more problems...

[Lt Ohio]

hey guys, my computer is at it again . I'm sure the fault is memory related however im not sure if its the memory or the slots itself, swapping memory spots will fix the crashing temporarily and memtest will not find any errors. but a day or two later the crashes start again and memtest will find errors. The ram im using is new memory from crucial after sending in my old sticks cause memtest found errors, so am i just unfortunate enough to get two bad sets of ram or is something else to blame?

[Major_A]

You can probably fix the errors by either...
A) Loosening the timings.
B) Add more voltage to the RAM.
C) Both A and B.

*EDIT*
What BIOS are you running? According to ASUS' website the latest version for that board was released in July.

Description M4A79XTD EVO BIOS 2102
Fix the issue that system may hang during POST when using certain graphic card.
2010/07/30 update

Description M4A79XTD EVO BIOS 0901
Improve system stability when using EPU and AOD at the same time.
2010/03/05 update

M4A79XTD EVO BIOS 0604
Improve the system stability and performance when using certain memory.
2009/09/24 update

These are all pretty important updates, especially for system stability. Update to BIOS 2102 if you haven't already. All newer BIOS files include fixes from previous releases, FYI.

[Lt Ohio]

I've done all of the above, changing timings or voltages or both will result in an overclock fail after a few hours of stability. bios is at 2102 and has been for a while. Symptoms are as followed. turning on computer getting no post then restarting and getting a post, freezing and sound repeating whilst watching a youtube vid, occasional freezing while windows in loading, blue screens with no problem listed, occasional blue screen reports PFN_List_Corrupt(like once a day now), ati3duag.dll(rare), and Viahduaa.sys(uncommon) and the occasional restart for no reason or warning.

[Major_A]

Several questions...
1) What are the RAM timings and voltage set to in the BIOS?
2) Are you overclocking your CPU?
3) What are the reported voltages and temperatures, both idle and load?
Get HWiNFO32 if you don't have another piece of software.
4) Have you tweaked your operating system? PFN_List_Corrupt has to do with the pagefile, the other two are video and sound related.
5) Are you running any unlocked cores on your CPU?
6) What OS are you running?

[Lt Ohio]

Several questions...
1) What are the RAM timings and voltage set to in the BIOS? Auto right now, during overclocking tests ram timings/voltages were set to factory recommended 7-7-7-24 1.65v
2) Are you overclocking your CPU? no
3) What are the reported voltages and temperatures, both idle and load? Cpu is at 30c idle 44c at load. Gpu hovers in the 50's. system temp reads 30-35c. memory has no sensors so unknown
Get HWiNFO32 if you don't have another piece of software.
4) Have you tweaked your operating system? PFN_List_Corrupt has to do with the pagefile, the other two are video and sound related. Nothing in the OS has been changed since i last installed windows
5) Are you running any unlocked cores on your CPU? no
6) What OS are you running? windows XP 32 sp3

[Major_A]

What if you raise the timings to say 8-8-8-30 and bump the voltage to 1.75V? How many sticks of RAM are you running? If two have you tried the set in the other RAM slots?

[Lt Ohio]

everything was going so good, no freezes or blue screens until today. ive had to restart like 6 times, and im running 2sticks and yes i have tried the other two slots.

[Major_A]

I think I've had RAM incompatibility once. Is your RAM listed on that board's supported RAM list? Have you browsed ASUS' forums for your board to see if anyone else has had a similar problem?

*EDIT*
When was the last time you updated your southbridge drivers? Most likely has nothing to do with the problem but it won't hurt to see if it helps either.
http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catal ... 32-chipset
Skip the GART, RAID and RAIDXpert downloads.

[Lt Ohio]

Both Asus and Crucial say my memory is compatible with the motherboard, i've browsed their forum and there have been a couple of instances were they were getting blue screens but were resolved by methods ive already tried but there also a case were a power supply was the cause so im going to get my power supply tested as well. Seeing as im mostly out of options updating the south bridge driver indeed can't hurt, i will give that a go.

[Major_A]

Since the memory controller is integrated into your CPU what's the odds that the CPU is bad? Did you buy it brand new or did you get it second hand? Just more food for thought.

[Lt Ohio]

ive been thinking about that too, it was bought brand new and i tried unlocking it a couple of times but that was when it was brand new and didn't have any problems for a few months. Any who updating the SB drivers really made a difference, only one restart since i updated it, however i will look further into the cpu anyway easy testing methods or software? i ran prime95 with the FPU test and it ran fine for the 30 minutes i tested it. Thanks for all your assistance so far btw

[Major_A]

No problem, hardware issues suck. It isn't like a software issue where a reinstall is an option.

If you really want to stress the CPU then try LinX. If Prime95 is like wrestling a high school kid, LinX is like wrestling a grizzly bear.
http://www.benchmarkhq.ru/fclick/fclick.php?fid=386

Since this is a memory issue the best stability test for RAM I've ran across is old school SuperPi. Run a long test and see what happens.
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/36 ... _v1.5.html
Another program that would tell me if I had a RAM error very quickly was Company of Heroes. If you have the game fire up a skirmish and see if it crashes to the desktop or restarts the computer. Mine would always CTD, but I was testing timings, speeds, voltages for errors.

[Lt Ohio]

Well LinX ran smoothly without any errors but i think the other software link is wrong, it isn't called Super Pi its called Sysid and doesn't give me much options for testing just a benchmark option.

[Major_A]

Try this link.
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/36 ... _v1.5.html

[Lt Ohio]

thanks that link worked, super pi ran fine... maybe the southbridge update fixed it, idk no restarts in awhile which is unusual. now that i've said this its gonna restart every 5 mins xD. Again thanks for your help, if it has problems restarting again i will run these tests again to see if i can catch the culprit in the act.

[Major_A]

Glad it's working like it should. Strange that the southbridge drivers fixed the issue though. I think they only address the PCIe, USB and storage controllers. Maybe the PCIe slot got out of whack and messed with the RAM... Don't really know but if it's working then great.

*EDIT*
Been a few days now, any change in the stability?