Blue Screens

jamisz · 04-26-2009, 11:30 AM

Hello,

Ive been having computer problems for about 3 months now. I consider myself an advanced user and have gone thru many many trouble shooting steps to try to resolve these blue screen problems. I think I have the problem narrowed down to the RAM however after reading these forums Ive realized there is more to the RAM than I thought.

Basically the blue screens seem to happen when I either play a game, or have multiple programs open using alot of system resources or RAM. The blue screen error I see the majority of the time is 0x00000008e which from my understanding usually is a RAM problem.

Also keep in mind this PC worked fine for about 6 months with absolutely no problems whatsoever.

The system I have is one that I built. I have an ASUS M2N-SLI mobo with Cruicial PC2-6400 1gb dual channel ram (two sticks of these). Part number OCZ2N800SR2GK.

Now If I remove 1 stick of RAM from my system it seems to stabilize things very much so. I wasnt having any crashes for weeks until playing a game last night and got the same old BSOD 0x0000008e. With both sticks of RAM in the PC it would BSOD daily and be practically useless.

I thought initially that having both sticks of RAM in the PC was having some kind of problems with Windows Vista not using them correctly or something like that? I read in a few places with people having problems with 2 sticks of RAM in and alot of the same problems Im having, people crying for a Microsoft fix and such. Or possibly that the 2nd stick of RAM was indeed bad, but now with the crash last night with just the 1 stick in it has me wondering and researching these forums again.

Ive run memtest on both sticks seperately and have found no problems, I have also run the Microsoft memtest with no problems found either.

This problem really has me pulling my hair out at this point. Ive run driver scanners and such and all my drivers are up to date.

The mobo and RAM I bought was part of a package from TigerDirect that all came together, I assumed the RAM would be compatible with the mobo, but after reading these forums this morning Im not so sure TigerDirect packaged the right stuff together.

First of all I dont see anywhere in my mobo manual that Crucial RAM PN:OCZ2N800SR2GK is listed as compatible, it has a few other Crucial PN listed in there but not mine. Secondly I goto Crucial website and enter my mobo model number and my PN:OCZ2N800SR2GK RAM does not show as compatible there either.

Is this a pretty good indication that my RAM is indeed not compatible with my mobo? If the RAM wasnt compatible why did the PC work fine for 6 months with heavy gaming activity before all this?

As far as I knew my mobo supported PC2-6400 RAM, however Crucial website is stating that I can fit PC2-4200, PC2-5300, and PC2-6400 into the mobo? I didnt realize it could accept multiple types of RAM.

Also Im reading on these forums about voltage and such between mobo, PSU and the RAM being set properly. I have never heard of this nor have I ever updated my mobo BIOS or toyed around with the voltage settings. Could this be the cause of all my problems?

Where do I start troubleshooting this!!!?!? Should I just replace the RAM with some that Crucial recommends for this mobo?

Im about ready to BURN this PC any help is appreciated!!!

**wrench97** · 04-26-2009, 11:40 AM

Lets start with the ram the part number is for OCZ not Crucial> http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...n_dual_channel

The voltage rating on these is 2.1v what do have then set to? Look in the Bios if the ram voltage is at the default 1.8v bump it up to 2.0 and see how it runs if it blue screens move it to the full 2.1v and test again.

jamisz · 04-26-2009, 11:57 AM

Ah damn I built another PC right afterwards and I used Crucial RAM, thought they were both Crucial, that explains that.

I went into my BIOS and saw that the RAM was set to default. The max setting I could set it to was 1.95v. I set it to that for now, hopefully that works?

Does this sound like it could have been the problem?? If the voltage rating is 2.1v and it was at 1.8v would that cause the blue screens?? Should my mobo be able to set it as high as 2.1v?

Also I dont see in my manual that any OCV RAM is compatible with my mobo.

Thanks alot wrench97

**wrench97** · 04-26-2009, 02:35 PM

They are not listed by the OCZ Configuration utility either I suspect because of the voltage issue, if the 1.95v works I would let it be if not, see if Tiger will swap them for listed compatible sticks.
http://conf.ocztechnology.com/result...58919&mfrid=12

04-26-2009, 11:30 AM	#1 (permalink)
jamisz Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 15 OS: XP SP3	Blue Screens Hello, Ive been having computer problems for about 3 months now. I consider myself an advanced user and have gone thru many many trouble shooting steps to try to resolve these blue screen problems. I think I have the problem narrowed down to the RAM however after reading these forums Ive realized there is more to the RAM than I thought. Basically the blue screens seem to happen when I either play a game, or have multiple programs open using alot of system resources or RAM. The blue screen error I see the majority of the time is 0x00000008e which from my understanding usually is a RAM problem. Also keep in mind this PC worked fine for about 6 months with absolutely no problems whatsoever. The system I have is one that I built. I have an ASUS M2N-SLI mobo with Cruicial PC2-6400 1gb dual channel ram (two sticks of these). Part number OCZ2N800SR2GK. Now If I remove 1 stick of RAM from my system it seems to stabilize things very much so. I wasnt having any crashes for weeks until playing a game last night and got the same old BSOD 0x0000008e. With both sticks of RAM in the PC it would BSOD daily and be practically useless. I thought initially that having both sticks of RAM in the PC was having some kind of problems with Windows Vista not using them correctly or something like that? I read in a few places with people having problems with 2 sticks of RAM in and alot of the same problems Im having, people crying for a Microsoft fix and such. Or possibly that the 2nd stick of RAM was indeed bad, but now with the crash last night with just the 1 stick in it has me wondering and researching these forums again. Ive run memtest on both sticks seperately and have found no problems, I have also run the Microsoft memtest with no problems found either. This problem really has me pulling my hair out at this point. Ive run driver scanners and such and all my drivers are up to date. The mobo and RAM I bought was part of a package from TigerDirect that all came together, I assumed the RAM would be compatible with the mobo, but after reading these forums this morning Im not so sure TigerDirect packaged the right stuff together. First of all I dont see anywhere in my mobo manual that Crucial RAM PN:OCZ2N800SR2GK is listed as compatible, it has a few other Crucial PN listed in there but not mine. Secondly I goto Crucial website and enter my mobo model number and my PN:OCZ2N800SR2GK RAM does not show as compatible there either. Is this a pretty good indication that my RAM is indeed not compatible with my mobo? If the RAM wasnt compatible why did the PC work fine for 6 months with heavy gaming activity before all this? As far as I knew my mobo supported PC2-6400 RAM, however Crucial website is stating that I can fit PC2-4200, PC2-5300, and PC2-6400 into the mobo? I didnt realize it could accept multiple types of RAM. Also Im reading on these forums about voltage and such between mobo, PSU and the RAM being set properly. I have never heard of this nor have I ever updated my mobo BIOS or toyed around with the voltage settings. Could this be the cause of all my problems? Where do I start troubleshooting this!!!?!? Should I just replace the RAM with some that Crucial recommends for this mobo? Im about ready to BURN this PC any help is appreciated!!!

04-26-2009, 11:40 AM	#2 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,700 OS: Win7	Re: Blue Screens Lets start with the ram the part number is for OCZ not Crucial> http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...n_dual_channel The voltage rating on these is 2.1v what do have then set to? Look in the Bios if the ram voltage is at the default 1.8v bump it up to 2.0 and see how it runs if it blue screens move it to the full 2.1v and test again. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

04-26-2009, 11:57 AM	#3 (permalink)
jamisz Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 15 OS: XP SP3	Re: Blue Screens Ah damn I built another PC right afterwards and I used Crucial RAM, thought they were both Crucial, that explains that. I went into my BIOS and saw that the RAM was set to default. The max setting I could set it to was 1.95v. I set it to that for now, hopefully that works? Does this sound like it could have been the problem?? If the voltage rating is 2.1v and it was at 1.8v would that cause the blue screens?? Should my mobo be able to set it as high as 2.1v? Also I dont see in my manual that any OCV RAM is compatible with my mobo. Thanks alot wrench97 Last edited by jamisz; 04-26-2009 at 12:01 PM.

04-26-2009, 02:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,700 OS: Win7	Re: Blue Screens They are not listed by the OCZ Configuration utility either I suspect because of the voltage issue, if the 1.95v works I would let it be if not, see if Tiger will swap them for listed compatible sticks. http://conf.ocztechnology.com/result...58919&mfrid=12 __________________ Power Supply and Selection