Computer skips like a scratched CD

[snowpunk]

I've got my CPU OCed but I don't know if that is what's causing my problem. Here's the deal... every few minutes or so my computer "skips." By this I mean video pauses and audio skips for about 2 seconds. I lose all control of what I'm doing for those 2 seconds whether it be typing, watching a movie, or using a controller for a game. Also, randomly my computer restarts and before it does a blue screen with white words pops up for a split second. I've tried to video tape it but can't make out the warning that it gives me. Sometimes when I reboot it goes away for a while.

Everything in my system is pretty new. The CPU, PSU and memory is a month old and the video card and mobo are a week and a half old. I didn't have this problem with my old mobo and video card. I also tried reinstalling the latest Nvidia drivers.

I reinstalled windows and reformatted my main drive and it helped for a little bit but now it's back. My cooling is wonderful so I don't think anything is overheating. Everything has a fan on it except my memory. Is this a hardware defect, an overclocking problem, or a software bug?

Below is the blue blur I caught when my computer reboots.

 

[Nubius]

if your memory is overclocked then you've probably got it set to parameters it can't handle, not enough voltage, or too much voltage without cooling it (a fan blowing on it would suffice)

Unstable rails from the PSU would also cause such things.

With an error like IRQ_not_or_less_equal though generally means some kind of hardware conflict or even drivers inflicting with each other, however if you've formatted then that shouldn't be the case here.

First guess would be somethings up with your memory, as I said, either you've overclocked too far, you dont have enough voltage for your overclock, or you need a fan blowing on it just to keep it cool.

2nd guess would be PSU rails being unstable

 

[Apokalipse]

that BSOD is usually caused by bad drivers.

there could also be corrupt OS files, which can be fixed with a repair-install/reinstall of Windows.

and instability can also be caused by a bad PSU, which fluctuates or doesn't give enough power.

 

[Nubius]

there could also be corrupt OS files, which can be fixed with a repair-install/reinstall of Windows.

he said he reformatted recently, this is why I then figured it was either memory or PSU, otherwise I would say drivers or corrupt OS first as well

 

[IGeMex]

Well can you not put your memory back down to factory speeds. Then see how it gets on. And your cpu for that matter. Provided your pc operates long enough for you to do that. Then see how it goes, if it's fine then you know it's prolly that. You don't NEED to overclock. I'd rather have a stable pc than a eversoslightly faster but unstable, overclocked one.

 

[snowpunk]

Thanks for your help guys... Nubius, do you work for tech forums or are you just incredibly helpful and all over the place?

Okay I pretty much just reset my bios (every short of flashing it) back to all pre-OC values to see if the OCed memory is what's causing this. I set the value of my memory that was 166 back to 200 and in CPU-z it says it's frequency is 167.5. Probably not a big deal as long as it's under 200 I guess. We'll see if this changes anything...

On another note - I've been frustrated with my memory from day 1 because I got a generic brand and not a reliable name brand, would that have anything to do with this?

 

[Nubius]

Nubius, do you work for tech forums or are you just incredibly helpful and all over the place?

no I don't work here, and actually the general concensus here is that I'm the public nuisance/asshole I just occasionally dip into the hardware and OC'ing sections which I used to visit and post in a lot more frequently and legitimately answer a question.

generic brand and not a reliable name brand, would that have anything to do with this?

more than likely, especially if it was over 200 when you were getting the BSOD's.

It should be at 200MHz even though unless you have something less than PC3200 but your sig says otherwise. You definitely dont want your PC3200 RAM running at 166MHz.

If you truly set your memory divider back to 200MHz in the BIOS the only way it'd be reading 166MHz (should be anyway) is if you lowered your HTT that far, as when you set it to 200MHz in most AMD64 BIOS's that makes the RAM follow the HTT

 

[burned-ati]

wow i hate that blue screen. i mean isnt it scary, jk. but yea that is a memory problem its because the mhz is clocked to hi, because if its a timming it will try and load windows and then your hd clicks and then it reboots

trust me i was trying to get max dollar out of samsung ram this morning

 

[Nubius]

because if its a timming it will try and load windows and then your hd clicks and then it reboots

....no.....timings too tight, clocked too high, not enough voltage, will all give you blue screens...sometimes if it's REALLY unstable it'll be before windows loads....if it's close to being stable but not quite there it'll be like his....it's not as simple as saying "oh yeah it's clocked too high, cause if it was the timings windows wouldn't load"

 

[snowpunk]

Side note to add to what you guys are talking about right there... the blue screen appears during the windows loading screen with the scrolling blue bar (green for SP1). Once or twice it has shown it's ugly, nasty, blue face after windows has loaded.

So like I said I turned down all my OCing. I haven't had any more blue screens thus far, but I still get the skipping. It's making all my songs sound like crap and making me lose races in Most Wanted. If this is a software thing I can just reformatt my drives but I'm more concerned about it being hardware. In fact, I'd almost rather it be a hardware issue so I can fix it once and for all so it doesn't come back.

EDIT---------------------------------------
I checked my memory frequency in CPU-z and like I said it was at 167ish. I rebooted and went into my BIOS to check my settings. Everything is back to normal like I had changed it - FSB 200, HT Freq 5x, CPU VID 1.45, Memclock index value 200 Mhz. Save and exit - and it freezes in the windows load up screen like it has done before but no blue screen, I had to reboot on my own. I get back into windows and I check CPU-z again and now it's back to 200 (201 to be exact). I didn't change a thing in BIOS and my frequency changed. That worries me a little.