Stress Test Failure - But What Failed?

IanB001

IanB001

IanB001

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Joined
21 Dec 2004
Posts
141
Location
Bristol, UK
Please bear in mind that I'm a computer novice.

I am a keen World of Warcraft player but recently by computer has been crashing whilst playing.

I ran Simmtester to ensure my RAM wasn't the problem, but it turned out that my RAM was faulty so I replaced it.

When I played World of Warcraft again the game continued to crash so I ran another memory test program, not Simmtester this time because I couldn't get it to run, so I used Memtest instead. My new RAM passed the tests after running for 3+ hours.

What else could be causing the problem?

I downloaded and ran Prime95 and it appears my system failed at the first hurdle, but I don't know what it's trying to tell me. This is the message I get:

Tue May 09 17:52:17 2006]
FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.49609375, expected less than 0.4
Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file.

I read the stress.txt file as suggested but it doesn't tell me what the message means.

OK. I have a hardware failure, but what part is failing?

Can anybody help me?

Here are my system specs:

Akasa Eclipse-62 case Part No.: AK-BKCSE-01
Tagan 480W PSU Model No.: TG480-U01, Serial No.: T442 01064
ABit AV8-3rd eye motherboard, Serial No.: AV83EC4J001197
AMD Athlon 64FX Processor FX-55, ADAFX55DEI5AS, CAA2C 0448RPMW Serial No.: 1153172K40056
1 x Arctic Freezer 64 Cooler Pro (AMD64)
1 x G.Skill 2GB DDR HZ PC4000 (2x1GB) CAS3 Dual Channel Kit(F1-4000USU2-2GBHZ) (MY-008-GS)
Pioneer DVD/CD Re-writer Model No.: DVR-108BK, Serial No.: DKDL174416WL
Sony floppy disc drive black, Model No.: MPF920 Serial No.: 92636080
2 x Vantec Thermal Technologies inc Thermoflow temperature controlled 120 x 120 x 25mm case fans, Model No.: TF12025
2 x Akasa IDE ATA-133 Round cable 45cm black, Part No.: ATA-45-B
1 x Akasa floppy cable black
1 x Vantex slot protector kit, Part No.: ***-08UV-BK
XFX GeForce 6800GT 256MB DDR3 Dual DVI/TV Part No.: PV-T40A-UDF7 Serial No.: FIH066125
1 x Samsung SpinPoint P SP2014N 200GB ATA-133 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-019-SA)
1 x Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 Hard Disk Drive 200GB IDE133 <9.0 7200rpm – OEM Manufacturers Part No.: 6Y200P0
Microsoft Internet Keyboard Serial No.: 5167710096358
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Version Build 2600.xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158 (Service Pack 2)
Netgear Cable/DSL ProSafe Firewall/Print Server FR114P
WebStar DPX100 Series Cable Modem
Blueyonder 1.5Megabit Broadband Internet Connection
Viewsonic E790 19” CRT Monitor
Logitech MX510 Optical Mouse
 
Hmm. Not sure what this is telling me.

If I put one stick of RAM in Prime95 proceeds without a problem. I removed the first stick and put the other stick in, and again Prime95 tested without problems. Put in both sticks of RAM and tests fail.

I tried the memory in different slots to see if this made any difference but it didn't.

So, 1 stick good, 2 sticks bad. Weird.

Could this mean a motherboard problem?

Cheers.
 
I've already run Memtest and it didn't find any problems with the RAM at all.

It's only when I run Prime95 the problems occur.

I suppose we could say "Don't run Prime95 then", but this won't help find the problem that's causing World of Warcraft to constantly crash :)

Cheers
 
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Just weird how Prime95 failed when I had 2 sticks of RAM in but was fine with 1 stick of RAM.

At least I know it's not the RAM.

The problem I have now is pinpointing the hardware that's causing the fault. The only way I could do this is by replacing each piece in turn until I hit the offending component.

Perhaps I should start with the motherboard, but this means I'll have to replace my graphics card aswell cause my current motherboard is AGP. Dammit!!

Perhaps start with a BIOS update? There is an updated BIOS for my board.

Any suggestions??

I'm getting desperate now.

Cheers.
 
Seems strange that you mention overheating as this did cross my mind, but I dismissed it because I installed the Arctic Freezer 64 Cooler Pro (AMD64). I had a few problems with the installation and even now I'm not sure its fitting correctly. The heatsink doesn't fully cover the cpu and it's not located centrally on the cpu (i.e. its off centre).

According to the Uguru clock cpu temperature ranges from 34 degrees centigrade, idle, to 64 degrees whilst trying to run Prime95.

I was going to try Motherboard Monitor but it's not compatable with my ABit motherboard.

I may refit the stock heatsink and fan to see if this has any affect on the cpu.

As for my graphics card. I'm not sure how I can view the temperature whilst playing. I know I can view the temp in the settings menu but I would have to exit the game to see it by which time the temp would have dropped. Is there a utility available that I can use to monitor this??

Not sure how else I can test the RAM any further myself. It's passed the Memtest utility tests and the Microsoft RAM test utility tests, but I can't use the simmtester utility for some reason. Simmtester just closes when I start it and goes back to the command prompt. It worked with my faulty Ballistix RAM, but doesn't work at all with my new G.Skill RAM.

On my to do list tomorrow:

1. Refit cpu stock heatsink and fan.
2. Download the BIOS update from ABit.
3. Curse and swear a bit more :)

Cheers
 
I haven't carried out the tasks I listed above yet, but I've had some really weird things happening this morning.

1. Computer stopped reading from the DVD drive for a while. I had to reboot.
2. My graphics started to flash. It was fine in windows but in World of Warcraft it was like a strobe affect.

My problems appear to be increasing.
 
I've been considering replacing the motherboard but I'd have to replace the graphics card aswell as the ABit AV8 3rd Eye is AGP not PCI-E.

Gonna cost me a bit to replace both.
 
Didn't really think of the PSU at all. I suppose I could start by replacing that first.

Nothing is overclocked at all. It's all running at stock speeds.

Problems only really started a couple of months ago but have been getting progresively worse.
 
OK. What do you think about ripping the guts out of this build and replacing them with the following:

1 x Asus A8N32-SLi Deluxe nForce4 SLi X16 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-118-AS) £114.95
1 x Antec NeoHE 550W Modular ATX2.0 PSU (CA-046-AN) £68.95
2 x XFX GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (PVT71F-YDL9/YDFR) (GX-072-XF) £314.95
£813.80 +VAT

Perhaps the 2 x XFX GeForce 7900 are overkill, but what do you think? Good upgrade? Not sure about the power supply. I want something reliable but not sure there.

Remember my system is primarily used as a gaming rig. I don't intend to overclock as I haven't got the necessary knowledge but it needs to throw graphics around quite well :)

Cheers again.
 
Yep these were a match pair of RAM.

OK. I'll get the PSU to start with. My concern with just replacing the PSU is getting one with enough of the standard 4 pin power connectors, molex I think they call them. I need at least 6 of them.

Of course if it's not the PSU I will need one that I can use with SLI and SATA drives etc.

Is the Antec NeoHE 550W Modular ATX2.0 PSU (CA-046-AN) £68.95 a good choice? Does somebody have a recommendation for a good stable and reliable PSU??

Thank you
 
Good grief, got this message this morning:

Problem description

The error was caused by an unrecoverable hardware error which forced the operating system to stop functioning.

Although we know the problem is caused by a hardware component, unfortunately the error report does not contain enough information to tell us the specific component. More than likely the problem is being caused by problems with one or more of the following computer components:

* Random Access Memory (RAM)
* System board
* Central Processing Unit (CPU)
* Power supply

Recommendations

If you have received this error more than once, it could indicate a serious problem with your computer. We recommend that you do the following:

1. Back up your files to avoid data loss in case of a complete hardware failures.
2. Contact the original manufacturer of your computer or your local computer repair shop. Either will have advanced hardware diagnostics to determine the specific component which is failing.

Hope it's not the CPU :)

Gonna look at PSU alternatives today.

Cheers
 
SiriusB said:
Dont bother with SLi unless you plan to run massive massive resolutions. Save some money and just go for an ATi X1900XTX - this card is better than most SLI setups so its worth a look :)
SiriusB
Click to expand...

I was considering a Dell Ultrasharp 2405FPW 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey (30906) (MO-001-DE) or a Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP 30" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey (MO-008-DE) in the not too distant future. Do you think the Ati X1900XTX would be happy with either of these lovelies?

Cheers
 
Thank you Corasik.

I changed the timings from 3.0-4-4-8-T1 to 3.0-5-5-9-T2 and so far so good. Prime95 has reached Test 11 so far without error. I couldn't increase the 3.0 as that's as high as my motherboard will allow me to go.

I assume this points to some sort of incompatability between the RAM and my motherboard? Am I right?

Of course I don't know if this is the reason World of Warcraft crashes, but it's a step in the right direction.

Looking promising though :)

Ian.
 
Monstermunch; I found out last night that even with these timings my computer still crashes. Dammit!!

No my system is not overclocked, everything is running at stock. I'm still wondering if this RAM is faulty, but I have no other way of testing it. I've used Microsofts Memory tester and Memtest and both indicate no problems. Although I couldn't get Simmtesters DocMemory to work at all with this RAM, it just closes down before testing.

You talk about a "divider". I've no idea what that is. Please explain?

Thank you

Ian.
 
Mikey1280; I ran Memtest from a floppy disk. No I haven't played with the speed just those timings suggested in an earlier post. To be honest I would have no idea what settings to change, there are soo many.

Cheers

Ian.

This is what the BIOS screen looks like:
BIOS Screen
 
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Thank you [ui]ICEMAN.

2 x XFX GeForce 7900 GTX Extreme Edition 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (PVT71F-YDER/YDPR) (GX-073-XF) it is then. Now where can I get the money :)

By the way, is that your motors in your signature? :)

Cheers

Ian.
 
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