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ryanrhee90
n00b
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2010
- Messages
- 26
Hi everyone.
Let me start out by saying that I'm new here, and if I didn't put this in the right section, I apologize in advance. I posted in motherboards because I think the problem may lay in my motherboard, but I wanted to get some other opinions as to whether I'm diagnosing the problem correctly.
OK. I think I have hardware trouble. I'm getting BSoD's every 12-24 hours or so, or KP (kernel panic)s in Ubuntu / Mac OS (hackintosh). I'm tri-booting the three OS's, and no matter which OS I'm on, I get a BSoD/KP. The last five or so have all been page faults.
Background info: My CPU was fried (failed prime95 within 30 minutes every time i ran it). After replacing my old CPU (i7 920) with a new one (i7 960), I was able to pass Prime95. I thought that would fix the constant KPs and BSoD's, but it didn't.
I have 6GB memory, 3x2Gb. All 3 are G.skill, all 3 are DDR3-1600, but not the exact same model. Two are 7-7-7-24, and one is 9-9-9-24. (All G.Skill Ripjaws.)
I thought the problem was memory. I ran memtest86+ that was installed on my ubuntu system. I got ~40 errors. I thought I had narrowed down the culprit to memory. However, when I tested the memory one-by-one, none of them threw an error. I tried every memory slot as well, and still none of them threw an error.
I ended up downloading the newest version of memtest86+ from memtest.org, and that one ran for 2 hours without any problems with all 3 sticks plugged in.
This is my first question: why the memtest discrepancy? My ubuntu install (which is where memtest came from -- grub has the option to run memtest86+ ever since i installed it) is 32 bit. Could memtest have a hard time addressing all 6Gb of RAM? I know that when I tried ubuntu's bundled memtest with 2 sticks each (and I tried all 3 combinations -- stick1 and 2, 2 and 3, 1 and 3) it didn't throw an error.
The second question: Where do you think my problem is?
*I'm sure it's not my CPU since I just got it.
*Apparently it's not my memory either, since I can run the latest memtest86+ for 2 hours without failing. I do realize that passing memtest doesn't mean my memory works, so it could still be the memory.
*It can't be my hard drive, since all three OS's get page faults and the OS's are on separate hard drives. (Windows and Linux are on a WD 1Tb drive, and the Hackintosh is on a RAID10. RAID card is a RocketRAID 4322.) It can't be
That leaves me to think that it has to be the motherboard.
Other things to note: this motherboard has always felt buggy to me.
*After any BIOS update, it had trouble starting unless I unplugged one of my USB peripherals from it. (For the F9 version of the bios, it was my Bluetooth USB from rockfish that wouldn't let it boot. For the F12 bios, it was my Razer Mamba that wouldn't let it boot.)
*around 1/4 times, when trying to access the bios, after the AHCI screen (where it enumerates my AHCI devices), I'll get a black screen with a blinking cursor instead of the BIOS screen. I'll have to do a manual restart at that point to do anything. (I've let it hang there for around 12 hours before, and nothing happened.)
*Bios and Memtest show the two sticks with faster timings as PC10600 even though the label says PC12800. This makes me think it could be the motherboard as well.
If it's the motherboard, I can replace it. I just want to see if there are some additional trouble-shooting steps I can take before concluding that it's actually a hardware problem with the motherboard.
Right now I only have one stick of RAM in -- the one with the slower timings. It's a new stick I recently got, so I'm hoping that if there are memory problems, the newer one will have a smaller chance of being the problematic one than the older one. If I can go without BSoD/KP for a week, then I'd know for sure that it's memory-related. (Either one of the slots or the stick itself.)
TL;DR: I have random KPs on all three OS's on separate drives. Very recently replaced CPU and ran memtest for 2 hours without errors. That leads me to think it's the motherboard that's the problem. What's your input?
Let me start out by saying that I'm new here, and if I didn't put this in the right section, I apologize in advance. I posted in motherboards because I think the problem may lay in my motherboard, but I wanted to get some other opinions as to whether I'm diagnosing the problem correctly.
OK. I think I have hardware trouble. I'm getting BSoD's every 12-24 hours or so, or KP (kernel panic)s in Ubuntu / Mac OS (hackintosh). I'm tri-booting the three OS's, and no matter which OS I'm on, I get a BSoD/KP. The last five or so have all been page faults.
Background info: My CPU was fried (failed prime95 within 30 minutes every time i ran it). After replacing my old CPU (i7 920) with a new one (i7 960), I was able to pass Prime95. I thought that would fix the constant KPs and BSoD's, but it didn't.
I have 6GB memory, 3x2Gb. All 3 are G.skill, all 3 are DDR3-1600, but not the exact same model. Two are 7-7-7-24, and one is 9-9-9-24. (All G.Skill Ripjaws.)
I thought the problem was memory. I ran memtest86+ that was installed on my ubuntu system. I got ~40 errors. I thought I had narrowed down the culprit to memory. However, when I tested the memory one-by-one, none of them threw an error. I tried every memory slot as well, and still none of them threw an error.
I ended up downloading the newest version of memtest86+ from memtest.org, and that one ran for 2 hours without any problems with all 3 sticks plugged in.
This is my first question: why the memtest discrepancy? My ubuntu install (which is where memtest came from -- grub has the option to run memtest86+ ever since i installed it) is 32 bit. Could memtest have a hard time addressing all 6Gb of RAM? I know that when I tried ubuntu's bundled memtest with 2 sticks each (and I tried all 3 combinations -- stick1 and 2, 2 and 3, 1 and 3) it didn't throw an error.
The second question: Where do you think my problem is?
*I'm sure it's not my CPU since I just got it.
*Apparently it's not my memory either, since I can run the latest memtest86+ for 2 hours without failing. I do realize that passing memtest doesn't mean my memory works, so it could still be the memory.
*It can't be my hard drive, since all three OS's get page faults and the OS's are on separate hard drives. (Windows and Linux are on a WD 1Tb drive, and the Hackintosh is on a RAID10. RAID card is a RocketRAID 4322.) It can't be
That leaves me to think that it has to be the motherboard.
Other things to note: this motherboard has always felt buggy to me.
*After any BIOS update, it had trouble starting unless I unplugged one of my USB peripherals from it. (For the F9 version of the bios, it was my Bluetooth USB from rockfish that wouldn't let it boot. For the F12 bios, it was my Razer Mamba that wouldn't let it boot.)
*around 1/4 times, when trying to access the bios, after the AHCI screen (where it enumerates my AHCI devices), I'll get a black screen with a blinking cursor instead of the BIOS screen. I'll have to do a manual restart at that point to do anything. (I've let it hang there for around 12 hours before, and nothing happened.)
*Bios and Memtest show the two sticks with faster timings as PC10600 even though the label says PC12800. This makes me think it could be the motherboard as well.
If it's the motherboard, I can replace it. I just want to see if there are some additional trouble-shooting steps I can take before concluding that it's actually a hardware problem with the motherboard.
Right now I only have one stick of RAM in -- the one with the slower timings. It's a new stick I recently got, so I'm hoping that if there are memory problems, the newer one will have a smaller chance of being the problematic one than the older one. If I can go without BSoD/KP for a week, then I'd know for sure that it's memory-related. (Either one of the slots or the stick itself.)
TL;DR: I have random KPs on all three OS's on separate drives. Very recently replaced CPU and ran memtest for 2 hours without errors. That leads me to think it's the motherboard that's the problem. What's your input?
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