Is my overclock unstable

X

xirokx

n00b
Joined
Aug 19, 2006
Messages
56
I enabled MEMTEST86 in bios and then ran a test overnight (8 hours)

no errors...

I am assuming my RAM is fine then? Or is memtest not that reliable?

Problem is my overclock was stable for weeks then just I started getting random restarts, so I went back to stock settings and everything ran perfectly.....I had primed my overclocked for 23hrs...

I guess you guys would suggest its a overclock issue? however is it possible for my overclock to be stable for weeks and then suddenly start playing up??

please advise

thanks in advance...
 
Well, memtest isn't the best test in the world, but if you ran it 8 hours or better then the RAM is probably not the issue. It could be the CPU not working well at the speed you have it set to. If you want to know for sure, clock it at stock for a week or two and see if you still have issues with restarts and such. If so, then the problem is most likely something else (heat, PSU, or software issue perhaps). If it seems to run fine at stock, you might shoot for a little lower speed. I like to use a combination of prime95/sandra and 3DMark to test stability myself. If it'll run all the 3DMark and Sandra tests fine and do prime95 for 24 hours without errors, it's typically a successful overclock.
 
thanks for your response,

thats just it you hit the nail on its when you said priming for 24hrs and running all 3D Marks test means you are personally satisfied that the overclock is stable........well thats precisely what I did.....It passed everything I threw at it....everything.....

I have tried upping vcore to no effect

I have also ran everything at stock for 3 weeks now and no random restarts etc.......Random restarts occur mostly whilst gaming btw......occassionally when photochopping and dreamweavering...

I wonder if you would be kind enough to elborate on the cause being "software related" as stated below...

thanks in advance, really appreciate your help
 
Well, I thought my overclock was unstable as my right click key kept freezing...

Like, the computer would stop recognizing the right click key, explorer gave lots of errors, and IE refused to ope new windows or load content into already open windows.

Thought it was my overclock too, so I backed down to stock. It worked for days, but eventually I got the issue again.

A full re-format fixed the issue, and I'm re-running at the clock in my sig. A problem that appeared to be overclock related, was a windows issue.

I think thats what he means by software issues... Things/drivers/processes that arn't compatible with the rest of your system.
 
thanks for that :)

a few weeks ago when my system was stable on the overclocking side of things, I installed a video editing prog with loads of codecs, since this time I have not been able to get sound from MSN messenger, the blocked popup sounds in IE, other window "ding sounds" or when loading websites with sounds.....although winamp works as well as video playback with sound...

therefore when you mentioned software it did cross my mind that windows could be the culprit.

I might just go for a fresh reinstall and see what happens

thanks guys :)

oh any additional responses are most welcome
 
Right, driver problem, incompatiblity with two software installs, problem with the OS install, etc. However, if you ran for a few weeks at stock with no problems, then it's not likely to be that. (EDIT, just read your post that came in while I was typing this up. If you didn't have this issue before loading that new program, you might uninstall that and the codecs and see if the issue goes away).

In your other thread I suggested the PSU and it sounds more like that could be the issue. With your DFI mobo, did you make sure you hooked all power connections to the mobo and to the video card? There are 3 or 4 places you must hook the power onto the mobo for it to be stable. I had an issue with my board when I first got it, because one of the connections seemed like it was optional, but reading the DFI Street forums, their guides say to use all mobo power connections. Once I connected all of them I've been stable since.

Anyway, check that and see if it helps...
 
All mobo / PSU connectors which are the main 4 for this board have been in place since day 1

To clarify:

a) after 1st installation my system ran for weeks using the stable overclock
b) restarting problems only occured after the video editing prog was installed
c) after removing the video editing prog ( i still ran the system on the overclocked settings)
d) later that day I had restarts galore so reverted back to stock
e) since then ( a few weeks now, system has been at stock and no restarts)
f) if system is put back to (same stable overclock settings) then restarts occur

hope that clarifys my situation....
EDIT, just read your post that came in while I was typing this up. If you didn't have this issue before loading that new program, you might uninstall that and the codecs and see if the issue goes away).
Click to expand...
as stated above tried this and whilst system is on overclocked setting the restarting still occurs...

therefore to reemphasis my overclock became unstable the minute i installed the video editing software then uninstalled it.....otherwise it was fine...

thanks for all responses so far, your efforts are most appreciated :)
 
i took out one of the fans in my case and my conroe setup became unstable during the afternoon hours where it is around 73 in my house... it would run orthos for around 22 min then crap out... i tied the same tests in the am when temps were around 68 and it ran for well over 4 hours. i just ordered my water blocks and 2 new scythe 800 rpm fans for my custom water setup in the basement. i really think heat is the culpret or i will find out soon .. dunno if this helps but it will hopefully fix my stability problems... no lockups just instable running intense testing software e6300 @3150
 
Did a fresh xp installation, as my DFI can save bios's after loading up my rig I reverted back to the "overclocking settings" which were "primestable" for weeks...unfortunately the system restarted....

On a lighter note I got my windows ding sounds back ;)

so my question is:

can a system run for 3 - 4 weeks on a primed overclock which was stable for 23 hrs when priming, then suddenly stop playing ball?

all advice and suggestions are welcome

thanks in advance
 
what are your temps like?
which psu do you have?
how bout loosening mem timings..,more processes need looser timings..
voltages??? enough
 
I have a few suggestions/advice for you to think about

1] Are you installing the nvidia ide/storage driver?
2] Are you installing the nforce firewall/network monitor bs?
3] Are you running a SATA Maxtor drive as your boot drive?
4] Have you tried lowering your memory timings or giving it another stepup of voltage?

To further explain:

1] I've always recommended NOT TO install the nvidia ide/storage driver as it seems to cause stability issues for many users especially DFI users. It's not 100% apparent either. I myself had this issue my system would hang or randomly restart whenever it felt like it.
2] I haven't tried installing this board over at the dfi-street forums its highly recommended that you DO NOT install them under any circumstances due to general instability issues
3] At first I thought my overclock was just unstable [see sig], however Maxtor doesnt officially support nvidia as a chipset maker and being so, a lot of Maxtor SATA drives have issues with nforce3/4 chipsets especially on DFI boards. I had a Maxtor SATA Diamond Max 10 200GB drive as my boot drive, I installed windows on it at least 5x before finding this information out. I went and bought a Seagate 300GB SATA drive and havent had a problem since. Windows would randomly freeze, occasionally it would hang on the starting windows screen for up to 20 minutes at a time, system would randomly restart and I'd be greeted with a windows needs to check your disk for consistency 50% of the time. All solved when I bought my new drive. Also tried the drive in my other pc [abit nf7 pro][sempron 3100+@2.4ghz][corsair 1gb dual channel kit] enough of those specs, bottom line was it showed the same issues and problems with that maxtor sata drive....i then set the PATA 80gb maxtor in it as boot drive and installed windows...no problems since. Maxtor IS aware of the issue and have a support page about it specifically.
4] Lastly, but definitely not least---memory timings play a major part in system stability and issues you describe make it sound reasonable that it could be your memory timings/volts---I'd stick to the simplest troubleshooting options first though obviously.

If I were in your shoes I would probably in this general order--- Uninstall nvidia nforce drivers---make sure to remove all crap from it--- reinstall latest drivers without installing the ide/storage drivers and telling it no when it wants to install the firewall/network access bs. Then see what happens with it. If no improvement I'd then try loosening your memory timings majorly, im not talking about going from say 2.5-3-3-6 to say 2.5-3-4-6 im talking about doing 3-5-5-12 or something extreme then testing, if that resolves the issue for some reason, you can then start lowering until it becomes unstable again or up the voltage going to it. I'm not sure what type of chips are on those but my Patriot 2gb kit is pc4000 and it has the UCCC chips which seem to run better in the Orange slots on my LP NF4 Ultra-D than the Yellow slots and it does honestly make a difference what slots they are in for some reason....maybe a DFI downfall or something.

If you still come up with nothing let me know as I may be able to help further provided more details such as shots of your bios settings ESPECIALLY the memory timings, and the genie bios itself. There are ALOT of memory configuration options in there and 80% of them or so will have a major impact of some sort. Would also help to know what bios you are running on it, there are bios's for dfi boards optimized for certain types of memory and configurations. I'm running the latest that OCZ Tony has developed/modified and its running fantastically for me.

OCZ has forums located at www.thebleedingedge.com I believe thats what it is and some of their memory seems to be underperforming as of lately. Reguardless they will help you as best as they can with it especially if its a memory related issue. I know I haven't covered everything this is just from the top of my head. Anyone please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
 
xirokx said:
Did a fresh xp installation, as my DFI can save bios's after loading up my rig I reverted back to the "overclocking settings" which were "primestable" for weeks...unfortunately the system restarted....

On a lighter note I got my windows ding sounds back ;)

so my question is:

can a system run for 3 - 4 weeks on a primed overclock which was stable for 23 hrs when priming, then suddenly stop playing ball?

all advice and suggestions are welcome

thanks in advance
Click to expand...

To answer your question in a more simplistic way lol---Yes it can happen like that---instabilities dont always show themselves instantly---it all depends on things such as Windows for one, which programs are accessing which sections of memory at which times and things like that. Even a prime stable machine for a week could suddenly become unstable if the proper conditions are met. And just to make sure---were you running prime properly---ive never owned an opteron but if thats a dual core did you make sure you were priming both cores properly anyway?

Sorry about the last post as I didn't think I had the time to read the entire thread but I saw that your specs just a min ago-------they'll still help you at the ocz forums even though you are running gskill memory :D

BTW what psu are you using?
 
I think most of the tests out there only test a part of the system. The best is to actually use real windows applications to see if it's really stable. I use graphics and video programs like Pinnacle studio 9 to edit, make movies to see if it hangs, picture story or dvdlab to make slide shows or dvd to see if it hangs, play racing games at high speed and max resolution to see if it hangs.
When you use graphics programs that handles large pictures, large cache for video files and manipulate them with many options, that's when you know your ram, hard drive, video card are really in-sync with each other.
I can run prime95 for hours and still have dvdlab Pro or Pinnacle studio hangs at rendering.
Open a few browsers (ie, firefox, opera), play movies, games, and as many applications you can to see how well the system works.
When you find the max and the sweetest settings for your system, then be happy with it. I think it's like a game when people are trying to OC the max out of their system, but in the end, all the system does is to sit there waiting to surf the internet, play a few games and a whole lot of money and time spent for something that the old system could do.

Cheers,
 
To see what kind of error is causing your restarts, go to start/control panel/system. Click on the advanced tab, startup and recovery, settings. Under system failure, uncheck automatically restart. Then next time you'll get a blue screen with an error message. The error message will give you an idea of what might be the problem. For example, PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA usually is memory related. There are many sites that list what the errors mean. Google is your friend :) . Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top