BFG Card Help returning.

[.Lethal]

Hi,

I am looking for a bit of advice. I bought the 8800 GTS 512mb card from here on release day and from then I have had problems every time I used my PC.

I didn't return it as I believed it was a driver issue and after waiting 4 months for Nvidia to update the driver I gave up, fully formatted the entire thing and installed some highly rated drivers on these very forums (I believe it was a link from one of the many links loadsamoney has posted).

The error in question is 3 similar but different errors, and it all happens in a particular cycle.

1. I turn the PC on and it hangs (usually within 10mins of first power on), forcing me to hard reset. (I then can use the PC for a bit until a random error happens).
2. BSOD - this one does not happen as often but is as above, happens early on first boot and restarts the PC letting me play again for a few hrs until another crash.
3. PC just restarts, no reason/error, it just restarts. Again can happen within first 10min of power on and after that it will work for a few hours only to crash again later.

It's not driver, It just cant be now. So where do I go from here? I know I can find this info myself but my reason for asking here is to try and get some help from people with experience from this.

Thanks
(a very frustrated and tired) Damonic

 

[skunksta]

What sort of psu do you have also the spec's of your pc would help out abit.

 

[.Lethal]

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient"
Asus P5K Premium/WiFi-AP Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C4 TwinX (2x1GB) x 2 = 4GB
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK)
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Sound Card - OEM (PCI) (30SB079200000)

 

[EVILCOSMOS]

Have you checked the minidump files created by windows during the bsod's to see what's causing them?

Also what voltage are you running the memory at and what voltage is the mch set at in the BIOS?

 

[.Lethal]

Have you checked the minidump files created by windows during the bsod's to see what's causing them?

Also what voltage are you running the memory at and what voltage is the mch set at in the BIOS?

All settings at default, I don't OC or mess with those settings. Where is the minidump file stored?

 

[EVILCOSMOS]

Go to the advanced tab in the BIOS and then go to the jumper free configuration. Set the Northbridge voltage to 1.4v as you are using 4GB and set the DRAM voltage to 2.1v Next set the DRAM frequency to DDR2-800mhz and switch the DRAM timing control to manual and change the following to:

CAS# Latency: 4
RAS# to CAS# Delay: 4
RAS# Precharge: 4
RAS# Activate to Precharge: 12

press F10 to save and exit.

Try these settings, hopefully this should stabilize your computer.

The minidump files are in the C:\Windows folder, but hopefully this will not be needed.

 

[deuse]

Have you tried taking out the sound card to see if thats doing it?

I had a PCI card that did the same kind of thing.

 

[.Lethal]

Go to the advanced tab in the BIOS and then go to the jumper free configuration. Set the Northbridge voltage to 1.4v as you are using 4GB and set the DRAM voltage to 2.1v Next set the DRAM frequency to DDR2-800mhz and switch the DRAM timing control to manual and change the following to:

CAS# Latency: 4
RAS# to CAS# Delay: 4
RAS# Precharge: 4
RAS# Activate to Precharge: 12

press F10 to save and exit.

Try these settings, hopefully this should stabilize your computer.

The minidump files are in the C:\Windows folder, but hopefully this will not be needed.

I am a bit weary of trying this (and that my RAM is good ram I believe?) but I shall give this a try as your method looks like it could be a genuine reason (I do have some knowledge of PCs but not precise knowledge of setting specific timings).

I will report back. Thanks for this suggestion

 

[.Lethal]

Have you tried taking out the sound card to see if thats doing it?

I had a PCI card that did the same kind of thing.

If the above fails I shall try this too. Strangly enough I believe you on what you say here about the PCi card causing a conflict with the mobo.

 

[.Lethal]

Go to the advanced tab in the BIOS and then go to the jumper free configuration. Set the Northbridge voltage to 1.4v as you are using 4GB and set the DRAM voltage to 2.1v Next set the DRAM frequency to DDR2-800mhz and switch the DRAM timing control to manual and change the following to:

CAS# Latency: 4
RAS# to CAS# Delay: 4
RAS# Precharge: 4
RAS# Activate to Precharge: 12

press F10 to save and exit.

Try these settings, hopefully this should stabilize your computer.

The minidump files are in the C:\Windows folder, but hopefully this will not be needed.

I have set the DRAM frequency to DDR2-800mhz and changed all the timings you have said. However, I cannot find the option to change the first 2 you said.


Set the Northbridge voltage to 1.4v (cannot find this option)
DRAM voltage to 2.1v (cannot find this option eaither).

I have changed and saved the settings from what I could change though. Can you help?

 

[EVILCOSMOS]

On the same page as the FSB Frequency, PCI Frequency, DRAM timing control etc. continue scrolling down with the arrow keys towards the bottom of the page. There should be 9 different types of voltages you can change.

 

[.Lethal]

On the same page as the FSB Frequency, PCI Frequency, DRAM timing control etc. continue scrolling down with the arrow keys towards the bottom of the page. There should be 9 different types of voltages you can change.

Having took a second look I figured out what to do. With my ASUS board it is hidden until you click "AI Overclock" and change from auto to Manual, then near the bottom of the page the options for what I needed was there.

Thanks for all the help EVILCOSMOS. Do you mind explaining why I have changed the voltages of the DRAM and Northbridge? The DRAM timings and Frequency I fully understand as they are the settings the RAM is ment to be set to.

Give me a few days to report back if I receive anymore problems

 

[EVILCOSMOS]

When everything to do with the RAM is set to auto the motherboard reads the SPD from the RAM, which are basically instructions saying what settings to run it at.

These instructions though are not what the RAM is supposed to run at i.e. 800mhz at 4-4-4-12 they are based on the JEDEC specification which forces the RAM to run at with extremely loose timings e.g. 800mhz 5-5-5-18 at 1.8v (1.8v is the default DRAM voltage all motherboards use for DDR2) which will guarantee any motherboard will boot with them, so that you can get into the BIOS and then manually change the settings to the proper values.

The voltage of 2.1v is a rough average between the recommended value 1.8-2.2v that should provide enough volts to run the RAM at 800mhz 4-4-4-12 safely without any errors. The range of 1.8-2.2v is given by the manufacturer as not all sticks of RAM are created equal, some might run at the stated specs using only 1.8v (not very likely) but most will need a little more.

The Northbridge is also known as the memory control hub (MCH), it deals with communications between the CPU, RAM, AGP or PCI Express and the southbridge. When you go from 2GB to 4GB the work load on the northbridge increases but the northbridge volts don't when set to auto, so you can end up with memory problems.

Phew! That was long

 

[.Lethal]

When everything to do with the RAM is set to auto the motherboard reads the SPD from the RAM, which are basically instructions saying what settings to run it at.

These instructions though are not what the RAM is supposed to run at i.e. 800mhz at 4-4-4-12 they are based on the JEDEC specification which forces the RAM to run at with extremely loose timings e.g. 800mhz 5-5-5-18 at 1.8v (1.8v is the default DRAM voltage all motherboards use for DDR2) which will guarantee any motherboard will boot with them, so that you can get into the BIOS and then manually change the settings to the proper values.

The voltage of 2.1v is a rough average between the recommended value 1.8-2.2v that should provide enough volts to run the RAM at 800mhz 4-4-4-12 safely without any errors. The range of 1.8-2.2v is given by the manufacturer as not all sticks of RAM are created equal, some might run at the stated specs using only 1.8v (not very likely) but most will need a little more.

The Northbridge is also known as the memory control hub (MCH), it deals with communications between the CPU, RAM, AGP or PCI Express and the southbridge. When you go from 2GB to 4GB the work load on the northbridge increases but the northbridge volts don't when set to auto, so you can end up with memory problems.

Phew! That was long

Ahh thanks for all that

Unfortunately this idea did not solve the problem, just had a BSOD.

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 2057

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 50
BCP1: FFFFFA6007981000
BCP2: 0000000000000001
BCP3: FFFFFA6002648C7B
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_0_6001
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\Mini042808-01.dmp
C:\Users\******\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-33415-0.sysdata.xml
C:\Users\******\AppData\Local\Temp\WERA581.tmp.version.txt

Read our privacy statement:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=50163&clcid=0x0409

 

[EVILCOSMOS]

Sorry to hear that

The bccode:50 is an abbreviated format for bugcheck code 0x50 which is
also known as STOP 0x00000050. This specific error code is
given the name PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

This Stop message occurs when requested data is not found in memory.

I suggest that you download memtest86+

http://www.memtest.org/

and create either a bootable floppy or CD and boot from this to see if you get any RAM errors.

If you get any errors run memtest again with only one stick of RAM in the motherboard at a time to see if you have a bad stick.

Also could you upload the minidump file C:\Windows\Minidump\Mini042808-01.dmp and post a link to it here so that I can double check it.

 

[.Lethal]

Thanks for the reply EVILCOSMOS,

I just took a quick look for a new BIOS update and found a recent one with the following changes/fixes. I am actually using the third latest BIOS update so I will post the last 2 changes as some info here may be relavent to my problem.

P5K Premium/WiFi-AP BIOS 0612
Improve ATAPI CD-ROM's compatibility with EZ-Flash.
Support new CPUs. Please refer to our website at: http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx.
Add [7 DRAM Clocks] in [CAS# Latency] option.
Add some items for [REF Cycle Time].
Enable better support for FSB1600/DDR-1200 combination.
Enable CPR support for CPU Ratio control.
Fix C1E, TM and EIST can't be disabled issue.
Add option [60 DRAM Clocks] into [REF Cycle Time] setup item.
Fix when using Conroe 3.0GHz CPU with FSB1333MHz the system may not resume from S3.

P5K PREMIUM/WIFI-AP Release BIOS 0504
1. Support new CPUs. Please refer to our website at: http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx
2. Enhance memory compatibility

Clearly the 0504 has "Enhance memory compatibility" so perhaps this particular fix could resolve my issue?

I did run Memtest about 2 months ago and it found no errors, although I don't know which particular Memtest I used as I found 3 or 4 under the same name and on 2 or maybe 3 different websites (with no errors found at the time). So I shall try the specific one you have suggested and see what results I get.

I will definatly upload the requested memdump file for you as soon as I am at my home PC (about 6pm). If you are on MSN I can also be contacted via there to make communication a bit easier.

Although the issue has not been resolved I can't thank you enough for taking the time to try and help me solve this issue that has been going on for quite a good few months now. (And I am releaved to know it looks like a RAM issue and not the GFX card).

 

[EVILCOSMOS]

I don't think the new BIOS will help but it definitely won't hurt.

I am sorry but I am not on MSN, as I am still stuck in dark ages and don't use any instant messengers.

Download either the Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip) of memtest and unzip and burn the image to CD with nero. Or download the Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win) and unzip the file and run the "runme.bat" file

Let memtest do about 10 full passes.

 

[.Lethal]

I don't think the new BIOS will help but it definitely won't hurt.

I will leave it until after I have ran memtest and you have taken a look at the memdump file (I am a bit weary of flashing the BIOS and having the PC lockup during the process (The PC froze last night while in the BIOS)).

I am sorry but I am not on MSN, as I am still stuck in dark ages and don't use any instant messengers.

No problem

Download either the Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip) of memtest and unzip and burn the image to CD with nero. Or download the Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win) and unzip the file and run the "runme.bat" file

Let memtest do about 10 full passes.

Will do, I will post my findings and the memdump file around 6-7pm.

Thanks

 

[Amnesia]

have you tried removing the sound card like one of the previous posters suggested ?
remove drivers too........it wouldnt be the first time for a creative labs card to be the culprit.

also have you tried reinstalling windows ? can work wonders

 

[.Lethal]

also have you tried reinstalling windows ? can work wonders

fully formatted the entire thing

I will remove the card when I get home too (I didn't try this yesterday as It was late when I got the BSOD after changing the timings and voltages).