The infamous BSOD...

[Phant]

First of all, my system is:

Athlon 4000+
Asus A8N-SLI
nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX
1x1GB ddr400 pc3200 GEIL Ram
1x160 GB Hitachi 7200 rpm HD

When I first purchased my system, I was having reoccurring BSOD's that I could never repair... so I sent my system back and had the company that built it do something about it. My system ran fine this past week I had it back (which is a good sign because it was BSODing about an hour into my initial system), then suddenly yesterday it started up again.

Advice I've gotten has always told me that it was most likely my RAM... but I've had my company that built the system send me different sticks, but they've always sent the same Geil RAM... and when I looked through the manual to my A8N-SLI board, they didnt have anything Geil listed as a recommended RAM supplier. Could this be the problem?

 

[Trotter]

Write down the code it gives you with the BSOD.

That'll help sort it out.

 

[dipique]

Probably not the RAM. But just in case, consider downloading a memory tester; that'll settle at least one possibility. Usually BSOD is driver related, in my experience.

Dan

 

[Phant]

Sorry about the quality on this image... the digital camera I borrowed wasn't exactly top notch. I have no idea what these numbers mean, so maybe someone else can make more sense of them than I can.

 

[dipique]

Try these steps:

1. Test memory with MemTest86 (http://www.memtest86.com/)
2. Upgrade to latest video drivers and MB drivers
3. Are you overclocking? Don't.
4. Check your bios to see if your RAM setting is "optimal." If it is, change it to "sync."
5. Clean memory. (To do this, take the ram out and go over the contacts lightly with a pencil eraser; then, use a q-tip with alcohol and go over them with that. Blow it to get rid of cotton fibers but be sure not to spit on it.)
6. Go to windows recovery mode and run chkdsk.
7. Makes sure your video card isn't overheating. To test it, open up your case, take out all the cards surrounding the card, and blow a regular fan in to the case. If the computer doesn't freeze when it's like this, it was probably your vid card overheating.
8. Make sure SP2 is installed on your machine.

Good luck!

Dan

 

[Apokalipse]

0x0000008E means bad memory.
I'd recommend getting your current RAM replaced by a brand recommended by Asus, as Asus's boards tend to be picky about the RAM they get.

 

[dipique]

Go through the tests I described first. A few memory settings and tests could clear it up for a lot less money.

Dan

 

[Phant]

Thanks a ton guys... I didn't really trust this Geil RAM from the beginning... I'm going to try and go pick up some Corsair recommended by my mobo later tonight and I'll let you guys know the results.

 

[Mr_Threepwood]

Have you run memtest though, Its worth a shot before you go out and buy ram.

 

[dipique]

lol it doesn't sound like he's really listening, Threepwood. Geil RAM can be really good, btw.

Dan