Please help diagnose my PC issue

aaronhowe

aaronhowe

aaronhowe

Associate
Joined
9 Jun 2006
Posts
141
Could people just have a look over what I've done so far and see if you come to the same conclusion.

Symptoms
Started with random reboots while playing Fallout 3.
Reboots got more regular
Had a few blue screens with various errors
Fails Prime95 blend test, fails intel burn in test and fails OCCT tests.

Config
Q6600@3Ghz
MSI P7N Diamond 780i Motherboard
4Gb (2x2) G.Skill 8000C5 Ram
2x 500Gb HD in raid 0
1x 1TB WD black
1x Pioneer SATA DVDRW
2x 8800GTS 512MB
Corsair 620W PSU

Troubleshooting
  1. Tried upping Vcore from auto which always ran fine. Increasing voltage makes no difference.
  2. Tried upping NB voltage - no effect
  3. Tried upping DRAM V but - no effect
  4. Tried each stick of RAM on its own - no effect
  5. Tried memtest86 on both sticks of RAM, both pass.
  6. Tried removing each graphics card one by one - no effect
  7. PSU output looks fine and removing gpu makes no difference so I would think if I was close to capacity that would fix it.
  8. Tried replacing the standard thermal contact material for motherboard heatsinks with AS5 compound. This made no difference.
  9. Prime95 Small FFTs pass but blend fails
  10. OCCT CPU test runs fine but RAM fails
  11. Tried returning to stock speed but still random reboots

Now to me all of this points to it being the motherboard thats causing the problems.

Can people tell me if there is any other tests I could do and whether they come to the same conclusion before I RMA the board.

Much appreciatted :)
 
Is it possible to check with another PSU, I have had machines which PSU'S have coursed problems.
 
Could you supply more details please? :D
How long does it take for it to randomly reboot if your not playing a game? 10-15 mins or more?
Is anything getting warm or overheating?
Have you got another PSU to test the system with?
What operating system are you using?
Do you have the blue screen codes? :D

That will help me a bit more to help you :p
 
Richyyy said:
Could you supply more details please? :D
How long does it take for it to randomly reboot if your not playing a game? 10-15 mins or more?
Is anything getting warm or overheating?
Have you got another PSU to test the system with?
What operating system are you using?
Do you have the blue screen codes? :D

That will help me a bit more to help you :p
Click to expand...

  • The random reboots can happen as early as during bootup into vista or if its just downloading etc it can run for a few hours with no problem before it reboots. Games are basically not playable as they will reboot within a few minutes.
  • As far as temps go all 4 cores never get above about 45C and the motherboard temp hovers around 35C.
  • I have 3x120mm front intake fans and 2x120mm exhaust fans (1 on top and one at back)
  • I also have a spot cooler blowing at the northbridge and the CPU has a tuniq tower.
  • The GPUs never really get above about 55C.
  • Its running Vista 64bit
  • IRQ NOT LESS OR EQUAL is one of the BSOD messages and another was something to do with sdpt.sys but I can't remember the exact name. I have it written down at home so I can get the exact name this evening.
  • I am having difficulty getting my hands on another PSU at the mo as no one I know has a compatible one and we are a dell house at work.
  • I also tried the ultimate boot CD and ran a prime95 test off that which failed the blend test which would stop it being a driver issue in Vista.

Hope this helps a bit.
 
I have run memtest86 of both sticks of RAM singularly and together and they both pass without any issues.
I have formatted the drive and reinstalled vista and it rebooted while installing and is still doing it with just a base install and the most up-to-date drivers I could get from nvidia.

I am overclocking to 3Ghz but this is on a guaranteed 3Ghz processor from OCUK. This isn't really the issue anyway as it does it running at standard 2.4Ghz aswell :(
 
Just thought I'd give you all an update. Well I got fed up with it so bought an i7 920, Asus rampage 2 extreme and 6Gb of corsair RAM. I also bought an Asus p5ql pro to test my current processor and RAM. Well after plugging the new motherboard in it turns out it was the MSI 780i motherboard. Computer passed all tests with the new P5ql motherboard.

I have to say that the upgrade to the i7 920 from a q6600 is very noticable. Everything runs lightning fast and silky smooth. It costs a lot but I would highly recommend it.
Got the i7 overclocked to 3.2Ghz by just letting the Asus software do it. Will try pushing further later but I'm happy with the performance at the mo :D

Time to RMA the MSI motherboard and sell the rest of the bits :p
 
My bet is on the RAM. Try with one stick of RAM and see how it goes. IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL is a BSOD message i commonly get with broken RAM, e.g. when you cut the corner of one of the notches by accident :(
 
All the errors and BSOD will be down to driver issues as you had an nvidia based mobo
it sounds like you updated one of or all your mobo drivers which has caused the issue

ive had a similar issue with current nforce 4 mobo if i update drivers i get nothing but headaches trying to undo the damage the drivers caused.
 
sir-les-mp said:
All the errors and BSOD will be down to driver issues as you had an nvidia based mobo
it sounds like you updated one of or all your mobo drivers which has caused the issue

ive had a similar issue with current nforce 4 mobo if i update drivers i get nothing but headaches trying to undo the damage the drivers caused.
Click to expand...

Driver issues don't cause prime95 to fail from a boot cd.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom