[autumnseyes]

My machine has recently started freezing out of the blue which seems for no reason. I did some trouble shooting to find out the problem and narrowed it down to my memory slots on my motherboard (Gigabyte GA-K8NS). It has 3 slots, and I have 3 sticks of 512 Corsair RAM. The only time my computer works without any freezing is when I have one stick of 512 in the first slot. Whenever I try to add the other sticks it continues to freeze randomly. It cant be the type of RAM im using, because ive used it for about a year now and worked fine up until now. I also bought new RAM (the same kind) and replaced it to make sure I didnt fry the RAM. PLEASE let me know what I should do. I was thinking about getting a new motherboard. If so should I try switching to a socket 939? I am running a socket 754 right now and my processor supports both. Could it be something to do with the power supply as well? PLEASE HELP!!!!

Kind Regards,
Dan

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It may or may not be a memory problem. It may be a power supply problem.

You may be able to check the power supply voltages by running Everest Home (free) found HERE. Look in Computer > Sensor for a readout of the 3.3V, 5V and 12V values. They should all be within +/- 5% of the nominal voltage - use a calculator to figure out what are the min and max voltages limits. If the voltages check out proceed to check out the memory sticks. Oh yes, check the voltages while running all 3 memory modules at once if you are able.

To test your memory run MEMTEST86 which can be downloaded from HERE (the ISO CD image and burned to a CD. Restart your system with the Memtest86 disc in the drive. The test will run automatically if your BIOS is set up to try to boot from the CD/DVD drive before it tries to boot from the hard drive. In order to burn this ISO disc image file to a CD you will need a burner program such as Nero, Roxio or a good free program such as CDBurnerXP Pro found at HERE. I would suggest running the test 3 times with a different single RAM module plugged in at a time so that you can isolate any single bad stick. Test all three. Memory can fail at any time.

BTW, Giga-byte makes quality motherboards. I've had several. Make sure that that your mobo has the latest BIOS revision - check www.giga-byte.com or simply get the latest BIOS HERE. Everest Home will tell your which BIOS revision you are currently running. Check the web site for directions and a BIOS burning program and procedure if you need to upgrade it.

Upgrading to a different motherboard won't make your system any faster if the processor remains the same. Yes, socket-939 mobos can run socket-754 processors, but not any faster than the CPU can go !

Edited by WinCrazy, 27 March 2006 - 11:10 PM.

[WinCrazy]

It may or may not be a memory problem. It may be a power supply problem.

You may be able to check the power supply voltages by running Everest Home (free) found HERE. Look in Computer > Sensor for a readout of the 3.3V, 5V and 12V values. They should all be within +/- 5% of the nominal voltage - use a calculator to figure out what are the min and max voltages limits. If the voltages check out proceed to check out the memory sticks. Oh yes, check the voltages while running all 3 memory modules at once if you are able.

To test your memory run MEMTEST86 which can be downloaded from HERE (the ISO CD image and burned to a CD. Restart your system with the Memtest86 disc in the drive. The test will run automatically if your BIOS is set up to try to boot from the CD/DVD drive before it tries to boot from the hard drive. In order to burn this ISO disc image file to a CD you will need a burner program such as Nero, Roxio or a good free program such as CDBurnerXP Pro found at HERE. I would suggest running the test 3 times with a different single RAM module plugged in at a time so that you can isolate any single bad stick. Test all three. Memory can fail at any time.

BTW, Giga-byte makes quality motherboards. I've had several. Make sure that that your mobo has the latest BIOS revision - check www.giga-byte.com or simply get the latest BIOS HERE. Everest Home will tell your which BIOS revision you are currently running. Check the web site for directions and a BIOS burning program and procedure if you need to upgrade it.

Upgrading to a different motherboard won't make your system any faster if the processor remains the same. Yes, socket-939 mobos can run socket-754 processors, but not any faster than the CPU can go !

Edited by WinCrazy, 27 March 2006 - 11:10 PM.