D23 Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 I recently build a system from the following:- XFX nVidia GeForce 8800GTX XT Edition graphics- 8GB DDR2 800 RAM- ASRock Penryn1600SLI-110dB nVidia 650i Socket 775 motherboard- Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 2.50GHz 'Yorkfield' 6MB Cache- Samsung SpinPoint 500GB SATA drive- DVD/CD RW- 550W PSUThe system powers up and I'm able to get into BIOS but I can't get an OS to install. Vista home premium 64bit gets as far as the initial 'loading setup files' and the screen goes blank (the monitor still detects a signal but the screen is just black). I've left it in this state for over 20 mins. I've tried Windows XP Home which gets as far as copying the setup files to the disk but an error message appears now and then saying various files cannot be copied. When I keep retrying to copy the files I usually end up with a blue screen and a 'page fault in non paged area' message.I've tried everything I can think of to get this system working without success: I've used one stick of RAM separately in each channel and then tried each of the other three sticks in the same way to see if there is a problem with the RAM (I'm assuming all four can't be faulty), I've run the bios at 'optimum defaults' and in various other configurations - disabling advanced features, caches etc, I've formatted an NTFS partition on the SATA drive using my other computer, I then blanked the drive using a utility from Samsung to reset it to factory condition, I've used a formatted & partitioned IDE hard drive, I've made bootable clones of my OS disks in case the install media was faulty. I'm considering upgrading the PSU on a friends advice but I don't know what else I can do! All of the components are quality branded items & on paper at least are compatible.Stumped :( Thanks in advance for any advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan2273 Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 Before you buy a new PSU, try booting from a Linux live CD and run Memtest, as these blue screen problems you have are normally caused by hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzzTech Computer Services Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 I recently build a system from the following:- XFX nVidia GeForce 8800GTX XT Edition graphics- 8GB DDR2 800 RAM- ASRock Penryn1600SLI-110dB nVidia 650i Socket 775 motherboard- Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 2.50GHz 'Yorkfield' 6MB Cache- Samsung SpinPoint 500GB SATA drive- DVD/CD RW- 550W PSUThe system powers up and I'm able to get into BIOS but I can't get an OS to install. Vista home premium 64bit gets as far as the initial 'loading setup files' and the screen goes blank (the monitor still detects a signal but the screen is just black). I've left it in this state for over 20 mins. I've tried Windows XP Home which gets as far as copying the setup files to the disk but an error message appears now and then saying various files cannot be copied. When I keep retrying to copy the files I usually end up with a blue screen and a 'page fault in non paged area' message.I've tried everything I can think of to get this system working without success: I've used one stick of RAM separately in each channel and then tried each of the other three sticks in the same way to see if there is a problem with the RAM (I'm assuming all four can't be faulty), I've run the bios at 'optimum defaults' and in various other configurations - disabling advanced features, caches etc, I've formatted an NTFS partition on the SATA drive using my other computer, I then blanked the drive using a utility from Samsung to reset it to factory condition, I've used a formatted & partitioned IDE hard drive, I've made bootable clones of my OS disks in case the install media was faulty. I'm considering upgrading the PSU on a friends advice but I don't know what else I can do! All of the components are quality branded items & on paper at least are compatible.Stumped :( Thanks in advance for any advice.Hi,Some motherboards can be really funny with memory. I would suggest trying some totally different RAM, just 1GB would do.Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D23 Posted May 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 Wow, such quick replies, thanks both - looks like I picked the right forum :) I'll give Linux a go, though I'll have to read up on it first as I've never even seen it used! I'll post back when I'm done.As for the RAM I had the same idea and I've got my eye on a few used (i.e proven working) cheap auctions on ebay so I'll try that but I won't be able to post back until something arrives. Don't want to buy new from a shop just yet - this PC is costing me a fortune :lol: Thanks again & if there are any more ideas out there.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 The above reply from Aaron can be very true. I have an ASUS board where the recommended RAM was from Samsung. I ignored this the first time round and bought the memory from Crucial (as I normally do). The machine just would not work properly. I bought one stick of Samsung memory, ostensibly the same specification, tried it and it worked with no problems at all. I then bought the full complement of sticks. I'm still using that machine after a number of years.The Crucial memory that didn't work on that board worked perfectly well on another ASUS board of a similar, but slightly different, spec and code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan2273 Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 The quickest one to download is Puppy 4 Dingo, it is only a 87mb download, and can be got from here.http://ftp.nluug.nl/ftp/pub/os/Linux/distr/puppylinux/When you get to the page the download you need is,Puppy 4.00-K2.6.21.7-seamonkey.iso.Once you have downloaded it, burn it as an ISO to a CD, then enter the BIOS and set the CD/DVD drive as first boot, insert the CD and it will boot into Puppy and then click on the main menu for Memtest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D23 Posted May 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 Hi all, thanks again for the replies. Well I think I've found the answer... Got a copy of Slax Linux Live .iso (thanks for the tip Alan but I'd already downloaded Slax by the time I read your post) which wouldn't load with any of the RAM modules so out came Memtest...23296 - 25344 errors per module on one pass!! I'll try & see if the vendor will let me exchange the memory and start a new post here to see if anyone else is successfully using my mobo since ASRock seem to have declined to publish a compatible RAM chart. I must admit I don't really understand what exactly Memtest has shown - were those errors likely due to the RAM itself or the relationship between RAM & mobo?I'll post again with the new RAM for other users.Thanks,D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 Crucial should be able to tell you which memory to use (with the provisions I made earlier).http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/drammemory.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D23 Posted May 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 Crucial should be able to tell you which memory to use (with the provisions I made earlier).http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/drammemory.aspxNice tip, thanks. I'll see if other manufacturers have a similar service too... still want to persuade my vendor to let me exchange if I can & they don't stock Crucial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 No necessity to buy from Crucial - just find out the type/configuration then buy from wherever you wish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D23 Posted May 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 Tried new RAM; OCZ Reaper HPC, same as was used with the mobo in this review http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3227&p=1 and tried new Corsair 750W SLI cert PSU... still same problem.Out of ideas... and out of money for now :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan2273 Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 As you have replaced your RAM & PSU can you go into the BIOS and check the voltage your ram is running at it should be 2.14 v, if it is not set it manually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D23 Posted May 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 Ok, time for an update...Tried setting the voltage as recommended and with stock timings for the RAm of 4-4-4-15, still no luck. Decided to flash the BIOS to the latest version and bingo! Got Vista installed. However system was VERY unstable with BSOD every few mins! Cue several agonising days of tweaking BIOS to get some stability...If anyone else has this combo, or even just for posterity I've found setting CAS to 4, other timings on auto, GTLRef to High, VTT voltages to 1.375V and RAM voltage to 2.14 seems to have stabilised the system. Only tested for a few hours last night but I'm hoping over the weekend to finetune & get everything up and running smoothly.All in all an expensive, grey hair inducing lesson, but at last I've built my dream PC :D Thanks again for all your tips & may your PCs always be nice to you :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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