Issue with new build

F

Fritzz

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
1,090
Just built a PC for my brother-in-law. Built the thing up here everything ran just fine, computer ran for several days without an issue.

I deliver it to him, install his old HD as a backup, transfer all his information, pics, music, etc to the new HD. Things are working fine. I leave, live about 4 hours away, and I get a phone call this morning. "My computer won't start up" So what I gather from him is that it will post and it will get to the safe mode vs normal mode screen. Once a selection is made it restarts.

System specs:
Thermaltake W0100RU purepower 500w
Western Digital 500gb HD
Lite-On 20x DVD
EVGA 8600GT 356mb
MSI P35 NEO2-FR P35
Intell C2D E8400
Crucial Ballistix pc28500 2gb (1gbx2)
In a Tsunami Dream Case

I had him boot from his windows cd, did a repair on the installation. He was then able to get into windows, at that point I had him run memtest. Within 30 seconds he got an error. Something about the overclocking of the memory wasn't allowing it to work properly. I know it was setup for PC8500 ram, and that's what I bought. Tried changing the timings on the ram to what Crucial stated them to be and also increased the voltage to 2.2v like Crucial recomends for their ram. Did all this and it wouldn't even post. Had to reset the cmos. So then I underclocked the ram by changing the fsb:ram ratio. Kicked it down to 833mhz, didn't mess with the timing, and the thing would boot up. He left it for a couple of hours while memtest ran. There were no initial errors, he said it did a full 100% test and then some. He left it running for longer, and then it started the vicious cycle again of the reboot over and over.

Any suggestions? Sorry for some of the vague details. I am getting it back this weekend so I can figure out what the heck is wrong. I already have 2 more sticks of Crucial pc6400 ram on it's way. Thought maybe the slower ram would solve the problem. I built a system for my dad in December and I used the same board, and did not have any issues with that one, but then again I used Patriot ram.

Thanks in advance for the help.
 
Pretty much what I was thinking, that's why I have some more on the way.

I guess only time and new installation of ram will tell.
 
Well the computer monster has reared it's ugly head again.

Since the last issue/fix. I bought Crucial PC6400 DDR2 ram and replaced and returned the PC8500 and got a refund. It's been running fine since. Got another phone call today and it sounds like it's doing it all over again.

Could this be a bigger issue than bad ram? Nothing is OC'd at this time. From what he said it started getting slower and slower, and then eventually started the reboot cycle again. I am going to get some other brand of ram. Any suggestions on a fairly cheap and realiable RAM? he just does regular computing so don't need anything major.

Thanks for the help.
 
It could be the power supply. Purepowers aren't great power supplies.

Good set of RAM:
G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ 2 x 1GB DDR2 800 RAM - $45

Also, update the BIOS, make sure that temperatures are OK (under 60C load), and try out another power supply to make sure that the Purepower isn't at fault.
 
I was thinkin the same thing as Danny. Something is causing your sticks to go bad, so its either the board, or your PSU, IMO. Try another PSU. If he's not OC'ing, go for some low-voltage DDR2-800 instead, like the ones Danny posted. BTW, the Crucial Ballistix should run fine at 1.8v 5-5-5-15 @ DDR2-800. If he's not OC'ing, theres no need to run the RAM any higher than DDR2-667.
 
The problem is that he lives about 4 hours away, so I am trying to troubleshoot over the phone.

What can I do to run test on either the mobo or the psu? The ram is running at detected settings, voltage on auto, etc, etc.

Temps are definitely ok. I had the PC for about a month and checked everything out, or atleast I thought.

Thanks for the help looks like I need to get the PC back from him and see if I can get this thing figured out.
 
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