BSOD / Graphics card

Greboth

Greboth

Greboth

Soldato
Joined
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Location
Birmingham
BSOD (unknown reason)

Hi there

I am looking for a solution to a problem again (seems about every other post at the moment :( ) My system is spec'd as below and has been built about a week and in that time my PC boots up fine but as it goes to load the log on user selection screen it BSOD's. Unfortunately I don't have a copy of the BSOD but if it does it again I will get it. Now it seems to be cured by a very gentle amount of pressue on the side of the graphics card (pressing it into the MoBo) This is fine for a couple of days but then will BSOD again, same fix again. I had to press one of the clips quite hard to get it into place but it doesn't appear to be overly stressed now it is in place.

Has anyone come across this problem before? Is it just a case of the gfx moving or a big coincidence that pressing it solves it? Also strangely enough I have never had a problem with it BSOD while running.

I don't know if you guys need anymore info or pics but if you do I will provide it :)
 
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Defiantly a strange one, what happens when you run only with the onboard GPU, Just to rule co-incidence with the gpu.
 
Before I had this case, I ran the exact set up in a different case for 3 days without the gfx card in and no problems. So I would presume that there is no problem when the graphics card is out, but to be certain that it wasn't a problem caused by changing case I will remove it for a while to see if it does it again. The problem is too that while it seems to be reasonably often in that its every couple of days it is irregular as to when it BSOD's.

Edit: Just noticed while taking the graphics card out that the top of the two clips that holds the card in place is loose while in its closed positiong. It is only a very small amount of play but the others don't have it. If the problem doesn't present while no card is in place then when I come to replace it I will swap it with one off another expansion slot as I don't use them at the moment anyway.
 
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Agreed - IRQL_NOT_LESS_THAN_EQUAL is normally related to memory problems.


Use memtest86+ to verify the memory is operative. Try using one memory stick at a time and try the single sticks in different slots. If one stick of memory fails in all slots, then its almost certainly a RAM problem. If the working RAM stick works in one slot but not another, then this is certainly going to be a memory controller problem. This could be CPU or Motherboard depending on the platform.

Check that the memory is set to the correct setting i.e. VDIMM and latency timings. Check the manufacturers website for details.

If your memory looks ok, then you may need to check your PSU:

http://www.huddysworld.co.uk/index....rking&catid=40:techie-talk-hardware&Itemid=72

If you can boot into your system via safe mode, then take a good look at the system dump and Event Manager for clues. Event manager is often overlooked and under estimated.

Hope that helps
 
Thanks for the response so far, unfortunately work is getting in the way so I can't check now but will start checking when I get home tonight. Though swapping out the ram sticks could take a while because of how random the bsod takes place.

I am thinking through the actions I took when I thought it was the graphics card. Taking the side of the case isn't going to change anything, though I fully discharged the PSU. Everytime I tried after dishcarge turned on, same again this morning when I tried. I wonder if is has any effect.

I will update this thread once I have checked vdimm and run the mem test etc above :)

Edit: I know this might not be able to be answered until the exact problem has been identified, but out of curiousity - why does only bsod when it comes to actually logging into windows? I would have thought that any possible problems would cause it to bsod during boot up.
 
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Never had to test ram before so new to this, I was going to check vdimm in bios but reading a couple pages from a google search I have read some suggestions that a multimeter should be used. Just wondering if I need to hunt out my multimeter and if so, exactly where to measure too on the motherboard.
 
i was suffering this after installing 4Gb of ram on my GA mobo, all the ram worked fine, just the mobo didnt like it in 2x1Gb and 1x2Gb sticks, coldnt find a fix other then leaving 1 stick out
 
That does seem a little odd. Well I plan on running through the simplest checks first (vdimm and memtest) before I start testing each stick on its own and in each slot etc.

Maybe I am being almost too logical about this but what I still can't really wrap my head around is the intermitant fault of it. Surely if was a faulty stick of ram, cpu etc it would bsod everytime instead of, somwhere in the region of, every 1 in 5 boot ups.

Anyway, just thinking out loud really. If someone can explain how to measure vdimm on the motherboard I will start testing it all tonight.

Thank you so much for the advice so far.
 
Right update time, I have run memtest86+ for about 5 and half hours without any error's, though I may run it over the weekend for longer.

Also checked the vdimm and timings in BIOS, the timings were correct but the vdimm was 1.5V when corsair lists them as 1.65V. I am not sure how much 0.15 V makes but I have changed it anyway as it was wrong. System has booted now but its an intermitent problem so I don't know if it has been cured.

Thanks again for the help, I will post back if their are any future problems.
 
Short answer - Nope :(

Tried it last night and it was booting fine, tried this morning straight to bsod. This time with a system service exception 3b. I had to leave to come into work though so not looked into anymore yet.

Edit: I have the dump files at home also so I can post them up if it will help someone identify the problem.
 
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If you have run memtest86+ then you memory should be fine but i would try running one stick at a time and stress test as above thereby eliminating the memory completely. Your next port of call is the PSU test which I've already posted.

Did you look in event manager as I suggested?
 
Thanks for the help, I will start the process of running one stick at a time to eliminate them.

Sorry, I forgot you said about the event log. I will add it to my list of to do's.
 
Event manager log copy and pasted - I have one of these everytime I get the BSOD which makes sense. Not sure how much there is there to tell you though but thought I would post it up before I start pulling RAM sticks.

Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
Date: 02/09/2010 17:59:47
Event ID: 41
Task Category: (63)
Level: Critical
Keywords: (2)
User: SYSTEM
Description:
The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power" Guid="{331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}" />
<EventID>41</EventID>
<Version>2</Version>
<Level>1</Level>
<Task>63</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8000000000000002</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2010-09-02T16:59:47.130011500Z" />
<EventRecordID>8280</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="8" />
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>Gambit</Computer>
<Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="BugcheckCode">80</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter1">0xfffffa80279fcaf6</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter2">0x1</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter3">0xfffff880040fcab2</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter4">0x2</Data>
<Data Name="SleepInProgress">false</Data>
<Data Name="PowerButtonTimestamp">0</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

Googling the kernel error, it seems a lot of people are finding the solution of removing a Realtek audio drivier - Could it really be this simple?
 
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