TR Forums

Try downclocking the RAM. I remember having problems with an nForce2 board that wouldn't run 2 sticks stable at stock speed. RMAed it, replacement had the same issue. I think their memory controller was a little touchy.

axeman wrote:

just brew it! wrote:

Try downclocking the RAM. I remember having problems with an nForce2 board that wouldn't run 2 sticks stable at stock speed. RMAed it, replacement had the same issue. I think their memory controller was a little touchy.

Ah, yes, I've read more than one anecdote that says, "run it at the same speed as the FSB". I believe it's running 3 sticks at 400mhz.... I might just give them an Athlon II system anyhow, but I'm one of those people that *needs* to know what went wrong too. The horrible thing might be trying to reproduce it, such that even if it seems fine, it won't be. I spent a long weekend at their place and only seen it act up once in three days. Although if it's happening with increasing frequency, perhaps a piece of hardware is on it's way out.

Common sense would dictate you check the individual parts you changed recently, since you say it used to run fine until you modified/added something.

Test with another PSU, with the original amount of RAM etc, one by one and all at once and see if you can make a config that works good. BTW if it restarted while loading windows, iirc, the boot sector or something something gets corrupted and i would advise you to reinstall windows. Just so you make sure you can test properly the hardware without worrying about the software.

If you do re install windows make sure you download all the updates onto a flash drive or something.If you don't you will be spending the weekend just doing updates.
Good luck.

Fire up memtest.

Gently wiggle the memory simms in their sockets - just a few degrees of tilt. If Instabomb, then double check the mem terminals and insert / remove the memory a few times, to (hopefully) grind through any corrosion, oil, etc. that may be on the MB memory socket contacts.

Move on to gently massaging the mobo, again while running memtest or a similar stress program. Twist a few degrees, and poke gently here and there. If Instabomb, you've probably got cracked solder joints somewhere. To the junque pile!

While the old caps may not be bulging and exploding, they may still be degraded. If you can't find an obvious physical problem, the caps may just be 'worn out.' If you've got the time and soldering ability, a set of quality replacements can be had for $10~15 on fleabay.

Those old XP systems are still pretty useful. Good luck!