS2-8500 2048MB 1066MHz 5-5-5-15 2.10V ver2.1

I purchased 4 sticks for a total of 8 GB's.

I used 1 stick in each slot and it booted and restarted no problems. So that rules out a problem with the slots (DIMMs) themselves. I add 4 sticks and presto! BSOD again. I will go up to 1.50v on the NB and see what happens.
 
I wouldn't go up to 1.5v right away.. try 1.42v, and keep going up by at most .02v. I would actually recommend going up by .01. See what the lowest voltage you can use and still boot
 
I just got off the phone with ASUS tech support and they have determined that the mobo is shot. I just went through this with the prior mobo. This one was an RMA. Oh well. back to the drawing board again. Thanks guys.
 
I need to re-open this post because I received the new mobo and I still have the same BSOD on restarts or shutdown restarts. I removed every non essential piece of hardware and the problem persists. I tried different hard drives (three of them) and the problem persists. I purchased new RAM as stated in the prior posts. The only things that are original are the processor and Vid Card. They are listed in my PC specs above.
I managed to get it to boot at times and last night was one of those times. I have no idea why. I ran Prime95 all night with no flaws. I Ran Memtest again through 10 passes with no errors. I monitored all temps and voltages while the system was loaded down and they were fine.
I have the 2 Raptor drives in RAID 0 as the main boot drive with the op sys on it. I added a 3rd stand alone drive as a backup for the "my documents" files.
This problem only occurs when I reboot or restart. I get the dreaded BSOD. Then sometimes it boots fine.
I don't have another Processor to try or Vid card.
Does anyone have a suggestion for this issue?
 
I don't have another Processor to try or Vid card.
Does anyone have a suggestion for this issue?

- Did you try only booting with only one stick of RAM with the new mobo?
- Next time when the system fully boots, run Furmark or ATI Tool to stresstest the GPU.
- Get another CPU or GPU.
- Test the RAM, CPU, GPU, and every other part besides the mobo in another mobo.
 
Ok ill update what I have found out so far. My mobo did not like my SATA RAID 0 array along with my other hard drive used as a spare on a SATA port. I left that drive disconnected until everything seemed somewhat stable.
Just on a whim and to try something different, I removed all Windows hot fixes and restored my computer back to when I had no updates. I removed SP1 as well.
Strangely enough, the computer booted right up and seemed ok. I re-started and shut down at least 10 times with no errors. I did this with my mobo on auto settings and my original RAM.
The next morning it booted again with no flaws, so i tried out the 8 gigs of new RAM I purchased. No Problems!
I think that in the end I had two separate problems; shorted sound card and corrupted SP1 update.
Thanks for the help and 'l keep you informed as I OC this thing. LOL
 
- Did you try only booting with only one stick of RAM with the new mobo?
- Next time when the system fully boots, run Furmark or ATI Tool to stresstest the GPU.
- Get another CPU or GPU.
- Test the RAM, CPU, GPU, and every other part besides the mobo in another mobo.


I tried all of what you recommended as well, Thanks.
 
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