ios

A lot of this post comes from another thread I mistakenly posted to after finding it on Google. It was suggested that I start a new thread describing my own problems. I was asked to specify more data.

PSU: RS-650-ACAA-A1 made by Cooler Master
Regular output is 650 watts but it can go up to 780

+12V Voltage - 12.03V
+5V - 4.73V
+3.3V - 3.28V

DDR2 Voltage - 1.92V
DDR2 Termination Voltage - 0.96V
CPU Core Voltage - 1.32V
CPU-NB HT Voltage - 1.36V

NB 2.5V Voltage - 2.57V
NB Core Voltage - 1.20V
SB Core Voltage - 1.58V
SB PLL Voltage - 1.56V
SiL3132 ESATA Voltage - 1.82V
Marvell LAN PHY Voltage - 1.74V

All these settings are the default set on an Asus Crosshair. Temperature with Windows XP loaded is usually around 40-42 degrees. I remember it being about 35 degrees earlier this week. After an entire night of being off, it was coming up at 30 degrees, but quickly rising to 35 degrees. I still have Arctic Silver on my X2. It is now at 42 degrees according to SpeedFan 4.32.

Here are parts of my post from the previous thread:
Asus Crosshair with 0802 BIOS Version.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ operating at 2.6 GHz.
2 GBs of Mushkin DIMMs in my system.
e-GeForce 7300 GT - 512MB

I originally did have other problems with this motherboard. After about six months of usage, the system does not boot. It will turn on, it just will not boot into an OS. I take it down to a computer store and it appears that I need to reapply the thermal paste. In the beginning, I had no thermal paste on there at all. I went with whatever AMD put on their CPU fan/heatsink combination by default. Read on the Internet, theories saying that it will be good forever. I got the impression it would be good for life. Well that life only lasts for about six months. I buy some Arctic Silver and the CPU and motherboard are working great together...until a new problem surfaces. If I command the CPU to do any task that is very CPU intensive, the system will immediately do a reboot. The monitor goes black and than different things have occurred on different forced reboots. On one occasion the PC speaker makes a long beep, followed by two quick beeps. I turn it off for about five minutes and when I turn on the power again, it boots just fine. The other occurrence is the system quickly booting back into Windows XP as if nothing was ever wrong.

I do not do any overclocking. I did use the NVIDIA GPU Ex but whether I enable it or disable it, my system still randomly reboots when the CPU workload becomes too intensive. I frequently have many auto-save features implementing its primary feature. That is the only software feature saving my work for those applications that support it.

Are there any suggestions for how I can personally find the defective hardware or what I should do to stop my system from randomly rebooting whenever CPU workload becomes too intensive? I have already tried resetting all BIOS functions to their defaults.

TheMatt

One thing I would do first is make sure that the rebooting is not Windows automatically restarting. Disable automatic restart on system failure and see if you get a BSOD.

Additionally, do you have a multimeter you can use to test the Power_Good signal?

ios

In the past, I used to build systems all the time. I would always remember methods to troubleshoot someone else's system. But when it came to my own system, I completely forget the major steps. I forced XP to show me the BSOD upon crashing the CPU. The error I got was "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL". Is this a defect that can be solved through Windows XP reinstallation? Could the memory be shot? Is there a recommended tool that will tell me for sure? I had the Crosshair BIOS do a very slow check on the memory. The memory passed all the BIOS tests.

solman

You can run memtest86+

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

ios

Turns out to be a defective DIMM. Feeling frustration trying to get my system to work, I opened the shell casing the Mushkin DIMM was in. Does this void the warranty? According to the stamped label, it does. But it was a mail ordered item. Even though I've only owned it for about 6 months, returning items on a mail order basis can get very frustrating. Is the shell casing a necessity for DIMMs?

speedster123

You have nothing to lose if the stick is bad.
Did you try bumping the voltage a tad on the ram to see if it smooths out?

ios

No I have not tried bumping up the voltage. I could give it a try. Would memtest86+ not see any errors? Would that be the best way to hunt for any possible errors and to discover if the memory is still reliable? What about the DIMM that is still okay? Do I pour out the bumped up voltage onto both DIMMs?

I have not sent out the DIMM yet because Newegg demands I make a sacrifice in order to make a valid exchange. They want me to ship back both DIMMs I bought the package as. I may soon have a PC that cannot do anything at all because all the memory has been shipped out. To ship, process, and return ship an RMA request with Newegg, I think takes about 10 days total, assuming no delays or errors happen in shipping process. On top of all that, if Newegg processes the DIMM return, they will exchange both DIMMs I send back with refurbished memory DIMMs. Standard procedure.

Mushkin was the company who made my DIMMs. Does anyone have any experience dealing with Mushkin and can suggest what is the next move I take? I bought this memory from Newegg on 2/23/2007.

TheMatt

When you ran Memtest86 did you run it with each stick individually?

If you can just return the RAM that will be better. Newegg usually makes you ship to CA for returns. If you return the RAM and buy new sticks immediately you will essentially be shipping over collateral but if it means getting new RAM faster then its probably worth it.

ios

Newegg had strict return options I had to follow. Only one of my DIMMs died, but in order to qualify for an exchange, I had to return both DIMMs that came with the original packaging. So I contact Mushkin, and they are willing to exchange my dead DIMM for a single DIMM that works. I only have to send back one of the original dead DIMMs. So I send it to Mushkin and it appears to have gotten there. At least UPS' online log record says it was 'Delivered' on 10/1/07 to the destination. So I e-mail Mushkin to ask if they received the defective DIMM and suddenly they are very silent with my RMA. I do not want to pester or nag them about it, but I am starting to feel cheated from a remote standpoint. Although however, if I had kept the defective DIMM it would have still been no use. I only would have saved $6 by not shipping it anywhere. Would anyone have any recommendations on what action to perform next?

TheMatt

Just wait. They should e-mail you if any problems arise. They might be waiting for the part to come into stock. Remember, you need matched pairs of DIMMs to run dual channel, so they could be doing you a favor by waiting a little while but sending you back the exact same model.

ios

I just got my Mushkin memory back and it is delivering as promised. Does anyone know how Mushkin marks memory that has been repaired resulting in a mark of being refurbished? When I look at the new memory that was shipped to me, I cannot tell the difference between the old one and the new one. The serial numbers of course are different, but there are no extra letters, numbers, or symbols indicating this. How does Mushkin mark memory that sets it aside as being refurbished?

TheMatt

There are usually no 'refurb' memory modules; once RAM goes bad it is cheaper to replace it than to fix it and resell it.

ios

I've been thinking about memory modules being cheaper when new rather than refurbished, and I remember I asked a similar question to Newegg when I was attempting to get some type of replacement for my no longer functioning Mushkin memory. From Newegg's online chatting system, an employee told me they have a pool supply of refurbished memory which they can use to immediately replace damaged ones. It felt like they get a planned shipment of refurbished memory on a regularly scheduled basis. Since Newegg is an online e-commerce company, would the method chosen to perform RMA requests differ from the manufacturer? I remember, when I chased after this issue by calling Mushkin's toll free number, the person on the phone told me my memory just finished testing and should be ready to ship. Would it be correct in guessing that Newegg wouldn't bother retesting the DIMM before shipping it out to you? The main reason I am still curious about this issue is because I want to know if there is some software that can benchmark each bank of DIMM memory inside my system and tell me which DIMM performs at what speed? Which DIMM is faster, the old one or the new one?

TheMatt

You can use benchmarks in either PC Wizard or Sandra for seeing the throughput of your memory. But the speed and timings should be indicated on the sticker of each stick.

ios

To end the mystery, I decided to e-mail Mushkin directly and ask them if the RMA memory they sent me was refurbished. Am I under a different warranty now? They told me they only use new memory, not refurbished. So the remaining question now remains, Newegg.com even told me this, any RMA memory is refurbished when shipped back to the customer when honoring the warranty. Is this a lesson to be learned that RMAs should not be processed through the distributor? Always go straight back to the manufacturer?

TheMatt

I would take Mushkin's word for it since Newegg gives them the RAM. Also, I still doubt memory is refurbished.

ios

Is there a designation for installing DIMMs onto an Asus Crosshair motherboard? I tried different variations and the system seems stable at first. After about 75% of a day to an entire day, Windows XP begins having trouble reading and writing to one of the hard drives. An error bubble pops up from the right hand toolbar telling me this. On days I have had the screen saver kicking in after 20 minutes of inactivity, the system seems to have locked up when I return. The screen is black and the num lock and caps lock buttons have no effect. I force a reboot. To determine if the power saving was locking up my system, I set the monitor to never go off. I just turn it on or off manually. When my system locked up again and could not read one of my hard drives with the keyboard lights not working, I could still move the mouse. Although sometimes mouse control would lock up, but it returns after about 20 seconds. I could finally get Task Manager up by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL and waiting long enough for my system to process this command. The major thing that has changed in my system, are the memory DIMMs. I feel somewhat lost when I stare at the DIMM socket outline in the manual. Does it matter which sequence or order I plug the DIMMs in? No matter where I load the DIMMs into their sockets, the system always boots just fine and correctly recognizes how much memory I loaded in the sockets. Is there an official layout for the positioning of three DIMMs on a Crosshair motherboard?