New Machine crashing randomly (machine_check_exception)

adnans

got some new parts the other day. i'll list them just in case it helps resolve it. what happens is, machine runs smooth at the start, and it will randomly freeze. it's never under a load when it happens since it should run any type of program with it specs.

Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.0GHz, socket 939
Abit KN8-Ultra Nforce4, socket 939
Gainward nvidia 7800GT 512mb
Tagan 420W power supply
1024mb - DDR ram pc2700 - 2 sticks of 512mb (this is the old part)
Maxtor 200gb sata hd (old part too)

sometimes it just freezes when i'm playing a game, and throw up the machine_check_exception. other times it will freeze when i'm alt+tabbing between programs. it's running windows xp pro with SP2. first time i installed it, it had troubles detecting any USB device especially the mouse, another fresh install worked flawlessly since i used the raid drivers on a disk before the installation.

chipset/video drivers were updated from the net so they should be up to date. this morning i've run memtest86 which went through 2 passes without any errors. it's really bugging me now, cause its unpredictable. could it be fauty mainboard cause sometimes after a crash, i'd have to switch off the power supply at the back and the LED on the mainboard will still be on for couple of seconds. even though i flip the switch back on, it wont start until the light goes out. any help would be appreciated.

Inspector Gadget

Hmm... right up to the point where you said that you did two full passes in memtest, I was going to suggest that - I assume you haven't tried to impose RAM timings other than the defaults suggested by the SPD ROMs?

My next guess would be that it's thermal - get whatever software comes/works with your board (or you could go to the BIOS, but it's less reliable in my experience) and check the temperatures. Also ensure that all of the fans are actually spinning (including the one of the graphics card and on the (was going to say "northbridge" - doh!) mobo chipset's largest component).

Easiest "idiot's guide" way to check this is: does it still do the same with the side of the case left off??? If so, does it take longer than usual? If it takes it noticeably longer to start misbehaving (or it doesn't at all) you may need to either (a) fix the cooling you've got, or (b) add more.

Oh, and as far as I know (though I'm open to correction on this), the LED-staying-on-after-the-plug-is-pulled thing is completely normal.

Hope this helps,
Gadget

adnans

i can't be thermal since i've had it running with case open since the parts were inside. few times i checked the temps after the crash and they were always around 35-40 C which is normal. didnt check the gfx card fan yet, although i wouldnt place the blame on it since sometimes i was gaming it for around 3 hours gfx intensive game and it didnt crash.

to be on the safe side, i'll install MBM later to keep an eye out on the temps, otherwise it's anything.

irko

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smeggle

1024mb - DDR ram pc2700 - 2 sticks of 512mb (this is the old part)

Looking at the title - first thought was 'suspect ram'? Looking at what you wrote seems to strengthen that suspicion? Have you tried a newer stick or running on just one? Even re-seating (remove/re-insert) can cure a problem like this - random crash's. I've had it happen once or twice and invariably it was because I hadn't seated the ram properly. Swapping the sticks around in the slots has cured this prob for me before as well. (All be it those were pentium/intel machines).

Personally I'd recheck all connections and make sure everything is seated properly ie: ram, pci's etc

adnans

you can ignore my cousin. once he can't get into contact with me, he goes on boards.ie to fish me out

i've changed the ram to new Crucial 1gig, and the problem was still happening. I found an old IDE hard drive in my room which i hooked up and installed WIndows XP SP2 fresh onto it with hotfixes, and updated from Feb 2006. It doesnt crash as often but sometimes when i alt + tab between games. it starts to stutter and reboots. I'm going to keep working and looking for bugs but i think it's the X2 processor just not working as intended. weird one.