Alright so i've finally snapped and had enough of my computer randomly restarting, i've troubleshooted quite a bit and i'll tell you where i'm at, but i need more advice! I know what i want you to tell me, but i'll get to that eh...

So this pc is a homebuild but it has 1 significant problem, it randomly crashes. It really is random, i've checked logs and the only error i get is shortly afterwards at bootup

"Last shut down was unexpected"

O RLY? I didn't realise!

So i've disabled auto restart so it will give me BSOD... No BSOD.
I've ran Prime95 and it passes and no problems with my PSU, even under torture mode.
I've monitered heat levels and it isn't overheating, besides that it sometimes crashes as soon as windows boots up.
When i say this i really do mean it, there is NO link whatsoever between crashes, the only link i ever got was it crashed once at 1945, and it crashed at almost the exact same time a couple weeks later.

I've ran this pc in vista 64bit and XP 32bit, it does it in both.

I thought it was my SATA dvd rom drivers since it gave me a bsod once but i disabled it and it still did it.
I thought it might be my RAM, so i ran Memtest+ and it passes, however...

I switched the testing mode to BIOS - All (rather than the default "BIOS - Standard") and i got this.




and then i switched mode to Probe and i get...



Constantly climbing, 31, 32, 33 etc etc

almost every second.

I read on the memtest website that probe/all tests memory that is reserved (reserved by bios for whatever), which normally wouldn't be tested. This would explain why i have no way to start the crash, it's caused by the bios doing something? or windows doing something in memory it has reserved?

So based on this have i finally narrowed it down to my RAM? I really don't want it to be my MOBO since it was an expensive one :p and i cba to rebuild everything >_____<

The RAM was the only thing in the PC i didn't spend on really, was quite cheap 4gb, although it is made by Corsair.

oh incidently it has only ever happened once while playing TF2, and we're talking 80 hours of gameplay or something, but it happens in hitman blood money, randomly, obviously, i played all night yesterday on Bloodmoney with no crashes and today i played for 2 hours and got 2 restarts...

Help me, please!

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

Hmmm - you did extensive testing on your computer and it indeed seems that it's due to faulty RAM that you get those crashes... I don't think there's any real help you could get except buying new RAM (it's pretty cheap anyway) since you can't repair it in any way...

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War does not determine who is right - only who is left. - Bertrand Russell

Make sure your RAM is configured correctly in your bios. Don't have it autoselect the correct speed, timings etc. Check your RAM for the exact correct settings.

You might also want to upgrade your bios version to the latest.

It really seems that it's caused by faulty RAM. I had exactly the same problem few months ago. I checked it with memtest and i got 4 errors, and only one memory stick was faulty. After replacing that i haven't faced any problems... btw Noxious had the same problem and memory replacement fixed his problem as well

But like Saint already said: try to update your bios first...

Oh, I know how you feel mate. :s
I've had faulty ram problems too and it's a bitch to narrow the random crashes and restarts down.

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Comfortably Numb

Cheers guys!

yeah i'll try that saintk thnx, although it's not a problem buying new ram (except i need to wait over a week till payday ¬¬), it's my weakest bit of hardware.

so it's win win really, upgrade ram get a tad bit of performance and hopefully fix restart.

Thank you, needed the advice

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

Just be sure to look-up the compatiblity tested rams for your motherboard. Though, if you buy Corsair, Kingmax blabla you woun't have probs with that as long as you don't mess up with the base stats.

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Comfortably Numb

might have to avoid Corsair since my current 4gb is Corsair, soooo... even though by reputation i've experianced baaaadness.

Kingston are good aren't they?

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

Only for medium and low performance RAM. The best companies nowadays IMHO are OCZ and PDP Patriot. Geil used to make good RAM but from what I heard/read they went downhill a while ago putting hype over quality or performance.

If you didn't have problems with Corsair I would have recommended this company too since they used to be pretty good as well but like they say: once burned twice shy...

Crucial and Mushkin also seem to be leading companies in high-end RAM dice but I have no experience with them...

Personally I've been sticking to Patriot for all my RAM and even memory stick needs and never had any problems - hell, I've been running overclocked RAM for over 2 years and didn't encounter a single issue...

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War does not determine who is right - only who is left. - Bertrand Russell

Gone with OCZ, winging it's way to me for Friday afternoon

cheers guys

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

New RAM, Same errors in memtest..

Let you know if it crashes.

Gentlemen?

edit: oh does anyone know a ram timing setting program? Apparently the timings / voltage on this ram can be out, and since i've lost 0.1 in performance according to vista

My bios is reluctant and i don't want to fiddle with stuff i dnt know

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

Manually set the correct bios settings? updated the bios?

Bios is upto date, bios is set correct i think? It's on auto, but if i set it to manual it gives me several options, and for voltage it's auto set to auto, it says 1.8 to 2.1 or something like that i can't set it manually

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

Well, take out ur manual and mem settings, and find the correct settings. If some value's are in a range, choose the range your value belongs in.

Using Everest, i spy..



WRONG.

So now i've wrote down values my BIOS makes more sense, brb changinng timings to 5-5-5-18!

My voltage should sort itself out riiiight? lol.

edit: Right, so setting manually my performance score has gone up to 5.2, woaah hold it back!

Still get the same as above for my RAM though, but it says under chipset 5 5 5 18

meh whatever i'll play some hitman and see if it restarts, be nice if it doesn't. Although might not be another week before it does FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

Restarted so not fixed.

What a waste of money and time.

no compatibility issues, no overheating, everything upto date, definately hardware based, but not RAM or PSU?, timings on RAM set correctly. HDD? CPU? MOBO?

Never building my own again ~_~

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

It could still be the PSU. =)
If you're not sure what this is about I'd carry the computer over to a service point - not because they are so much more reliable but because they have lots of spare hardware. That way they can change one piece at a time and find out what part of your computer is f00ked up.

Also, remember that you might get the very same problems with pre-assembled computers long after your warranty runs out, so I wouldn't give up on your concept so quickly.

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War does not determine who is right - only who is left. - Bertrand Russell

heh yeah thanks

got a cousin who's a techy might ask him to have a look at it. (Don't know him that well, not like i can just pop round)

Might run prim95 for a bit again and see if i get anything.

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

You guys are a real help, and i've thought of a question!

It doesn't happen in TF2, i've realised, never, i spend 4 hours tf2 nothing.

Happened twice in the past hour just browsing amazon.

Why would it not restart in steam games, (atleast l4d/tf2 it's never happened) but will in, let's say, Hitman blood money, browsing the amazon, youtube?

Doesn't seem to happen on SpA forums must like you guys

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

Take it to the service for a full check, imo.

I had a random crash/freeze problem a couple of years ago and no matter what I did I couldn't figure it out. In the end it was faulty ram AND a hdd PATA cable.

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Comfortably Numb

Certain software prefers to use certain memory address ranges. It's rare that IE or FF or general windows tasks would show up faulty memory in comparison with a game that spans 1gb...

If you want to be sure, to be honest, just get an empty hard-drive and start installing Windows on it. Due to the way that a Windows setup accesses your memory, any time there's even a SLIGHT problem with either a socket or a stick, it'll undoubtably show up in the Windows setup by either just completely failing to install windows or by giving file copy errors. Somehow this system can show up errors that you wont get in a memory test. The other option is to get yourself a Linux boot CD and run a mem test in Ubuntu or something similiar - They're usually very accurate. Could be a socket problem instead of a chip...

PSU's almost never report memory errors. 99.99% of PSU problems are going to occur while playing a game, as the power drain from the 3d Graphics makes the PSU struggle. You can rule that out.

Next most likely after RAM is the Board. Try and borrow one that has the same chipset so you dont need to re-install Windows, and test from there. If you're in Scotland, bring it to my shop and I'll fix it for you

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Six weeks -by- Third Rail ...Please share...