New computer keeps crashing

[BudAshes]

I recently built myself a shiney new computer and im pretty much a newb at this. Everything is working nicely except that it keeps crashing, especially during intensive 3d(3d mark and wolfenstein) aps. The screen just goes black and some times it restarts and other times it just sits in the black screen with the computer running. I've swapped out the video card(was running 9700 pro now a 9500 pro) and it didnt change a thing. So im just wondering what i should do to fix this problem, is there some checklist i should go through to figure out whats wrong? I have the newest ati drivers and am running xp pro with directx 9.0b.

Specs:
barton 2500+ stock cooler
radeon 9700 pro or 9500 pro
antec trupower 480
512 3500 kingston hyperx
DFI lanparty nforce 2 motherboard
coolermaster atc201c case
80 gb sata seagate hd

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can give.

 

[VioletAura]

Make sure that it isn't overheating.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: VioletAura
Make sure that it isn't overheating.

Agreed, check temps. Also, run memtest 86 and roll out faulty memory. Is it possible to run P95 which is a non graphical stress tester.. See how that goes...

 

[BudAshes]

I dont think it is as the software that came with the dfi board say the temps are around 36 at idle for the cpu and labout 46 after some gaming or benchmarking. I would think it would have to be alot higher to crash the system.

 

[Ionizer86]

Check your PSU rails, though that Antec should work quite well.

I've also had a case of a CPU causing blue screens till I switched it out. That's not likely though.

 

[Viper96720]

Can you set your agp speed to 4X instead of 8X. If you got smartgart installed just go to the display control panel advanced click on smartgart and try lowering the agp speed.

 

[Markfw]

Check your memory timings. My Geil CAS2 certified memory was crashing ONLY in Generals and WarcraftIII, otherwise stable as a rock. I tried going to CAS2.5 and it hasn't died yet. After another 10 Lan games and such, I will then declare Geil memory crap, and buy some more. The bottom line is, set your timings to CAS3, and see if it goes away, if so, replace your memory or leave the timings at CAS3 (even if they should do 2.5 or 2)

 

[BudAshes]

Why would i want to change it to 4x? And how can i check my psu rails?

 

[Viper96720]

Sometimes 8x is unstable and doesn't make a difference now with most video apps. If you run 2x, 4x, or 8x. Try running 3dmark at the lower agp speed. Could be the memory also. I had a computer with junk memory 3dmark would crash everytime. Ended up the so called PC-133 memory was only PC-100. You aren't overclocking the memory or anything else?

 

[Ionizer86]

4x may be more stable. You can check your PSU rails by getting a program called MBM: Motherboard Monitor (something like that). It shows fan speeds, CPU temps, PSU rails, etc.

 

[saber800]

Are your timings set correctly? Timings for RAM, CPU, Front Side Bus, etc. If you are overclocking the CPU & Video and having problems, switch back to stock speeds.

 

[BudAshes]

I changed the ram timings to cass 2.5 3 3 8 and i thought that fixed it but sadly i just ran 3d mark 2003 and it crashed near the end sending me to blue screen this time then restart. My fsb is at 166 and the memory is at 200 mhz. Does that sound right?

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: Xafgoat
I changed the ram timings to cass 2.5 3 3 8 and i thought that fixed it but sadly i just ran 3d mark 2003 and it crashed near the end sending me to blue screen this time then restart. My fsb is at 166 and the memory is at 200 mhz. Does that sound right?

OK, I would next try memory at 166, fsb 266, and 2.5(or 3) 4 4 8. If that fixes it then it is definitely memory problems

 

[bjc112]

Turn off Fast write too...

It seems to casue more problems.. And it doesn't help performance much, if any at all...

 

[BudAshes]

Well it seems to be working out at the moment. For some reason when i moved a ram chip over in the channel that seemed to help stability. The ram is running at 2.5 3 3 8 right now and im hoping it will continue to run stable. One quik question i ran 3dmark 03 and i got 4780, is that about right for a 9700 pro and barton 2500+ at stock speeds?

 

[bjc112]

Yep that seems about right...

If you overclocked that 2500+ ( get it stable first ) you could probably hit close to 6k.

 

[BudAshes]

Does anyone know what fast write is supposed to do?

 

[Geomagick]

fast write is just a method used with cache ram on the CPU. not really much of an issue these days but in the old days of pentium 1's and the like it was really important for the off chip cache.

Sounds like your problems could be related to very minor static discharge when you assembled the PC. Which would explain the change when you moved the ram.

I had a similar problem with an IDE controller a while back and that is what it seemed to boil down to.

Remember an anti static wrist strap is the best money you will ever spend when playing around inside your computer.

 

[thorin]

Did you test your RAM yet?

Thorin

 

[BudAshes]

I dont actually have a floppy drive on this computer at the moment, guess i could tear of my other one and give it a try. Seems to be working solid now though.

 

[thorin]

There's a bootable ISO for MemTest86 that you can use to make a bootable CD and test your RAM.

Thorin

 

[BudAshes]

Heh, yeah i just saw that im gonna give it a try. I really dont know how i missed that the first time.

 

[BudAshes]

Well ran the memory test and everything checked out ok.

 

[BudAshes]

Son of a bitch, it is crashing again. I hadnt been using it for games as school just started but now i just played some wc3 and it just froze mid game, had to restart. Tried playing again same thing happened. Then tried to run 3dmark 2003 and i got another freeze. This is a real pain. Do you think my motherboard could just be faulty?

 

[Mitzi]

Whilst it does sound like a hardware problem have you installed all the latest WinXP patches (esp. SP1)??