Spent big money at NewEgg and...

[Brickster]

Morning all,
New here too.
I just put together a new system and spared no expense. After putting it all together I was happy that everything booted right up. Loaded Vista 64-bit Ultimate. Put my wireless card in and downloaded all the updates. I am working with 3ds Max 2008.
The first time that I went to render the machine crashed after two frames. Pretty disappointed.That has seemed to work itself out though. But several times a day the machine will just reboot. When it restarts it at first says that it can't find a hard drive. I only have the one, and it will start up from it though after the countdown or if I hit enter.
One other thing: the screen will flicker once in a while.
Any clues all you geniuses?
Thanks
Brickster
CORSAIR XMS3 DHX 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN3X4096-1600C7DHX ("http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145185)
8 Gigs - CORSAIR 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ("http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145190)WIN3X40961600C7DHXIN ("http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145190)
SUPER TALENT INT-AIN1-C All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader ("http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820609198)
Microsoft S82-00032S Black USB + PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard Mouse Included ("http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16823109139)
PNY VCQFX1700-PCIE-PB Quadro FX1700 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card ("http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814133207)
Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ("http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129025)Intel ("http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813121090)
BOXDX38BT LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX DDR3 Intel Motherboard ("http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813121090)
CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply ("http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817139001)

[pam123]

And Vista's Event Viewer shows you what ?
Also uncheck re-start on error.

[Brickster]

And Vista's Event Viewer shows you what ?
Also uncheck re-start on error.

I will check and get back to you.

[Brickster]

It had dozens of errors. Some had to do with the crashes and an inability to write to the backup file. Corrupted.
Many were from the 3ds Max program, not being able to find some files. There is a log I can check.
There is no Restore Point as that is mush tool.
One error generated was about system resources being not enough. I am running a memory test now off the Vista CD disk.

One query, does the hard drive have to be in the 0 position? Mine is in 1 and CD is in 0

Or do I just have to take it apart and reseat all the boards and ram, and reload new Vista?

No problem, I actually am enjoying this if you can believe it.

Dah!!!

mike

[pam123]

Hard drive 0, optical 1 but it sounds like you've got an impending hardware failure on your hands.
The good point is everything is still under warranty.
By all, means reseat everything but if that doesn't work then you're going to start testing the ram and the hard drive.
How much ram do you have in the computer? Your initial specs aren't clear about that.
Are you running 8 GB of ram with a 520 watt psu ?

[Brickster]

Oh yeah, 520 power supply and 8gig DDD3 1333 ram, 4-2gig sticks. I'm thinking I need more power. And the ram test was going OK until it crashed too. So, We are taking it apart.
Anything else?

[pam123]

Test 1 stick or 1 pair of the memory at a time.

[shadowpr]

Use Memtest to check your ram.

[Brickster]

Test 1 stick or 1 pair of the memory at a time.

And what is Memtest?

[shadowpr]

http://www.memtest.org/

[Icyman23]

I've used the Vista memory tool, and its not bad...have it run at least 2 advanced passes...1 stick each.

[Brickster]

And for testing HD. Oh, by the way I put the hard drive to position 0 and I still get the Hard disk not detected error.

[pam123]

And what is Memtest?


It's here : http://www.memtest.org/

You put the program on a floppy or cd, boot from the necessary drive and run it.
It remains the standard memory test tool.
The Vista memory tool doesn't have the same track record, obviously, but either will tell you if you have ram problems.

[Brickster]

It's here : http://www.memtest.org/

You put the program on a floppy or cd, boot from the necessary drive and run it.
It remains the standard memory test tool.
The Vista memory tool doesn't have the same track record, obviously, but either will tell you if you have ram problems.


Someone else wondered if I had a big enough Power Supply.
I'm running the ram test now but with vista. I didn't see support for Vista 64 and DDR3 on the memtest site.

[pam123]

Memtest, like a hard drive test, is not dependent on an operating system.
You boot off the disk you burned it to, placed first in the boot order, and it runs from there.
It will not have trouble with memory types.

[Brickster]

Memtest, like a hard drive test, is not dependent on an operating system.
You boot off the disk you burned it to, placed first in the boot order, and it runs from there.
It will not have trouble with memory types.

Cool, and I completed the ram tests on the 4 modules. 2 checked out OK and the other 2 couldn't even be checked. The test just didn't start. To test I put one of the good ones back in an the test ran fine. I guess I will try the memtest on those two bad ones (allegedly).

I can't seem to find a test for the hard drive though. Heh, it's getting dark.

[pam123]

Down load the test from the drive manufacturer's site, make sure you get the one for your drive.
If Memtest confirms you may have to bad ram sticks.
For now pull them and see what happens.

[Brickster]

Down load the test from the drive manufacturer's site, make sure you get the one for your drive.
If Memtest confirms you may have to bad ram sticks.
For now pull them and see what happens.

I downloaded the memtest86+ but it is in an .iso image file but I don't know how to burn it to a CD and I don't have a floppy drive. The windows wants to format the CD so all I can do is copy the file to that. And that of course doesn't boot.

I am running with just the 4gig now and will see how that works.
thanks for all the help.

[Brickster]

Never mind just did it on my mac with disk utility. it's working. testing anyway

[AJ_0000]

This may be a stupid question, but did you update the BIOS? I had similar problems with my recent build, flashed the BIOS and they were gone. Runs perfectly now.

[Masaki 7-11]

HDTach is a good program for testing hard drives, here's a link for it: http://www.simplisoftware.com/Public/index.php?request=HdTach
After you run the program, compare the results to those listed by the manufacturer, and take a look at the graph created at the end of the test, if you see lots of large changes in performance, you may have a failing hard drive. If possible updating the bios is a good first step since it normally fixes up any problems associated with the motherboard.

[Cricket]

Does your computer run okay with only the good sticks of RAM installed?

This CD has a lot of troubleshooting utilities already on it: Ultimate Boot CD (http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/). A lot of use this to troubleshoot PC problems.

:) Cricket

[pam123]

Waiting on results.

[Brickster]

Hi Yall,

All's well in new build land. I went to Seagate and downloaded one of the testers. Didn't work. Only for 32-bit systems. Another one they had was a dos version that worked OK. Seems the drive is alright. I did the short test and it came out fine. It had a long test that said it would take hours so I didn't do that one.

The Corsair Ram I had purchased were slightly different:
The come in twos.
This one worked great:
RSAIR XMS3 DHX 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN3X4096-1600C7DHX
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145185

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x111/mikeg3_photo/DHXFront.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x111/mikeg3_photo/DHXBack.jpg

The other looked the same at first glance but when I installed these with the first ones the machine wouldn't boot:
CORSAIR 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model WIN3X40961600C7DHXIN - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145190

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x111/mikeg3_photo/DHXINSupportsFront.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x111/mikeg3_photo/DHXINSupportsBackjpg.jpg

I ran the two Corsair 2-2gb DXH sticks -- Passed in both the Vista and the Memtest.

The DHXIN wouldn't even register in the Vista test and passed the first memtest pass and went on to a second pass and seems to be going OK. The other one didn't work. So I packed them up and got an RMA for a refund at NewEgg. For $850 for the two I didn't want to mess around.

So I ordered 2 of the DXH (the first) from Zipzoomflyl.com who had it in stock. Installed and and went to the BIOS and changed the timing from 9-9-9-24 to 7-7-7-24 and everything went swimmingly. I was unsure about one aspect of the setup there. In the Reference Frequency. It is set to Default, but you can set it to 400, 333, 266 or 200. Anything there to consider?

Other than that it is stable now and has been on for a week without shutting down and without errors.

{Images converted to links for dial-up users - Mod}

[Brickster]

This may be a stupid question, but did you update the BIOS? I had similar problems with my recent build, flashed the BIOS and they were gone. Runs perfectly now.

Thanks. I did. Although the intel site say don't do it unless you are having problems. Well, I guess I was. Thanks

[Brickster]

HDTach is a good program for testing hard drives, here's a link for it: http://www.simplisoftware.com/Public/index.php?request=HdTach
After you run the program, compare the results to those listed by the manufacturer, and take a look at the graph created at the end of the test, if you see lots of large changes in performance, you may have a failing hard drive. If possible updating the bios is a good first step since it normally fixes up any problems associated with the motherboard.

I will definitely download that. All the help I can get etc.
thanks.

[Brickster]

Does your computer run okay with only the good sticks of RAM installed?

This CD has a lot of troubleshooting utilities already on it: Ultimate Boot CD (http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/). A lot of use this to troubleshoot PC problems.

:) Cricket

Thanks Cricket.

[Brickster]

Waiting on results.

You're a champ. Holding my hand whilst I go into the UNKNOWN>>

mike

[pam123]

Glad to hear all is well.
Do our members with dial-up a favor please.
Just link to photo-bucket rather than post the shots on the forum.