What's wrong with my rig?

[mooseAndSquirrel]

I had a series of brownouts that seemed to have killed my PC (was connected to a surge protector but not a battery backup).

Specs:
- Asus PC4800E Mobo
- Intel 3.2
- 2 GB Crucial DDR RAM
- Enermax 522W power supply
- last I was able to check, the CPU was running at 123 deg F
- I have 2 DVDs and 4 disks (hence the big power supply)
- Radeon 9800 Pro
- Soundblaster Audigy

Problem:
Hangs, crashes and reboots. All manner of BSODs. Can't reload XP (more BSODs)

My guess:
Memory. I have 4 sticks of 512 DDR. So I booted up Memtest-86 v3.2 and ran the tests. It throws errors in test #6 - 32 bit random pattern, and then hangs up.

But I have tried each individual stick in each DIMM slot individually, and each time in fails in test 6.

So... is my problem:
a) my motherboard
b) my CPU
c) all of my memory got damaged
d) Memtest-86 isn't accurately diagnosing

My guess is it's something in the memory bus on the motherboard and I'll need to replace it. That's a big hassle, though, so I want to get the experts opinion here.

Many thanks!

 

[The Green Bean]

I would say its a) your motherboard.

 

[casper114]

I would get a stick of RAM that I know works and try it, and if that doesn't work try the processor, and if that doesn't work then try the mobo.

 

[Chode Messiah]

mobo is my choice. Check when it starts for beeps. Certain beeps mean certain things. For most boards 3 beeps is memory failure.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Originally posted by: Chode Messiah
mobo is my choice. Check when it starts for beeps. Certain beeps mean certain things. For most boards 3 beeps is memory failure.

Nah. I have the lower-end version of that board. It's got Voice POST Reporter - in the BIOS, enable "Report Booting" and plug in your speakers to the green jack (onboard audio). Let us know what it says (if it says anything).

 

[mooseAndSquirrel]

Is the processor really a possibility? I'd be able to boot into the BIOS and also into Memtest with a hinky processor?

I am not hearing anything out of the usual with respect to post beeps. I can try to stick speakers on and enable voice commands, but I have audio disabled because I have an SB card in there.

Is there a diagnostic tool like Memtest-86 that does more general testing and burn-in?

The real bummer is I thought I had it earlier: XP safe mode hung loading agp440.sys; so I thought it was my card. I swapped out cards and I disabled that service and was able to boot, but it BSOD'd shortly thereafter. Still... maybe this indicates something to somebody about what might be amiss with my mobo? A bridge component to the agp slot or some area of memory?

Oh, one other thing. A few reboots, after switching memory around, I got a post message that "overclocking failed - press F2 to load defaults or F1 to configure BIOS". I've never overclocked this rig. When I pressed F1 and looked, there wasn't anything different about the BIOS settings.

 

[Oyeve]

Is your system OC'ed? If it is, try without OC'ing.

 

[mooseAndSquirrel]

Originally posted by: mooseAndSquirrel
...Oh, one other thing. A few reboots, after switching memory around, I got a post message that "overclocking failed - press F2 to load defaults or F1 to configure BIOS". I've never overclocked this rig. When I pressed F1 and looked, there wasn't anything different about the BIOS settings.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Heh. Lots of ASUS boards with the CPU Parameter Recall have this problem - insetad of recalling the correct CPU parameters, it recalls the wrong ones (that's just a hypothesis), OR (another hypothesis) your CPU ran too hot for a sec (possibly temperature probe misreading) so it thought you were overclocking. It happens to me a lot, just press F2 to load defaults and just continue.

Enable onboard audio and let us know what's up.

My experience (similar problem)
When my P4P800-e Deluxe had this problem (it randomly crashed in the middle of a Lan party!!!!!), the POST message said "System failed CPU test". Lemme tell you one thing though, it's VERY similar to your situation.

Details:
I kept turing off my comptuer (without properly shutting down) because my friend gave me a starcraft cd (and it was corrupted while burning), and the burner wuodln't read it. I Got kind of impatient, and instead of waiting for the thing to say "CD cannot be read" (for some reason my system alwyas takes FOREVER to do that), and shut off my system, and started it up again. Then it began loading again, and I got a bit distracted, and ARGH I didn't make it in time to hit the key to skip the ScanDisk thing. I turned it off (hit the switch) and started it up again. This time I skipped scandisk... except (For some reason my board does this) when you skip scandisk your mouse doens't work (don't ask... it always does this for some reason). So I shut it down.

t3h problems began! my computer would simply NOT boot up (half the time it wouldn't show the POST, half the time it would show the bios loading screen, and then die), I plugged my headphones to the jack (heh, no speakers at a lan party ;P), and it said "System failed CPU test" .... im like W T F? After cleaning dust (dunno, overheated?), and making sure the switches are connected, it still woudln't work. Heh.

The SOLUTION was: I unplugged 1 intake fan and 1 exhaust. it WORKED. It turned out that it was a weak power supply (or somethign retarded might have happened to it when I shut off my computeron and off)..... meh! The volts were extremely unstable (went from 11.5 to 12.5, 5V rail spiked to 6 once).... got a new PSU (Antec 380) and it all works .

Anyways - let me know what's going on. Computer problems are tough man, I know.

-The Pentium Guy

 

[mooseAndSquirrel]

Thanks P-Guy.

I thought of the power supply, but it's a high-end enermax 550w that has never given me trouble. I unplugged one of my optical drives, but come to think of it a non-spinning optical can't draw much power!

When I look at the BIOS hardware monitor, I don't see a lot of voltage variation. But of course it isn't recording history, so I may just be missing it.

I'm pretty well prepared at this point to replace a part. The Mobo is $118. I forget how much the power supply cost me, but I'm sure it was more than that. Same with the processor. I just want to make sure to replace the correct part, because I don't want to invest more than I have to.

I'm downloading the "Ultimate Boot CD" and will try some of its diagnostics. Thank goodness I have other PCs to use (although this was my main machine with all of my music and the software installed just so).

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Also give MemTest86 a try, maybe your mem is borked.
It's a good thing that you have other PCs to use - give another power supply (from an existing PC) a shot. I'm running 9800Pro on 380W.... roughly the same specs as you anyways.

-TPG

 

[mooseAndSquirrel]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
Also give MemTest86 a try, maybe your mem is borked.
It's a good thing that you have other PCs to use - give another power supply (from an existing PC) a shot. I'm running 9800Pro on 380W.... roughly the same specs as you anyways.

-TPG

Yeah, see original post: Memtest86 fails, but since I have 4 slots and 4 sticks, and any combination of memory fails, I'm thinking the problem may be between the memory and the motherboard (I have no idea of the engineering, but there are a number of capacitor looking thingies near the RAM banks). I suppose it's possible that all 4 sticks were hosed, though. Memtest86 does pass through almost all the tests without error - it's just the 32 bit pattern of moving inversion test 6.

I'll have to dig around (or rob another system temporarily) for another stick of RAM. That's the logical next step, as casper114 pointed out.

 

[NoSpeed]

Regarding those Memtest errors, I see many people recommending the older Memtest86. My memory was showing errors using the old Memtest86 3.2, but no errors are showing using the new Memtest86+ 1.55. I would suggest you start with the new and improved Memtest86+ 1.55 located at www.memtest.org! It is based on the well-known original memtest86 written by Chris Brady located at www.memtest86.com. The old Memtest86 3.2 does not have the more recent updates provided by Memtest86+ 1.55. The programs are otherwise fairly identical in features. Both are freeware. The new one appears to have better support and frequent updates. It is possible some of your memory is defective, but try this new version for a more definitive clue. Any error is unacceptable. Keep in mind you must conduct the tests methodically. A good stick of ram can show errors because its located in a bad slot! So try other slots with the suspect bad stick(s). Good luck.

 

[mooseAndSquirrel]

In the interests of thoroughness, I thought I'd post an update.

It was my motherboard. I ordered a new one, swapped everything over and it's smooth sailing. It figures - this is the biggest PITA component to replace!

The new version of this mobo has 5.1 sound, so I will probably leave my soundblaster card out of it and use that in some other PC.

I didn't see anything obviously wrong with the capacitors, although a few seemed to have a small gap between the bottom of the cap and the top of the motherboard.