New build unstable at stock, please help to troubleshoot

MrM

MrM

MrM

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As title, a new build I put together is not as stable as I would have hoped. Essential spec as follows:

Intel i5 2400s cpu using onboard graphics
Asrock H67M-GE mobo
OCZ Vertex 2 80gb SSD
Seagate Green 2TB HDD
Pioneer bluray writer
2x2GB 1333 MHz OCZ low voltage ram
Running Windows 7 Home Prem 64 bit

All drivers up to date

Windows is installed on the SSD. CPU temp idles around 36c, doesnt go above 50c when running Prime 95, but if running 4 thread torture test will kick out with failures on some threads at random, and if left, I will often return to find the system has restarted/crashed and generally fallen over.

Ocassionally receive BSODs shortly after boot. Will often loose mouse pointer on startup, ie cannot see cursor on screen. Windows explorer will consistently crash, mouse cursor, when working, can be sluggish in moving around the screen. Sometimes when listening to music, system will freeze and a horrible "juddering" noise will come from the speakers until I reboot.

When downloading apps to my hard drive, such as iTunes, Windows Security Essentials, quite often on running the executable file, I receive a warning sayingnfile is corrupt, yet if I elect to run, rather than save the file, it works fine.

Have tried using various firewalls and antivirus software, but seems to make little difference. Have always built my own machines in the past, and this is turning into the most frustrating build by far.

I havent had a lot of time to try and trousleshoot so far, as its desined as an HTPC and hooked up to the TV, which we often want to watch. Tried many installs and seems to make little difference.

So what are peoples thoughts?

Windows issue?
Driver issues?
Ram issue? - access is tight nder heatsink, so not tried other dual channcel slots, nor just 1 stick at the time at the moment

Any ideas much appreciated
 
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Plec said:
Did you manually set up the memory or did you leave everything on auto?

If you haven't done so already, manually input the voltage/speed/timings etc - save and exit.(i would input the maximum recommended voltage to start with.)

Then run prime 95 again.

EDIT: Also, make sure your running all the latest MB drivers
Click to expand...

Yes everything with regard to memory is on auto, will try adjusing that this afternoon.

All mobo drivers up to date, but have seen that the Z68 boards are out now, and looks like some drivers for common bits of hardware have newer versions to download for Zs than is listed on sight for Hs, so I guess I could try those.

I did try to run memtest, but System wouldnt recognise boot record on the usb stick I used...
 
Ok, so a quick update for you. Cant remember what happened last night, if I recall the machine crashed for some reason and I opted to let Windows attempt a repair when given the option on boot. Wnd forward a few mins and Windows tells me it is unable to do a repair, and then wont boot and comes up with anothr BSOD.

So after another fresh install things look a little better this morning. I had one BSOD when I first turned the machine on, then on restart it boots to Windows an Explorer crashes and restarts, which has been a common issue. I got memtest running and left for a little over an hour, no errors came up. Hs been Prime stable for a couple of hours before I turned it off. So far it seems ok.....

But, and there is always a but. It transpires my SSD is running in IDE mode, not AHCI, for my use, its not going to matter, but Im of the mindset that if it can, then it should.

Making the registry mod, and changing to AHCI in the bios and all seems well, except for a bit of mouse lag, which is another annoyance. Now here is the weird thing. On boot from being turned off, Windows will not boot and I get a mesage along the lines of no boot record found, blah blah, but if I hit the restart button, or ctrl alt del, it loads up and goes into Windows, just doesnt do it first time round. It seems that in the bios, the primary AHCI boot device gets overwritten, and as such the bios doesnt remember boot priorities once the machine is turned off. Just tried a bios update, but same thing. So back to IDE.

I think e can rulenout the RAM, bUt theres still a few gremlins. What next?
 
Ok, machine has been prime stable for 7 hours. Not sure what that says though.

I can't upgrade the SSD firmware as the OCZ update app closes the machine down after giving the message "primary device detected". See my previous post for additional issues with AHCI.

So you guys think it's the SSD? Could it be the mobo? And why won't the mobo bios remember the boot priority?
 
If I have both drives connected when installing Windows, Installation will fail citing corrupt file. I googled this and it seems is a common problem and solution was to disconnect the HDD which was not the primary with the OS installed on it.

I physically cannot install Windows if the secondary drive is connected.
 
Yet another BSOD last night when playing music on XBMC. I've left Memtest running overnight, and after 8 hours or so there are no errors. Will see what happens after 24 hours but it I get a feeling it will come through.

I'm going to replace a Sata cable to the ssd tonight and see if that makes a difference, else I can only assume either ssd or mobo issue.

I could install windows on my storage hdd, but I wanted to keep it "clean" with just music and photos. How easy is it to delete a Windows install at a future point once this issue is resolved. I want to make sure I don't delete all my photos and music in some mishap...

To reiterate, I am unable to update the ssd firmware as I even in AHCI mode I get an error message saying "primary device detected" and the machine shuts down.
 
I should clairfiy, I do have the music and photos on an old desktop which I am looking to retire and currently in the loft after swapping the photos and music over. Yes I am bad at backing things up, and an external hard drive is probably a sensible option. I had considered blu-ray to do this, but external clearly would be more flexible.

Money not an issue, so I may well buy one today. Any recommendations on external HDD's? I bought my old man a Samsung a little while ago and he has been happy. At the time I read WD have some proprietary software which you need to use to back up?
 
Got home from work today to find 2 errors in Memtest after running for 21 hours, test 7, pass 13 and 25 if that means anything to anyone.

And what does this mean, that my RAM is bad and the cause, or that its ok and errors happen every now and then. Not sure what to make of it?
 
How would OCUK qualify the RMA? I dont want to be told theres no problem with the ram as it was after 21 hours that I found an error?
 
Cooler is Scythe Shuriken big quiet low cooler

I set memtest going at around 8pm, and at 6am there were no errors, so definately after 10 hours. Will test each stick in different slots. 2 reiterate, errors only on test 7 and only 2 errors. Windows diagnostics memory test finds no errors. Timings set manually as per spec and voltage at highest recommended value.

Cooler makes it difficult to get access to nearest slot to cooler, and heatsink itself was a pain to fit.

Will test hdd drive when external drive arrives
 
It was a pain to fit, what is your thinking?


So 9 hours in memtest and no problems on the one stick so far...
 
If the current stick on test produces no errors, I'll assume that its good, and that the DIMM slot is good. I will then use this stick in the other DIMM slot to check that.

Assuming all good, I can assume the other stick is bad, but will look to verify that on test.

External HD should come tomorrow or Monday, so will test that then.

With regard to bow, no, I do not have a permanent deformation. As with my experience in building PCs, there always seems to be one corner on a mobo that doesnt have a chasis screw under it, and inevitably when installing the cooler you get flex down in that corner, but its not lasting.

I also switched over the SATA lead that I had to the SSD. Im stiull puzzled as to why my mobo cannot remember that when in AHCI mode, the SSD is the primary boot device. Every time from a cold start it seems to forget this.

Also, without AHCI mode enable, the machine will ignore the memtest usb stick... very bizarre.
 
Bios is up to date and was from factory. No other settings affected. Have changed cable so will see if that's the fault causing the boot order issue.
 
Ok, so another update for you.

Lets call it stick 1, survived a 24 hour memtest in each DIMM slot, so assming this stick is good and the mobo is ok. Put stick 2 in lets call it slot 1 for arguments sake, after 10 mins I had lots of errors on test 7, so I thought Id nailed it. Took stick 2 and put it in slot 3 and no errors after a couple of cycles, which dismayed me a little. So I put it back in slot 1 and has been going for 4 hours with no errors, so have to admit, Im a little confused.

The fact it was test 7 that failed seems too coincidental, but Im wondering if I hadnt seated the ram correctly as its not been instantly repeatable. So the memtest test gooes on.

Just to point out, on the original memtest error, I only got 2 error messages after 24 hours. When stick 2 was in slot 1 earlier I had about 80 in a matter of mins.....?

External HDD not arrived yet either.
 
Plec, you took the words out of my mouth. Proving without doubt that the issue is the mobo or cpu is going to be difficult I think. In thr back of my mind, I am wondering if the memtest errors were due to the ram not quite being seated correctly. I stopped stick 2 in slot 1 after 18 hours, as it had done 50 test loops and no errors. Now on stick 2 slot 3 and been going for 2 hours no problems. Assuming it makes 50 loops I have to assume memory and DIMM slots are fine.

I will be able to rule out the HDD easy enough when the backup drive comes, and Plec, I thank you for keeping an interest in this, somewhat keeping me sane in this tedious process. Machine was prime stable for as long as I tested it, so other than that, I am not sure how I can isolate the cpu. One thing lingering in my mind is this whole bios forgetting the boot order when AHCI is selected. I cant work out why...
 
Yet another update. Stick 2 in slot 3 survived memtest for a day, so, aside from running memtest 24/7 ad infinitum, I have to draw a line somewhere. I am now assuming the ram and mobo DIMM slots are good. The HDD test will commence next week. Have been running Prime 95 now for 5 hours and no errors......
 
Ok, so yet another update for Plec et al. Given the Windows installation issues I have had, with Windows kicking out mid way through unpacking and expanding files, I downloaded aj identical copy of my oem disc, to see if that made any difference. Installing Windows on the SSD when I can get it to work is not a long task, so worth a shot I thought. Same problem.....

So with files backed up onto the external drive I have installed Windows on the larger, slower HDD. Everything seems fine, so problem on install, no random crashes since, no complaints from Windows, nothing, so a huge improvement, now again its early days, but I need to make a conclusion as some point as this was not what I was aiming for in my build.

Other points to note. I have downloaded Win 7 SP1 onto dvd and I cannot get it to install, it comes up with an error, and does this regardless of which drive I had Windows installed on. That said, when the OS was on the SSD, it would frequently have issues downloading Windows updates. On the HDD I have not had a single issue.

I have this morning been able to update the firmware on the SSD now it is not the drive with the OS on, but to be frank, not being able to update the firmware of the drive if it us your primary is far from ideal.

Now here is a general question, on the OCZ drive there is a folder called boot, and a load of language subfolders in it, which amongst other things includes a file called memtest. WhenI have tried to install Windows in the past, I have been unable to format this small partition, its always been protected in some way. Do I need it, and what does it do? If I can delete it via Windows should I?

At this stage it certainly seems like a SSD issue, but an issue that may be extremely hard to identify in an RMA. Perhaps the new firmware will have solved the issue, any chance you think?

With regard to the psu, I suppose I could test it, but in fairness I went a little OTT with a Corsair premium modular premium unit, forget exact model, 850W if I recall, which should be easily able to cope with my punitive system.
 
Ok, more info and very interesting, thankfully my TV has picture in picture, so can fiddle on pc as well as watch qualifying.

So, a new install done on the SSD all smooth so far, no crashes. BUT I still have the boot issue, where from cold, the SSD is not recognised, on the first POST, but after hitting rset it works fine. It would then figure that the SSD does not show up in the bios if I enter at first opportunity. I did not have this issue with the HDD.

it gets interesting when I move the SSD to a 3gb sata port, no problems.

So theres something up with the SSD and the 6gb sata ports. Which 6gb port and which cable makes no odds...... From the machine being off, in AHCI mode only (works in IDE mode), the SSD is not recognised in a 6gb channel, but is after restart, hope that makes sense.

So we are making progress, but I will admit, I dont know where to go from here.... And mobo is B3 stepping for the record
 
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Will do, having done a quick google, this issue doesnt seem uncommon with AHCI and OCZ drives, I found reference to an Asus mobo with issues. Yet if it works with the HDD, im trying to figure out where the issue is, I guess I still have to assume SSD.
 
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