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BSoD Troubleshooting

darkcircuitdarkcircuit Member Posts: 211
in Hardware

Hey all,

I've been trying to resolve a BSoD error on my other half's PC for quite some time with little success so I thought it would be best if I posted on these forums asking for some advice tracking down the problem.

I am embarassed to say that for the first time I actually went to a shop and bought a pre-built machine (shocking I know) and if I'm honest it wasnt very expensive (pretty budget). The moment I got the PC home I put my old ATI 1950XTX graphics card in it replacing the need to rely on ungamer-friendly onboard graphics, and then the problems started. Originally she was getting BSoD messages on a fairly regular basis; typically she would get one every start up (once it had booted into windows after about 30 seconds) and then randomly after that.

I thought the issue may be down to a somewhat lacking PSU (was about 250W), so I went out and bought a 650W one, but the problem persisted. I then thought the issue may be down to an issue with the graphics card/drivers as the BSoD was regardly being thrown by the graphics driver, so I went out and bought a new graphics card for it (Nvidia 8800GTX) and yet again this did not solve it; but I am getting different sources for the BSoD message.

I have checked for overheating with Speedfan and according to that everything is running fine. I bought some new RAM as I thought that might be causing it, but the MB they used does not appear to support DDR2 800MHz, so in the meantime I have had to go back to using the original RAM.

The only things I havent replaced are the CPU (very unlikely to be causing the problem), the HD (again unlikely), the RAM (incompatible with current MB) and the MB.

Does anyone have any advice about what could be causing this? Thinking the only option left available to me is replacing the MB.

Thanks for any help.

Dave

Comments

  • noquarternoquarter Member Posts: 1,170

    First thing I would do is burn memtest86+ and test the RAM out, easy check and one of the few things you haven't replaced.

    Second, you should update the motherboard BIOS especially if it's a Phenom processor.

    Now I'm kinda curious, why doesn't your mobo handle the DDR2-800? As long as it supports DDR2 it should just downclock the RAM, if it only supports DDR1 then you wouldn't even be able to put the stick in the slot. What mobo and CPU do you have?


    You probably would've noticed if it was the HD but it wouldn't hurt to grab the diagnostic tools WD/Seagate/whoever have for testing HD out too because otherwise it's gotta be your mobo.

  • darkcircuitdarkcircuit Member Posts: 211

    Thanks for the reply :) I'll give memtest a go when I get in.

    Regarding the incompatibility issue with the new RAM, I was shocked it didnt work as well. All that happened when I swopped it out was that it kept BSoD whenever it attempted to boot into windows, put the old memory back in and it stopped. I would update the Motherboard but I know nothing about the PC as I didnt build it so matching the text on the MB to the correct bios update is gonna be very tricky, might as well just buy a new MB and be done with it.

    Can anyone recommend a good *budget* gaming socket 775 Quad Core Duo 2 MB? I bought 2x2gb sticks so more than 2 RAM slots is a niceity but not required. Mainly what Im looking for is a straight forward bios with some ability to tweak RAM timings etc. Usually I go with ASUS but looking at the budget ones they sell I'm not impressed with the build quality.

    Thanks again,

    Dave

  • noquarternoquarter Member Posts: 1,170

    Ok that does sound like the mobo needs to just be replaced. Pre-built computers usually have really cheap mobos, PSU's and HD's so those 3 things often fail at some point. The bios update you could find by the computer model if it's a big OEM or pretty easily off the mobo model number printed on the mobo.

    But if you want to just buy a new mobo I think you're gonna have to do that anyway.

  • jdkskipjdkskip Member UncommonPosts: 120

    You probably already did, but did you disable the on board graphics through the bios? I find I forget to do stuff like that at times.

  • darkcircuitdarkcircuit Member Posts: 211
    Originally posted by jdkskip


    You probably already did, but did you disable the on board graphics through the bios? I find I forget to do stuff like that at times.

    Yup all disabled :) I've forgotten to disable onboard sound in the past :P

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