Random BSOD and reboots due to PSU?

T

themanwithnoname

Gawd
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Jun 30, 2004
Messages
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Recently, I upgraded to 2x1024 ddr1 ram and got a 8800gt from 2x512 and a 6800gs. After I installed the memory i started getting random bsod physical dump memory errors at boot up and stuff but i ran memtest all night long and primed it too and everything was ok. though every once in a while some programs will stop functioning properly, and become unresponsive, followed by a random reboot. any ideas as to whether this could b due to my psu? its kinda old, but iono. heres my system spec:

opt 146 2.7ghz @1.31v
2x1024 ocz ELDCPE-K 270mhz, 6,3,3,3 @2.8v
DFI nf4 ultra-d
pny 8800gt 512mb oc'd 680 core/1700 sdr/1000 mem
Single 160gb hitachi sata drive
2 120mm led fans, 1 80mm fan
2 uv 12'' cathode lamps
1 dvdrw drive
1 vantec fan controller
All on a Enermax 431W EG451P-VE
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=409&page=4

I've already checked the numbers on eXtreme psu calculator, and it says it tops out at 294W and thats w/ 100% peak load and 100% cpu usage.
Also, the comp reboots usually when its just doing normal stuff, like surfing the internet, and listening to music, not when I'm playing super demanding games.
 
It does sounds like a memory issue.

How long did you prime/memtest it for? I had a dodgy 1gig DIMM causing this in my media center a while ago (random freezing and crashing), it took 50 hours for the memtest to find the error. (I left it running all weekend whilst I went away.) Memory errors can be hard to trace. Does it still do it with your old memory and new GFX card?

It's probably worth running memtest for /at least/ 24 hours.

What happens if you swap the DIMMS, does that make the problem worse?

Does declocking the GFX card or CPU make a difference? (The memory controller is in the CPU on the opty so that might be something to consider, as 1 gig DIMMS probably have different loading characteristics than your old half gig ones.)

Does dropping the memory timings slightly make a difference?

I've got a Q6600, 2x1G mem, x1950 pro and a 500G Hitachi drive on a 480W PSU, and an inline power meter reports about 280 @ load, so I would've thought you've got more than enough headroom in that PSU.
 
guess i'm glad I don't have to invest in a new psu just yet. but for the new memory i primed for 12 hours and same w/ memtest. my old memory was kinda glitchy too though, it would never reboot, but i would get these weird pop ups at boot up that say u recovered from a serious error. my setup is really picky about memory divider, it only boots up at 1:1 every time. but any other dividers cause it to bsod and reboot right as it loads windows. also the memory is supposed to run at 200mhz w/ 6:3:2:2 timings, but it can't do that, it won't load windows without restarting. I read online a lot of ppl had the same trouble, so they fixed it by upping the cas latency to 2.5, but none of the dividers at 2.5 seemed to work for me so i bumped it up to 3 and it can actually load windows without restarting.
 
It sounds to me like a memory issue as well, but its a bit worrisome that memtest showed no errors. I would probably try:

-lowering mem speed
-increasing vcore slightly (although I don't know why it worked before... it just seems quite moderate for 2.7ghz)
-try using a different video card again... if swapping the video card out makes it stable again, I would think its a PSU problem
 
I have the same PSU (kept for parts) and it can now barely put out 100W total and wont even run a A64 3200 single core.
All PSU's age.
 
alright i tried fiddling with all the memory settings and now i'm worse off than i was b4. i flipped the memory sticks, tested for how high they could run. and none of them could run stabely at stock 1:1 200mhz on a stock everything... I kept trying to open things like rivatuner or my pictures or watever and it just froze and rebooted. so now i'm guessing everythings corrupted. which may have led to all the random reboots in the first place. I haven't reformatted my computer after changing any parts for the last 3 years so would it b wise to go ahead and do that?
 
Try another PSU if you can borrow one, see the post above yours for more info.
 
no psu to test w/ but i just reformatted and everything seems to be in order. no random reboots so far all day. only problem is, while I was trying to install windows on my second 25gb partition on the drive I deleted it thinking i could create another but the space just disappeared and left a 8mb unpartitioned space instead so i was forced to install on the larger partition now i can't see the unpartitioned space on disk management so i'm out 25gb. any ideas how to get it back?
 
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