Memory issues

[Eternal46845]

Hi all, first post, and I'm quite confused.

My wife's computer is the one with issues, here's the specs:
Foxconn 661MXPlus Mainboard
2 - 1GB Super Talent 1GB DDR-400 PC3200 Memory
Pentium 4 3.0 GHz HT Processor
Nvidia GeForce 6200
80GB HD

So anyway, here's the issue...I bought the mainboard, processor, and memory before Christmas. My wife usues this PC to play Warcraft, and ever since installing the new components, the computer keeps crashing Warcraft, and has BSOD-ed one time with BAD_POOL_HEADER.

Troubleshooting so far:
Ran Windiag Mem Test, it found issues with LRAND writing (random writing to memory) Replaced the memory with two new sticks from the store. Still got the same issues with WinDiag, but a 3hr scan with MemTest86 showed no issues. However, the system continued to have random issues running Warcraft. Replaced the mainboard this afternoon, still got the same LRAND errors. Here's a full list of the tests I have run tonight (all with Windiag)

200MHZ 2GB w/ Video Card - LRAND
200MHZ 2GB W/O Video Card - LRAND
166MHZ 2GB W/O Video Card - lots o LRAND

At this point i decided to let the memory use its own speeds. Plus, with one chip, it wasn't telling me speed on POST. Anyway....

1GB (stick one, slot two) - LRAND
1GB (Stick two, slot two) - LRAND

I remembered I had some old memory that I know is good laying around...grabbed them for more testing. Both are PC3200 DDR-400, one is Super Talent, the other I have no clue really These Sticks are 3 and 4.

512 (Stick 3 Slot 2) - 5 passes OK

Eureka? Maybe my motherboard doesn't like 1GB sticks?

1GB (both 512 sticks and video) - LRAND

Nope. Removed stick 3, put Stick 4 all by itself, removed video too.

512 (Stick 4, slot 2) - LRAND

&(*@#$! Realized at this point all the tests had included DIMM Slot 2...lets remove the common value!

512 (Stick 4, slot 1) - 4 passes ok

Hmmm...maybe slot 2 is bad? Slot one test ran ok. Put Stick 4 into Slot 2 and get same results as previous Stick 4/Slot 2 Test?

512 (stick 2, slot 2) - 5 passes ok

So this seems something other then the memory, considering a stick that tested bad in slot 2 then tested okay in slot 2. :freak:

So, only other common items that are relevant are the PSU and the processor. Which should I attack first?

 

[Eternal46845]

FYI I threw a CPU testing program at the computer...CPU Stability Test 6.0 |MG| CPU Stability Test 6.0 Anyway, I started the program, and watched the heat and CPU load...CPU went to 100% on both graphs in Task Manager, and the CPU heat went up to about 43 Celcius. After a few minutes, I decided to terminate the program. Hit the Stop button, and the whole system froze. Odd.

So I got another program, CPU Hi-t Professional Edition 2.0 |MG| CPU Hi-t Professional Edition 2.0 Realized the program was originally wrote in Russian so the English translations were a bit off. I adjusted the tests to run at max, and again watched the Task Manager and CPU heat. CPU only got to about 41 Celcius, Task manager was showing only one CPU graph maxed out, so CPU was running at about 50%. At the end of Test 3, the system froze again. Ok, really odd.

So I ran the first program overnight, didn't freeze up at all with the processor running at 100% for 8 hours. Anyone have any suggestions?