BSOD head scratching....

[Nak]

Same mobo as in my sig...AMD Athlon 3000 single core. 6800GT Gigabyte GPU's (I have 2 of these) Thermaltake 480W PSU. 512 DDR400 generic ram.

 

I have pretty much downgraded the mobo from the setup in my sig...Now ALL of these parts have run this mobo in the past without any dramas

 

I need the case this rig was in for another project...So I downgraded the specs to some old parts I had laying around...

 

The board has been so reliable it isnt funny. It has performed so well over the two years or so that I have had it.

 

The minute I take it out of the case it all turns pear shaped.

 

My intention was just to move the downgraded system (No OC...stock values)

into another case and let the missus use it for her stuff.

 

Now. I've set it up outside the case. Posts ok...I can enter bios no problems. CPU, ram recognised. All systems go.

 

Then......

 

I get a Blue screen of death upon entry into the windows loading screen. Obviously a graphics error I hear you say.....The BSOD flashes up for a fraction of a second, I cant read it....damn annoying. I've been trying to catch it on a digital camera but I gave up after 45 minutes of reboots lol....

 

I have tried a single card....both PCI-e slots.

I have tried BOTH cards seperately.

I have tried both cards in SLI mode.

 

Now I know that the PSU is not on the recommended list, but it has run this system with a hotter chip and hotter GPU's long time stable in the past.

I am pretty assured that I can cross the PSU off the list of causes

 

This really has me baffled.

 

Does anyone have any ideas as to what I may be doing wrong?

 

Any opinion would be appreciated.

[Guest caffeinejunkie]

Well first off do you have all four power connections made (24pin, 8pin EPS, floppy molex)?

 

Next have you tried running memtest (not just one pass of the 1-8 more in the range of 3+hrs)?

 

If yes for both then Id put my money on the psu. I mean 480w is the absolute bare minimum and it's a Tt psu (not know for quality) running SLI. Thats just begging for issues. Oh also make sure your running that one ram module in the orange DIMM furthest from the cpu slot (dimm2).

 

Edit: also since building this rig have you cleared the CMOS? It may sound stupid but clearing the CMOS can sometimes make odd problems like this magically fix themselves.

[Nak]

Well first off do you have all four power connections made (24pin, 8pin EPS, floppy molex)?

 

Yep.

 

Next have you tried running memtest (not just one pass of the 1-8 more in the range of 3+hrs)?

 

Good thinking. Completely forgot about that. Will do this evening..

 

Edit: also since building this rig have you cleared the CMOS? It may sound stupid but clearing the CMOS can sometimes make odd problems like this magically fix themselves

 

Only a short clear so far. May do an overnighter I guess.

 

If yes for both then Id put my money on the psu. I mean 480w is the absolute bare minimum and it's a Tt psu (not know for quality) running SLI. Thats just begging for issues. Oh also make sure your running that one ram module in the orange DIMM furthest from the cpu slot (dimm2).

 

Yep, ram module is in the correct DIMM.

 

And I hear what you are saying on the PSU...but.

 

I ran this mobo, on this PSU for about six months, with this CPU and with the 2 cards on SLI. Never missed a beat. Go figure.

 

I am aware of the recommended PSU units for DFI boards etc....sometimes you have to go with what you have....Still..It COULD be the PSU....Which I will swap out this evening just to be sure....

[Technohydra]

I'm starting to feel like a broken record...are you using the stock/automatic settings for your advanced ram timings? If you haven't changed almost all of the settings in Genie bios, you're running stock.

 

Automatic ram settings are the #1 cause of boot failures and BSoDs. This happens because the ram timings aren't correct, causing the numerical data during the install to be damaged and corrupted, hence Windows will basically eat itself in about the first 3 boots. Post the part number of your ram and I'll give you some stable settings to use. After you input them into Genie bios, format and reinstall with only 1 opticle drive, 1 hard drive, 1 video card, 1 floppy drive(optional), and one dimm of ram in the orange slot farthest from the cpu socket.

 

Chances are this should solve your issue.

[Technohydra]

Here, give these a try.

 

Genie BIOS Settings:

 

FSB Bus Frequency............................. - 200

LDT/FSB Frequency Ratio....................... - AUTO

CPU/FSB Frequency Ratio....................... - x 11.0

PCI eXpress Frequency......................... - 100Mhz

 

CPU VID StartUp Value......................... - Startup

 

CPU VID Control............................... - 1.400v

CPU VID Special Control....................... - Above VID * 102.4%

LDT Voltage Control........................... - 1.30v

Chip Set Voltage Control...................... - 1.62v

DRAM Voltage Control.......................... - 2.71v

 

DRAM Configuration Settings:

 

DRAM Frequency Set............................ - By DRAM SPD Value

Command Per Clock (CPC)....................... - Auto

CAS Latency Control (Tcl)..................... - Auto

RAS# to CAS# delay (Trcd)..................... - Auto

Min RAS# active time (Tras)................... - Auto

Row precharge time (Trp)...................... - Auto

Row Cycle time (Trc).......................... - 12 Bus Clocks

Row refresh cyc time (Trfc)................... - 24 Bus Clocks

Row to Row delay (Trrd)....................... - 03 Bus Clocks

Write recovery time (Twr)..................... - 02 Bus Clocks

Write to Read delay (Twtr).................... - 02 Bus Clocks

Read to Write delay (Trwt).................... - 03 Bus Clocks

Refresh Period (Tref)......................... - 3120 Cycles

DRAM Bank Interleave.......................... - Enabled

 

DQS Skew Control.............................. - Auto

DQS Skew Value................................ - 0

DRAM Drive Strength........................... - Auto

DRAM Data Drive Strength...................... - Auto

Max Async Latency............................. - 8.0 Nano Seconds

DRAM Response Time............................ - Normal

Read Preamble Time............................ - 6.0 Nano Seconds

IdleCycle Limit............................... - 256 Cycles

Dynamic Counter............................... - Disable

R/W Queue Bypass.............................. - 16 x

Bypass Max.................................... - 04 x

32 Byte Granularity........................... - Disable(4 Bursts)

[Nak]

Mate...thanks for the effort there..

 

I ran memtest...8 hours + no problems...This is as I expected.

 

I tried your BIOS settings.....(thanks)

Still no go.

 

So I am biting the bullet and picking up another OCZ GameXtreme 700W tonight on the way home....Cant beat quality....

 

I know and you know that its going to be the power supply....

 

Ten bucks says that it was dumb luck that it ran that board for so long in the past....

 

I appreciate your effort mate...