Weird ram problems

ceramix · 10-17-2007, 12:50 AM

My computer starts bluescreening every 20 minutes if I don't swap the ram out every two weeks or so. I have no idea why. It started happening a few months ago and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. I tried re-installing windows 3 times and even taking the main harddrive out to see if that was the problem. Until a month ago I tried taking some ram out (had two gigs 4x512mb now working with 1 gig 2x512mb) and it worked fine. Then a couple weeks later it would bluescreen again every twenty minutes or so and sometimes windows wouldnt even load. Just straight to bluescreen. Then I swap the two modules of ram out with the other two modules I have. Works for another couple of weeks or so and then the same problem.
This has got me scratching my head. Could I need a new motherboard?

First time on here. Don't know if the board shows my pc specs so I'll list them anyway.
Athlon X2 4800+
Sapphire Radeon x1800
I got the ram from crucial, can't remember off the top of my head but I think the ram is PC3200.
Asus a8n-e
Creative X-Fi xtreme audio
I'm using the nvidia onboard ethernet.

I think I've tried every trick I can think of. I know nvidia's ethernet driver's are awful but I've tried uninstalling the drivers completely and using a seperate NIC. In fact, I've tried uninstalling ALL of the hardware drivers, disabling most of the onboard components but nothing helps except to swap ram out every couple weeks.

Sorry if I'm rambling, but this is so weird.

**twajetmech** · 10-17-2007, 03:32 AM

Hello and welcome to the forum, what are your ddr ref volts set to ? What are your timings set to ? How many case fans ? What does your bios say about your volts and temps ? What psu do you have, it could be going bad.
Try setting the ddr ref volts to 2.7V
Set your memory timings to 3-3-3-8
Make sure your HSF is on secure and was installed correctly with new TIM

ceramix · 10-17-2007, 06:29 AM

I'll try that with my ram timings but I'm pretty sure its set to SPD (if that's what you're talking about). The PSU is a smartpower 500 watt antec. It's about 4 years old so it could be that. I may have an extra power supply somewhere around here but I'm not sure. With those system specs what do you think the minimum power supply wattage would be? By the way, I forgot to mention this in the original post, I am not overclocked at all.
Any more help would be appreciated.

Another thing I forgot to add, I dual boot ubuntu and that would USUALLY run fine. Very rarely programs would start crashing to the point where I would have to reboot. I was using that instead because windows wasn't stable. Also, if I booted windows and played bioshock, it would run perfectly fine as long as I was playing the game. Again, weird.

10-17-2007, 12:50 AM	#1 (permalink)
ceramix Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: North cal Posts: 2 OS: XP, Ubuntu	Weird ram problems My computer starts bluescreening every 20 minutes if I don't swap the ram out every two weeks or so. I have no idea why. It started happening a few months ago and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. I tried re-installing windows 3 times and even taking the main harddrive out to see if that was the problem. Until a month ago I tried taking some ram out (had two gigs 4x512mb now working with 1 gig 2x512mb) and it worked fine. Then a couple weeks later it would bluescreen again every twenty minutes or so and sometimes windows wouldnt even load. Just straight to bluescreen. Then I swap the two modules of ram out with the other two modules I have. Works for another couple of weeks or so and then the same problem. This has got me scratching my head. Could I need a new motherboard? First time on here. Don't know if the board shows my pc specs so I'll list them anyway. Athlon X2 4800+ Sapphire Radeon x1800 I got the ram from crucial, can't remember off the top of my head but I think the ram is PC3200. Asus a8n-e Creative X-Fi xtreme audio I'm using the nvidia onboard ethernet. I think I've tried every trick I can think of. I know nvidia's ethernet driver's are awful but I've tried uninstalling the drivers completely and using a seperate NIC. In fact, I've tried uninstalling ALL of the hardware drivers, disabling most of the onboard components but nothing helps except to swap ram out every couple weeks. Sorry if I'm rambling, but this is so weird.

10-17-2007, 03:32 AM	#2 (permalink)
twajetmech I helped the forums. Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: LGA, NYC Posts: 2,388 OS: XP-Pro Sp2 & XP-Pro Sp2 Tablet Edition, Vista Ultimate My System	Re: Weird ram problems Hello and welcome to the forum, what are your ddr ref volts set to ? What are your timings set to ? How many case fans ? What does your bios say about your volts and temps ? What psu do you have, it could be going bad. Try setting the ddr ref volts to 2.7V Set your memory timings to 3-3-3-8 Make sure your HSF is on secure and was installed correctly with new TIM __________________ PSU Selection/Info // Bench test // Thermal Paste // Memory Selection // Bios Beep Codes // CPU-Z// Posting System Specs

10-17-2007, 06:29 AM	#3 (permalink)
ceramix Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: North cal Posts: 2 OS: XP, Ubuntu	Re: Weird ram problems I'll try that with my ram timings but I'm pretty sure its set to SPD (if that's what you're talking about). The PSU is a smartpower 500 watt antec. It's about 4 years old so it could be that. I may have an extra power supply somewhere around here but I'm not sure. With those system specs what do you think the minimum power supply wattage would be? By the way, I forgot to mention this in the original post, I am not overclocked at all. Any more help would be appreciated. Another thing I forgot to add, I dual boot ubuntu and that would USUALLY run fine. Very rarely programs would start crashing to the point where I would have to reboot. I was using that instead because windows wasn't stable. Also, if I booted windows and played bioshock, it would run perfectly fine as long as I was playing the game. Again, weird. Last edited by ceramix; 10-17-2007 at 06:32 AM.