Computer is crashing during games after a RAM upgrade*FIXED*

[Goosemaster]

My system is here : http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.aspx?rigid=13616


Just yesterday, I added a 512MB stick of Corsair PC3200 making my memory count 1GB.

Although games such as far improved dramatically in line with overal system responsiveness, I have a new, and quite aggrivating problem.


Any game crashes the computer, and for the msot part, it looks liek they are all directX. Half-life 2 was the first game I fired up after the upgrade nad it crashed, along with SW Battlefronts, which in all fareness, isn;t that great of a game anyways, but that is beside the point.

So far I have replaced the drivers (ATI .12 Beta) and still no success. For reference, the system was rock stable with the betas.


Basically, what am I missing, and could it a power limitation? I have a Shuttle XPC 41Gv2 that has a 250watt PS. Could the RAM have put it over the threshold?

UPDATE:

Well, it turns out (obviously) that the overclock was at fault. Somehow the 1GB of RAM was the kicker that fouled up waht had been a entirely stable system. I have it running @ 2500 again and everything is fine.

3dmark 05 is giving me 2473 marks but at least it runs....now on to hl2 :evil:

Perhaps the PCI/clock and or AGP clock didn;t have sufficient dividers or something.....it is a shuttle 41Gv2 XPC with the nforce2 chipset.

 

[Varun]

Obviously you want to look at memory first off, and it is possible the extra RAM put your power supply over the edge. However, I would start with basic things. Do memtest86 on the RAM, and see if you have any bad cells.

Also, is your motherboard have all of the RAM slots full? I have seen motherboards that don't like to have all of the slots full, and crash with any combination of RAM. Try removing your other 512 RAM and see if the system crashes.

Good luck, I have to admit I always seem to have trouble when it comes time to upgrade the RAM in my PC's.

 

[mechBgon]

Also, what memory voltage are you giving the RAM? Don't be shy about using, say, 2.7 volts. What precise model of Corsair PC3200 is it, by the way?

 

[Goosemaster]

Well, it seems as if it was the drivers. Even if they were beta's they were running rock solid. I guess the RAM change did away with that, even when I tried reinstalling them.

Either way, I am running 4.11's right now and going strong. Too bad the 4.12's gave me 40fps where as the 4.11 give me 30fps with all detail on high and 2xAA/2xAF in HLF2.

 

[Zinn2b]

never run beta drivers you can install the 4.12 in about 15 days patients

 

[Thoreau]

Dunno if a half gig of ram alone could push your PSU over the edge, but looking over your rig specs makes me think that it is/was pretty close to that edge to begin with. 250 is definitely a bit small for everything thats packed in there, especially when you consider the overclock (btw, good call on the 2500 OC, did the same thing myself on an abit nf7-s rev 2)

Id try removing a component or two, like maybe the capture card and wireless card, just to see if anything changes. Also, dropping a copy of Motherboard Monitor onto that system and checking the voltages might not be a bad idea either.

 

[WebDude]

If you're running a 250w PSU, you should definitely upgrade it. That's like way not enough.

However the problem might be the ram timings. It's fairly well know among overclocker's that running 2 ram modules (as opposed to one) often requires that the ram timings be relaxed. Not always, but it's a pretty common occurence. So I would try that first.

And yeah, get a beefier PSU.

 

[Goosemaster]

Timings are at auto whic hare set at practically cas 3

Motherboard Monitor has been on it for ages. THe ram voltage is @ 2.57 and not adjustable

 

[Regs]

I guess it could be reasonable that the extra ram could put it over the top. All the electrical charge that has to pass through the modules to swap data for a game like half life 2 must be demanding.

Not to sound asinine, but why did you decide to get a Shuttle?

 

[WebDude]

The auto settings on the ram are taken off the spd, and are set by the mfg'r so the ram can run reliably at the rated speed (frequency). You are overclocking your system, and I assume the ram along with it. What speed are you running the ram at? When you overclock the ram, there's no guarantee the 'auto' timing settings will give you a stable system. I would still try to relax the timings, or else lower the ram frequency. When you overclock, it's always a juggling act with ram speed and timings.

 

[Chadder007]

Have you tried putting the RAM in a different slot? Go to http://www.memtest86.com and download the testing util.
You will need a floppy drive and disk to use the utility to see if your RAM is at fault. You can take out the old ram and just run a test on the new RAM stick/vice versa and test it with different slots to see if it produces errors.
The first thing I would do though it to take out the old stick of RAM and run a game or two on it for a while....leave the new stick in the slot that it is in.

 

[PingSpike]

Just run memtest86 already! That way we can say "ram" or "something else".

 

[loafbred]

Another idea comes to mind for me... did you clean the dust out of the dimm slot before inserting the new dimm? I always brush it out thoroughly with some kind of small brush.

 

[peter7921]

Originally posted by: Chadder007
Have you tried putting the RAM in a different slot? Go to http://www.memtest86.com and download the testing util.
You will need a floppy drive and disk to use the utility to see if your RAM is at fault. You can take out the old ram and just run a test on the new RAM stick/vice versa and test it with different slots to see if it produces errors.
The first thing I would do though it to take out the old stick of RAM and run a game or two on it for a while....leave the new stick in the slot that it is in.

I would go to www.memtest.org they have taken over memtest86 and are updating it. Newer version here.

 

[magratton]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Just run memtest86 already! That way we can say "ram" or "something else".

 

[Goosemaster]

I apoligize for taking so long, but I did finally run memtest when I was able to shut down the computer for a bit

I ran it over night and it found no errors. Still, half-life1:source would crash after about 10minutes.

My original stick was a Kingston value ram 512MB pc3200 stick which I had bought in a pair before. One stick was in another computer and I had taken this stick.

This morning I replaced the additional Corsair stick with the Kingston stick from the toher computer and put the corsair in the other one.

With both identical ram sticks, 3dmark2003 runs well, but 3dmark05 will crash when it re-does the air-boat scence, which I guess is now testing the CPU. It will get about 10seconds into it and then feeze.


I will try HL1:source and seewhat happens. There is no way in hell I will try HL2 again until I fix this......crashing and stuff will jsut ruing what has already been a VERY nice experience.

 

[NOX]

This is what's happening to me: http://steampowered.com/forums...ead.php?threadid=96483.

I'm about to give up, it could be your problem too.:frown:

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: NOX
This is what's happening to me: http://steampowered.com/forums...ead.php?threadid=96483.

I'm about to give up, it could be your problem too.:frown:

WE'll, I've gotten a few of those before but all it forces me to do is reset the CS resolution.

My problem is system-wide appearantly...


And, oh yes, HL1:source crashed again:|

It was working great and I went to go get the phone. When I came back the screen was a mesh of colors:|


<--suspecting his video card now:|


EDIT' did I mention adding the ram forced me to re-activate winXP again...20minutes spent on the phone with india:|

 

[Goosemaster]

It crashed in halflife2 twice...urgh...WTF is the point...it jsut keeps crashing....


<---goes off to cry.

 

[Goosemaster]

UPDATE:

Well, it turns out (obviously) that the overclock was at fault. Somehow the 1GB of RAM was the kicker that fouled up waht had been a entirely stable system. I have it running @ 2500 again and everything is fine.

3dmark 05 is giving me 2473 marks but at least it runs....now on to hl2 :evil:



Perhaps the PCI/clock and or AGP clock didn;t have sufficient dividers or something.....it is a shuttle 41Gv2 XPC with the nforce2 chipset.

 

[uOpt]

Filling more memory banks changes everything if you are at the timing limits. Try a single 1 Gb module.