Author Topic: Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?  (Read 15414 times)

  • Offline Eagle

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Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
on: April 14, 2006, 23:28:52 PM
For a while now when running games my system has been having CTDs or, more frequently, bluescreening (blank with a rapid soundloop).

Ive gone from (1Gb RAM and a ATI Radeon 9800 Pro) to (2Gb RAM and a NVIDIA 512Mb G6800 GS).  The same problems occur with BOTH sets of hardware so I think we can discount the cards/memory.

I can now (finally) play games at 1280x960 with FSAA on without any stutter - but how do I begin to troubleshoot the crashing/freezing problems?  Can anyone help? :)

Spec:

Abit NF7-S v2.0 mobo
Athlon XP3000+
NVIDIA 512Mb G6800 GS
2Gb Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT RAM
Enermax 550W PSU
Soundblaster Live 5.1
Maxtor 40Gb HDD (OS/Program files)
Maxtor 160 Gb HDD (Data)
Win XP installation is about 16 months old.
nForce_5.10 drivers

Can post DXDiag if needed.

-----

Ive used two different sets of RAM so it cant be faulty memory.  Neither is it bad GPUs.

The bluescreens are often blank - with a soundloop. :(

? Games this is happening on? - X³ Reunion, Tomb Raider: Legend, Star Wars Battlefront II.
? Crashes are happening between 2 mins and 2 hours - most within 5 mins.
? No artifacts on screen, in fact the picture is all fine and dandy. Fast frame rates too.

------

Tried a few thngs today:

Installed latest nForce Drivers - CTD

Disabled Sound (in-game) - CTD

Physically removed soundcard - CTD

Replaced Soundcard - CTD

Installed Omega Drivers (Nvidia Omega Drivers 1.6693 (Forceware 66.93)) - nearly hosing my system in the process. :evil:  - CTD

Installed default nVidia Drivers (on the CD) - BSOD - STOP number as follows:

0x0000008E 0xC0000005, 0xE1F98787, 0xBABBEB58, 0x00000000

Ive recently also been getting the occasional BSOD when installing software (and occasionally just after boot-up).  Latest STOP number:

0x0000008E 0xC0000005, 0x8054A95B, 0xF7465B4C, 0x00000000

Help!  :(

What can be causing this?  Its damn frustrating and I cant lock it down. :( :cry: :(

 

Re:Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #1 on: April 14, 2006, 23:31:42 PM
i would suggest a ram problem. Try getting the same results with just one stick of your new ram in

EDIT: are you overclocking anything??

Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #2 on: April 14, 2006, 23:34:38 PM
or ram settings if its with both sets of hardware in, new ram cant keep up with old settings / the settings are set to the new ram / the settings are borked ?

did it happen before the upgrade at all ?
and it it start right after the upgrade ?

  • Offline Eagle

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Re:Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #3 on: April 14, 2006, 23:42:15 PM
 
Exact same situation before and after upgrade. :(

  • Offline Eagle

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Re:Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #4 on: April 14, 2006, 23:43:50 PM
Quote from: brummie
i would suggest a ram problem.

Its brand new and I had the same problem before the upgrade. :(

Quote
EDIT: are you overclocking anything??

Not that I know of - Im just using the same BIOS settings with my last setup, albeit with the RAM timings changed to the recommended specs of the RAM.

Re:Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #5 on: April 14, 2006, 23:48:36 PM
take one out and test. Then swap that one into different slots.

  • Offline Eagle

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Re:Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #6 on: April 14, 2006, 23:55:19 PM
Quote from: brummie
take one out and test. Then swap that one into different slots.

AFAIK, I can only get Dual Channel with the two slots theyre already in - is that right?

 :cry:

Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #7 on: April 15, 2006, 00:52:03 AM
just try one stick in, to see if youve got a bad stick / bad slot somewhere ;)

  • Offline Eagle

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Re:Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #8 on: April 15, 2006, 01:32:30 AM
Check it with the game or just in Windows? :)  And will I need to adjust BIOS settings? On boot, Windows reports all OK...

:)

Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #9 on: April 15, 2006, 01:45:34 AM
just do a bit of everything, if theyres something that makes it crash normally then do that

the bios settings should be ok,  you could always set them all to auto :)

what normally makes it crash ?

  • Offline Shaun

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Re:Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #10 on: April 15, 2006, 01:49:02 AM
Its a well know Creative driver issue with there older cards.

Try moving the cards PCI slot (2nd from bottom rings a bell, but its a long time since I used that board)  and disabling all devices you dont use in BIOS.

If that doesnt work the only cure is to either get a newer card or switch to the onboard, which is better than the Soundblaster anyway.

  • Offline Eagle

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Re:Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #11 on: April 15, 2006, 01:59:52 AM
Quote from: Shaun
Its a well know Creative driver issue with there older cards.
Id like to think this was the cause but I even tried running the game with the card removed from the slot... :( :? (or will it still try to use/access drivers?...)

Quote
If that doesnt work the only cure is to either get a newer card or switch to the onboard, which is better than the Soundblaster anyway.
Wont that cause problems itself? And how would I connect my speakers?

  • Offline Shaun

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Re:Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #12 on: April 15, 2006, 02:22:39 AM
I missed on your first post they you had tired removing the card with the same result, I had no end of problems with  my NF7-S with a Soundblaster card with crashing and sound looping.

There is also a issue with later NF7-S with the Memory controller, as suggested try 1 stick of Ram, if that solves it then it is most likely a Mobo issue, seeing you have new Ram.

  • Offline Eagle

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Re:Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #13 on: April 15, 2006, 04:16:50 AM
 
Quote
Try moving the cards PCI slot (2nd from bottom
Tried that tonight.  Crashes much less frequently but still crashes. :(

Quote
all devices you dont use in BIOS
Done.  Still no joy.

I refuse to believe its a RAM issue but Ill try swapping the sticks around.  Ive found that in order to have dual channel, one of the sticks must be in slot 3.

Lets hope thats not the one thats fecked. :roll:

If it is, what BIOS settings do I use to run non-dual?... will it make much difference to system performance?

Cheers so far. :)

  • Offline Eagle

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Re:Whats causing the CTD/Bluescreens?
Reply #14 on: April 15, 2006, 05:10:56 AM
 
Well, Ive tried moving a stick from slot 2 to slot 1 - still CTDs. :cry:  Im 99% certain its not memory related.

I want to leave moving the stick in slot 3 into slot 2 for now because I dont want to lose Dual Channel.  Maybe as a last resort.

Ill bet this is something simple... isnt it always?

Would a format/reinstall help?
New soundcard?
Reset BIOS to default?

Heres my current settings (which worked (once) with my old RAM):

FSB 200MHz
AGP to 66MHz
CPU Multiplier to 11
FSB/RAM ratio to 3/3
CPU Interface Enabled

Set CPU Voltage at 1.65v
RAM voltage at 2.6v
VDD/Chipset voltage at 1.6v
AGP Voltage at 1.5v

Timings 2-3-3-6.

System and Video BIOS caching OFF
Disabled Spread Spectrum for AGP and FSB
Disabled Thermal Throttling
Aperture size at 256mb

PCI Enhance Performance on
CPU Disconnect Halt off.
AGP 8x
Fast Writes on.

Wheres the banghead smiley?... :/

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