Board dead, dying or otherwise???

[PhantomKnight]

This is actually a friends computer that i built for him it is:
-Asus P5B (not to sure of rev.)
-OCZ Platinum 6400 2GB Rev 2
-Coolermaster Centurion with 430W PSU (IIRC) Have to double check
-XP sp2 no updates AFAIK
-Seagate 250 7200.10
-HIS X1950 Pro 256mb IceQ 3 Turbo.
The problem he experiences is that while playing games the screen blacksout and is only recoverable by a restart. Temps where my initial thought, but he is unable to read anything as his screen is blank. Is there any program that allows logging of the temps??? Also there is a fan over the cpu (80mm), one over the midsection of the graphics card (120mm), one sucking air from the pci slots (80mm), and one at the front (80mm). And this is another thing that got me stumped, he has had the side off with a 30cm fan blowing to no avail. And in speedfan there is an AUX temp showing like 120c or so. But this probe doesnt exist in asus probe. Any ideas. Anyone else with the same/similar problem???

Thankin you in advance Wayne

 

[BonzaiDuck]

1) Is it over-clocked? How much? Which processor?

2) Over-clocked or otherwise, do you think your PSU's 12V rails are insufficient for the components? It depends to a significant extent on your graphics card choice, and I'm not that familiar with the ATI product, but as I recall, that's a high-end vid-card.

3) Could it be the OCZ RAM? Have you tried loosening the latencies? Or -- what latency settings are being used, and what command-rate? Is the memory voltage sufficient for the speed setting?

Run SpeedFan in the background to monitor the temperatures -- if you can exit the gaming program or other test before the system crashes. Your only other option -- at the point of the crash -- is to reboot and check the BIOS monitor temperatures. Here, it depends on how effective is the cooling, because temps will drop somewhat before you "get there."

Also -- when I was selecting my own motherboard, I noted that there is a marked difference between the standard P5B and the "-E Deluxe." The P5B didn't have enough PCI-E slots, and I had my eye on different chipsets, but it's supposed to be a decently good board.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

One more -- I'm STILL skeptical about the case cooling (80mm fans), and I don't know what CPU cooler you're using. So it COULD be a temperature issue. But more information would help.

 

[PhantomKnight]

Thanks for the quick reply. Sorry about that, it is using an E4300 CPU. Like ive said, its not in my possesion, but im thinking of requistioning it to do diagnostics. That is another reason why i stated the PSU, maybe it is lacking. But again without it here with me i cant do parts swapping. About overclocking, no it isnt. Because it has a stock heatsink, and two, it has only been running for like under a week. All the settings are at the default. Ill get him to reset CMOS just in case. By the time i put it all together and the rest of it, i had it running a total of 4 hours maximum. But no gaming at first. The owner loaded up WoW, and that was it. Also he did try a 30cm fan over the sideless case, and it helped pretty much nothing. Any other thoughts at all???
Help would be much appreciated, and thank you BonzaiDuck for some insight. BTW because it wasnt mine i wasnt recommending any more than he had to spend. If it were mine then i would've gone with something a lil better.

Thanking you in advance Wayne

 

[BonzaiDuck]

OCZ Platinums have a fairly established reputation. They're also under life-time warranty, and OCZ delivers. I know from personal experience.

Look again at the 12V rail amperage on the Coolermaster PSU. You may want to find a PSU "calculator" like "Extreme Outervision Extreme PSU calculator." Some people become volatile with a distrust of the EO calculator, but it seems to provide a decent guideline to PSU selection, and breaks down all the components as finely as possible for adding up those power requirements.

It may also be that particular games are not fond of hardware acceleration features for the video card, or that they are compatible with different versions of the video drivers. You may also want to check the video resolution settings WITHIN his game(s). I intuitively consider that possibility after having tried running 3DMark06 without changing the video resolution settings of 3DMark06 to match those in my DIsplay Properties.

The result was the one that you describe here . . . . FutureMark must have anticipated the problem, because a rap or two on the ESC key brings back the screen.

 

[piasabird]

Bad Video Card?

 

[Xvys]

I have a similar system with the P5B, E6300, PC6400 ram, Cooler Master case, Seagate, XP pro, 420w PS, ect. I have had freeze-ups, ect, and it has been my ram timings were too tight (4-5-5-12 @ 525FSB), or my video card was overclocked to high, leading to screen freezing. I would leave all the "jumper-free settings" in the bios on "Auto". If it keeps blanking out, try loosening the ram timings. With the cpu at stock speed, 800MHz ram will automatically go to 2:3 divider, and perhaps the ram is unable to perform at stock timings with the stock voltage (i.e. the ram is not so hot). If it keeps blanking out, try loosening the ram timings to 5-6-6-18 in the bios (or use MemSet.exe in Windows). Performance may be slightly diminished, but perhaps it might stabilize the system. Also the memory voltage could be increased up to 2.0 or 2.1v (the OCZ platinum can handle 2.2v under warranty, I believe.)

Also Speedfan incorrectly shows an aux temp at triple digits with thse P5B. I think there may be an patch, or perhaps just hide the meaningless Aux reading in the setup, thats what I did I think.

 

[PhantomKnight]

I have a similar system with the P5B, E6300, PC6400 ram, Cooler Master case, Seagate, XP pro, 420w PS, ect. I have had freeze-ups, ect, and it has been my ram timings were too tight (4-5-5-12 @ 525FSB), or my video card was overclocked to high, leading to screen freezing. I would leave all the "jumper-free settings" in the bios on "Auto". If it keeps blanking out, try loosening the ram timings. With the cpu at stock speed, 800MHz ram will automatically go to 2:3 divider, and perhaps the ram is unable to perform at stock timings with the stock voltage (i.e. the ram is not so hot). If it keeps blanking out, try loosening the ram timings to 5-6-6-18 in the bios (or use MemSet.exe in Windows). Performance may be slightly diminished, but perhaps it might stabilize the system. Also the memory voltage could be increased up to 2.0 or 2.1v (the OCZ platinum can handle 2.2v under warranty, I believe.)

Thanks for your help, but you see the problem is that the FSB IS 800mhz on the E4300, and this means that the RAM runs at 1:1 (i think, and sorta hope). The other problem is that unlesss the mobo on Auto tightens the timings past the rated CL 4-4-4-15 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS), then i have no idea how this could be the problem. I'll try (when i get the computer back) manually setting the timings etc, but i dont want to ask him to do it himself because he couldn't put the computer together himself, let alone muck around in the BIOS. And yes OCZ warranty is

*OCZ EVP (Extended Voltage Protection) is a feature that allows performance enthusiasts to use a VDIMM of 2.2V ± 5% without invalidating their OCZ Lifetime Warranty.

ocz ddr2 6400 platinum revision 2.
Also i hope its not the video card as it comes from factory overclocked. (Not sure of the numbers but usually it means higher than normal overclocks above and beyond the stock factory O'C). I'll let you guys know once i get the computer in my possesion and have a go at all the solutions you have put forward. And thank you to Xvys
for some other possibilities. Thanks again Wayne.