BSOD...faulty CPU?

[H22A]

Upgraded from an Athlon XP1700 to a XP3200. Totally clean Win XP install, but machine now spontaneously reboots. This only occurs in some games (eg HL2, NFSU2, SIMS2), DirectX based screensavers and always in 3dMark05 about 10 seconds into the first CPU test. The machine has never crashed when using Office or being left for ages on a standard install screensaver. If I swap back to the XP1700, system is stable again.

I've turned off auto reboot on error and have a BSOD stating:
STOP: 0x0000009C (0x00000000, 0x8054DA70, 0xC4384000, 0x00000136)
MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION

CPU temps are well within specs, I've given it a thorough workout with Prime95 with no problems at all. I have a decent (Tagan) 480W PSU so shouldn't be a power problem. No parts of my systems are overclocked and everything is on default voltages. My memory is in 2 sticks (256 + 512) - I've tried removing one and then the other, swapping them over etc still get the same problem.

I'm thinking that there is something in DirectX which my processor just doesn't like. :frown:

Any thoughts would be appreciated....

Machine Specs:
AthlonXP 3200
Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
768Mb Crucial PC2700
120Gb Seagate Barracude 7200.7
Winfast A400 GeForce6 6800 (latest Nvidia drivers)
DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

 

[LTC8K6]

Run CPU-Z and see what speed your memory and FSB are set to.

Does it pass P95's Blend test run?

 

[H22A]

Info from CPU-Z as requested...

Memory
Type: DDR-SDRAM
Channels#: Dual
Size: 768MBytes
Frequency: 167.0MHz
FSB DRAM: 6:5
CAS# Latency: 2.5 clocks

Clocks
Core Speed: 2205.0MHz
Multiplier: x11.0
FSB: 200.5MHz
Bus Speed: 400.9MHz

What's P95 Blend???

 

[LTC8K6]

Prime 95's Torture Test has a Blend test option. This is the test you have to pass to say your system is Prime 95 stable. It takes a while, and if your memory is in the least bit questionable, the Blend test will spot it.

You said you gave it a thorough Prime95 workout. If it wasn't the blend test, then you didn't.

You can also run Memtest86 to spot memory errors.

 

[H22A]

Thanks LTC8K6, you are quite right of course I haven't run the blend test

My girlfriend has kicked me off the machine and is, ahem, "testing" HL2 :roll:. Once I can wrestle the mouse back off of her, I'll set the blend test in motion. Does it run to a conclusion, or do you just run it for a couple of hours and see if it errors?

 

[LTC8K6]

You just let it keep on running. Usually, it will spot errors pretty quickly. A lot of folks say it needs to run 24 hours error free, but I never have that much time.

If it goes a couple of hours, I usually call that good.

If you are really having memory errors, it won't take long.....

 

[KickusAssius]

It's the ram. If it was a faulty CPU you would either not boot at all or it wouldn't even make it into windows. I would suggest running it with PC3200 ram or try overclocking your PC2700 to 400 MHz. Barton-based systems are spotty with dividers. My old system with a 3200+ would not run memory under PC3200 speeds. Set the FSB for the 3200+ in BIOS to 166. If the system is stable, the problem is ram. Even then, ram incompatibility with mobo could still be the problem. Bad ram is much more common than a bad CPU.

 

[H22A]

LTC8K6: TVM, once I get the machine back I'll run the tests.

Kickus: I see where you are coming from... set the cpu fsb to be the same as the memory so no need for dividers, will give it a try. As far as ram/mobo incompatibility goes, I've not had any problems when running with the XP1700.

 

[H22A]

OK, here's the results...

Ran the P95 Blend test, it errored after 58 minutes.

Did as Kickus suggested, lowered FSB to 166 so CPU:Mem now 1:1, ran P95 continuously and stopped it after 8 hours with no faults. Ran 3DMark05, no failures in the CPU test.

Tried oc'ing mem to 400MHz, no POST unfortunately.

So I gather from this then my system becomes unstable when having to use dividers to reduce the bus speed for the memory.

Time for some PC3200 then methinks. Any recommedations for an ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe?

 

[Andres3605]

corsair value