system memory issue, or something else?

CDsDontBurn · Feb 13, 2008, 12:53 AM

so, for about a year or so already, my computer from time to time will not finish booting into windows. as it is booting into windows and my apps start to load up, my system will just lock up and the sound will cycle through itself in the last half second or so of what it was sounding out. the only way to fix it, is to press the restart button on the case. Now, whenever i do that, my machine will continue to do the same process anywhere from one to six times more or so before i can finally boot into windows. this is totally random when it happens and i cannot reproduce it on my own.

this started happening shortly after i bought my current x1950pro gfx card. so, i thought it was graphics card related at first. then my gfx card started to artifact when playing games here and there, and they were ok. over a period of time, the artifacts became worse, and i ended up RMAing the card. the replacement card had no artifacting issues whatsoever, but the issue described above persists.

then, the other day i go to boot up my machine and i get one long beep, "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP". i'm like, "crap, my memory just died for no good reason". i'm like, whatever. so, i turn off my machine and attempt to boot it back up and it boots just fine. so, i immediately go into BIOS, check my memory settings and they all appear just fine. so, as a precautionary measure, i increased the memory voltage from the default 2.6v to 2.65v hoping that would prevent any further memory issues. After doing so, i have run my memory through memtest86 over night a few days ago, and it passed with flying colors.

so, now i'm really confused as to what all this could possibly mean! i'm thinking there's something wrong w/my system memory, but the whole part about my machine locking up makes me think otherwise despite it still happening.

i know it's totally random, and then with it locking up on boot and not getting any further, even though it was just once, confuseses me even more.

Zelig · Feb 13, 2008, 01:05 AM

If memtest passed, I'd probably take a look at some other parts... if everything is a stock, have you tried running prime95 overnight, to verify that's all good?

Might also be worth running chkdsk, and checking all the connections in your case.

CDsDontBurn · Feb 13, 2008, 01:08 AM

it's possible that something may have come loose over time. i haven't really played w/my machine's insides since i put back in the RMA card. not even to dust it out, which i know i should do too.

i'll run a prime95 on it tonight, and then run orthos tomorrow night to see what happens. if there are any errors or anything during testing.

and yes, everything is running stock. i see no need to OC my old machine. it runs just fine as it is.

Zelig · Feb 13, 2008, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

i'll run a prime95 on it tonight, and then run orthos tomorrow night to see what happens. if there are any errors or anything during testing.

Orthos runs the prime engine, it was made for dual core machines back when you had to run 2 instances of prime and set affinities for it to use both cores, there isn't much point to orthos anymore.

**kris23** · Feb 13, 2008, 02:12 AM

just run orthos, its pretty straightforward with its testing..... even with single cores it should do fine especially since it has 2 logical cores lol

orthos is good for actually stressing RAM, i get no errors in memtest if i OC too high but my memory gives a whole shitload of issues in orthos after.

RoyBatty · Feb 13, 2008, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kris23

orthos is good for actually stressing RAM, i get no errors in memtest if i OC too high but my memory gives a whole shitload of issues in orthos after.

How do you know that the errors in Orthos are memory errors? Every test in Orthos stresses the CPU. I don't think memtest would be error-free if orthos finds "shitload of issues".

By the way, the latest Prime95 supports multi-core CPUs as well.

Vikingod · Feb 13, 2008, 02:10 PM

Either would be fine really, though I'd go with Prime.

What bios (Award I assume) are you running CDs? Do a google for post codes and find out what one long beep means.

Also, try taking everything out of the computer but the essentials and see if you get the same problem. I've had issues with USB devices and NIC cards that gave me similar problems, so it really could be anything. Strip the system down and start from scratch. That would give you a better idea of what it might be, and you could clean the thing out that way too.

Judas · Feb 13, 2008, 02:30 PM

hopefully it's not a northbridge chipset issue....

CDsDontBurn · Feb 13, 2008, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vikingod

Either would be fine really, though I'd go with Prime.

What bios (Award I assume) are you running CDs? Do a google for post codes and find out what one long beep means.

Also, try taking everything out of the computer but the essentials and see if you get the same problem. I've had issues with USB devices and NIC cards that gave could clean the thing out that way too.

no, my board has a pheonix bios. one long beep is a memory fault. which is weird because like i said, memtest86 passed w/o any errors. i haven't run prime95 yet or orthos (i forgot to run it last night), so i need to do that tonight. i guess i could run memtest86 again as well since v2.0 is out now and i have an older version me similar problems, so it really could be anything. Strip the system down and start from scratch. That would give you a better idea of what it might be, and you of it.

it's hard to get it to come back. so, by taking out everything would make this process very long. i can't make it happen, it happens randomly, but when it happens, i need to restart my machine 4 or 5 times before i can get it to boot up fine again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

hopefully it's not a northbridge chipset issue....

if it is, that's an excuse to upgrade my machine

.

EDIT:
i was just looking at NewEgg to see what kind of s478 MoBos they had since the thought of replacing just my MoBo occurred to me if that is the case. they had two biostar boards, a VIA900 chipset board, and a VIA800 chipset board. neither of the two boards would suffice my needs if i were to do just a board swap. i need to have at least 3 SATA connections on the board. I would probably just do a simple upgrade of my machine, sell off my gfx card and RAM on eBay or something to make up for some of the costs since i would need a pci-e gfx card as well. RAM is cheap right now anyways

.

Feb 13, 2008, 12:53 AM	#1
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	system memory issue, or something else? so, for about a year or so already, my computer from time to time will not finish booting into windows. as it is booting into windows and my apps start to load up, my system will just lock up and the sound will cycle through itself in the last half second or so of what it was sounding out. the only way to fix it, is to press the restart button on the case. Now, whenever i do that, my machine will continue to do the same process anywhere from one to six times more or so before i can finally boot into windows. this is totally random when it happens and i cannot reproduce it on my own. this started happening shortly after i bought my current x1950pro gfx card. so, i thought it was graphics card related at first. then my gfx card started to artifact when playing games here and there, and they were ok. over a period of time, the artifacts became worse, and i ended up RMAing the card. the replacement card had no artifacting issues whatsoever, but the issue described above persists. then, the other day i go to boot up my machine and i get one long beep, "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP". i'm like, "crap, my memory just died for no good reason". i'm like, whatever. so, i turn off my machine and attempt to boot it back up and it boots just fine. so, i immediately go into BIOS, check my memory settings and they all appear just fine. so, as a precautionary measure, i increased the memory voltage from the default 2.6v to 2.65v hoping that would prevent any further memory issues. After doing so, i have run my memory through memtest86 over night a few days ago, and it passed with flying colors. so, now i'm really confused as to what all this could possibly mean! i'm thinking there's something wrong w/my system memory, but the whole part about my machine locking up makes me think otherwise despite it still happening. i know it's totally random, and then with it locking up on boot and not getting any further, even though it was just once, confuseses me even more. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Feb 13, 2008, 01:05 AM	#2
Zelig HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 3,187 Rep Power: 71 System Specs	If memtest passed, I'd probably take a look at some other parts... if everything is a stock, have you tried running prime95 overnight, to verify that's all good? Might also be worth running chkdsk, and checking all the connections in your case. __________________ --

Feb 13, 2008, 01:08 AM	Thread Starter #3
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	it's possible that something may have come loose over time. i haven't really played w/my machine's insides since i put back in the RMA card. not even to dust it out, which i know i should do too. i'll run a prime95 on it tonight, and then run orthos tomorrow night to see what happens. if there are any errors or anything during testing. and yes, everything is running stock. i see no need to OC my old machine. it runs just fine as it is. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Feb 13, 2008, 02:12 AM	#5
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,018 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	just run orthos, its pretty straightforward with its testing..... even with single cores it should do fine especially since it has 2 logical cores lol orthos is good for actually stressing RAM, i get no errors in memtest if i OC too high but my memory gives a whole shitload of issues in orthos after. __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Feb 13, 2008, 02:10 PM	#7
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,197 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	Either would be fine really, though I'd go with Prime. What bios (Award I assume) are you running CDs? Do a google for post codes and find out what one long beep means. Also, try taking everything out of the computer but the essentials and see if you get the same problem. I've had issues with USB devices and NIC cards that gave me similar problems, so it really could be anything. Strip the system down and start from scratch. That would give you a better idea of what it might be, and you could clean the thing out that way too.