Have you tested each stick individually?

saruman354

I'm doing that after this test ends.

Just built a new computer about a week ago. Everything had been going great up until yesterday when my PC would freeze every now and then and have gotten the BSOD twice. I'm not doing anything special when it locks up and the BSOD only appeared during two of the lock ups. I would give you the error message if Windows hadn't restarted before I had a chance to write it down. My first thought was RAM, since I've had this problem before I figured I just had a bad module of RAM installed. I started Memtest 86 and during test 9 Random Number Sequence it has found nothing but errors. As of right now I'm in the 5 million and counting in the number of errors found. Should I assume that I just have a bad stick? Also, I remember checking every RAM slot to make sure each were properly placed, but if by chance one wasn't fully mounted, could that cause the amount of errors I'm getting? Before anyone tells me to try each stick one at a time, I'm planning on doing that as soon as Memtest finishes this test. I haven't a clue if anyone needs my specs, but just in case:

Intel 2600k (not overclocked...yet)

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo (when last checked my CPU wasn't going over 75 degrees Fahrenheit, sorry I should have looked at celcuis but am more used to F)

G.Skill Ripjaw X Series DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) 4 sticks at 16 GB

HIS 6950 IceQ X Turbo. HIS IceQ X 2GB

ASUS P8Z68-V Pro Gen3

Cooler Master Silent Gold Pro series PSU at 1000W

And I'm running Windows 7 Home 64bit

I'm sure it's just the RAM but wanted to get a few other opinions, and thanks in advance.

[QUOTE="Spiritgod"]

My PSU is a Ultra Connect 2 550 Watt ATX Power Supply, and now that I think about it, it might be 2 years old. My main reason to keep it is because you only use the connections you need as each plug is separate. The GTX 580 seems too expensive for just a video card, and yeah I used to be that guy who had to have the greatest $800 graphics card in my build, but right now if it can play most new games at high settings and 5 years down the road play some at medium to low then I'll be happy. I might overclock the CPU, not sure about the GPU. What really is the big difference between the GTX 580 and the HD 6950? Also, what exactly is the big deal with video RAM, I've heard more than a gig helps with dual monitors, but I come from days past where the more the VRAM the better the card, is that as true today as it once was?

spittis

Thank you! And thank you to everyone who helped me figure out this issue of mine. I'll be ordering the parts in the next two weeks, which I'm hoping the hard drive pricing situation is settled and the 1TB drives go back down before I hit the complete order button. Though I made one small change, I had some money left over and decided to dump that into getting double the RAM you mentioned. I figure having more than enough RAM can't hurt, plus I always have an issue with not having enough. Thanks again everyone!

Have you considered starting with a more moderately priced system (say, one that costs around $750-$850) and upgrading after a few years, as opposed to building a system that is expected to last for 7 years for $1500? Computer hardware advances so quickly (as you yourself mentioned) that it is unreasonable to expect a system, no matter how high-end or expensive, to be able to give adequate performance after 7 years.

GS550L

Well, the fact that my last PC lasted almost 10 years is my reasoning behind this. I buy moderately higher end so that I don't have to touch anything significant besides maybe RAM or hard drive space. And I don't expect this to push newer games when it's 5 years old, I know that with time things change, but I can't be that person that stays on all the new tech all the time like I used to. I expect to play newer games at high settings now, medium in the next 2 years, medium-low in the next 3 to maybe 4, and then low at the 5 year mark. By that time I'll still be playing but will most likely be on consoles only, and will have the PC for all my other daily duties. It's just the way I do things.

The parts I listed before are what I would be investing in for a futureproof rig, however, the GPU and the PSU are a bit of a dilemma. If you want top of the line performance right away, you should go with the GTX 580 card from the beginning. This conflicts slightly with your wish to keep your current PSU though. You still haven't said what your current unit is, the amperes supplied on the 12V rail matters more than the actual wattage that the manufacturer provides, so despite the recommended 600W PSU requirements for a GTX 580 card I can't tell if your current unit could handle it. Another thing that affects your PSU requirements is, would you actually be overclocking your CPU and GPU? The K in "2600K" means it's a CPU with unlocked multiplier, allowing higher overclocks than "normal" CPUs. Either way, you still seem to want a rig that lasts you for a very long time. You are investing a good amount of money in this, and I don't see any reason to stay with a PSU that potentially isn't meeting the requirements of the rest of the system. Any chance you could sell it?spittis

My PSU is a Ultra Connect 2 550 Watt ATX Power Supply, and now that I think about it, it might be 2 years old. My main reason to keep it is because you only use the connections you need as each plug is separate. The GTX 580 seems too expensive for just a video card, and yeah I used to be that guy who had to have the greatest $800 graphics card in my build, but right now if it can play most new games at high settings and 5 years down the road play some at medium to low then I'll be happy. I might overclock the CPU, not sure about the GPU. What really is the big difference between the GTX 580 and the HD 6950? Also, what exactly is the big deal with video RAM, I've heard more than a gig helps with dual monitors, but I come from days past where the more the VRAM the better the card, is that as true today as it once was?

I'm beginning to question my entire build. Spittis, you seem very knowledgeable with PC builds so I ask you, you gave the impression that I'd need to spend a little more to be able to keep this PC for 7 years. Let's say I bumped my budget to $1500, with the only exception of the case I listed, and I'd really like to keep my 550W PSU (I was wrong when I stated it as 500W) what would you suggest? Or was the list of components that you listed the right path? What will allow me to have muliple photoshop projects open, games like Skyrim and The Witcher 1 & 2 to run without a single problem? The ability to do video editing and maybe some 3D rendering?

I must have forgotten to mention the case I was going with. I usually like to keep a case for a long period of time, and the case I have has worn out its welcome. The case I will be purchasing is a little on the pricey side but I believe will help me ten fold with air flow. The Corsair 600T though expensive, at least in my opinion, I not only liked the look but fell in love with the removable dust vents. Question for all you PC enthusiasts, did AMD become the least popular chip while I was away? It used to be AMD was giving Intel a run for their money, but all I ever see now are people talking about the Intel chip. I specifically looked into an AMD CPU and the Radeon card because supposedly when you combine the two you get a much better performance boast with gaming, now am not so sure. Is there any reason why Intel is better than AMD, well besides price?

*edit* I almost forgot. When are people assuming hard drive prices go down? I need to have this up and running by the end of the year, and will be buying an OEM OS, so reinstalling may not be an option (I can't remember what component the OS attaches itself to, the motherboard, maybe?).

I'm sure this board gets the question of "is this build okay?" so sorry for yet another topic on the subject.

I've browsed for as long as I believe I needed to. Technology changes so drastically when I begin my 7 year PC build (7 years is the lifespan of the PC, not how long it's going to take me to build it), that I need to re-learn a lot of what has changed and what's the best tech to run with so that I stay in the confines of keeping my build with little to no upgrading in the future.

I guess I should first state what I'll be using this for and my price point. I do a lot of gaming, which I rotate more toward the consoles when my PC is at the end of its lifespan, but pick back up the PC gaming when I have a new build. I also do a lot of photoshop, but I'm also interested in video editing. I'll be running two monitors. And last but not least, my price range is $1200. My question really boils down to, will any of my components conflict with one another? I'm using my old 500W power supply since it not even a year old, and hasn't caused me any problems, I'm sure I'll upgrade if I decide to install a second graphics card...if that even happens. I'm not interesting in waiting, I really need this build within the next month. Thanks to anyone that replies.

Motherboard - ASUS Sabertooth 990FX AM3+ AMD 990FX
CPU - AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition
Graphics - XFX HD-687X-CNFC Radeon HD 6870 2GB
RAM - CORSAIR XMS3 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000
Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5

what you do is when you turn you laptop off (dont know why you would) un plug the HDMI cable. then when you turn it back on and it gets to the login screen plug it back in.

hofuldig

I turn off the laptop for update reasons and such. Thanks everyone, I think I will just unplug and replug the HDMI like hofuldig suggested. I guess I can understand why it wouldn't allow for an external to be the primary boot monitor, but it would've been nice if the laptop recognized when an external was connected, regardless of what the PC was doing at the moment.

I've searched the web, looking to make my external HDMI monitor my default boot monitor. I'm viewing it right now, so it works perfectly, but every time I restart, my laptop powers on but shows nothing on the monitor, basically I'm having to open the laptop lid and unplug and replug the HDMI cable back into the laptop. I've looked into my power management settings, and changed the closing the lid setting so that the laptop doesn't do anything by closing it. I've gone into the display settings and made sure the display I'm using now is the primary. I've also went into the BIOS but the only thing I could find was a setting that couldn't be changed, I think it said Boot Display or something, and it was on Auto. I can't seem to find anything of use in the Nvidia control panel. Everything I've tried doesn't work.

My graphics card is a GeForce 8800M GTS, and the laptop brand in Gateway, in case that information is needed. Also my main monitor is hooked up via DVI to HDMI, and I have a second monitor (VGA) also hooked up in Dualview.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.