Computer keeps crashing but it passed MEMTEST86 ?? help, going insane

[larry moe 'n curly]

I ran several passes of memtest86 and the ram 'seems' to be ok.

However the computer crashes in XP and sometimes reboots.

I would try different versions of MemTest86 because recently ver. 3.4
found errors while the very similar MemTest+ ver. 1.6x did not, and
the newest Gold Memory passed everything, but the older ver. 5.07
found several bad bits.

How long did you run the diagnostics? Because some havee needed as
much as 4-5 hours to find defects in my RAM. As far as raising the
voltage goes, the RAM should work fine at the default voltage when
it's not overclocked.

Also make the BIOS settings match the timing specifications of the RAM
because some BIOSes default to slower settings, and even when the
automatic settings are chosen, some parameters can still be adjusted
manually.

 

[Matt]

I ran several passes of memtest86 and the ram 'seems' to be ok.

However the computer crashes in XP and sometimes reboots.

Maybe disk or other activity under XP puts a load on the PSU that is
absent under memtest86. Don't try to build a good system on top of a
suspect PSU.

 

[philo]

I ran several passes of memtest86 and the ram 'seems' to be ok.

However the computer crashes in XP and sometimes reboots.

I have an old ASUS A8S-X Motherboard and have installed [2] 1gb
modules.

The slots I placed these [2] 1gb modules in are Black and Blue, the
ones fartherest from the CPU.

Their are 4 total slots for this board, 2 blue and 2 black.

Did I make a mistake in not placing these 2 modules in the same color?
Was I suppose to place these modules into the blue slots?
The two blue slots are nearest the cpu.
The manual makes no mention of this but then again the manual sucks
about details.

Please help if you can, this is driving me crazy.

Try different RAM
or else underclock the RAM you have.

I have definately found RAM related problems on occasion,
even after passing a mem test

 

[Franc Zabkar]

Not surprising. There are other interesting voltages as well,
like the voltages feeding the core of the Northbridge and
Southbridge, and they aren't likely monitored either.

For cases like that, the only way to verify, is with a
multimeter. And it isn't as easy as it sounds - I had
enough trouble on my own board, figuring out where the
memory regulator was located. Plenty of likely looking
things, had the wrong voltages on them.

Paul

The BIOS Hardware Monitor section of the user manual indicates that
the following are monitored:

CPU temp
MB temp
CPU fan speed
chassis fan speed
power fan speed
Vcore volts
3.3V
5V
12V

http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket939/A8S-X/e2123_a8s-x.pdf

The multi-IO chip is an ITE IT8712FA. The datasheet for the IT8712F
states that it monitors ...

3 fan tachometer inputs
3 thermal inputs from remote thermal resistor or thermal diode
8 voltage monitor inputs (VBAT is measured internally)

See http://www.datasheetarchive.com/pdf/1824312.pdf (V0.7)

A later version of the same chip supports 5 fan tacho inputs:
http://www.ite.com.tw/product_info/file/pc/IT8712F_V0.8.2.pdf

The fact that Vbat does not show up in the BIOS H/W Monitor suggests
that the BIOS code is incomplete. I suspect that someone who knows
what s/he is doing may be able to configure Motherboard Monitor to
properly display the missing voltages, unless they are not supported
by the OP's version of the IT8712FA chip, or left unconnected in the
motherboard design.

- Franc Zabkar

 

[Flasherly]

I ran several passes of memtest86 and the ram 'seems' to be ok.

However the computer crashes in XP and sometimes reboots.

I have an old ASUS A8S-X Motherboard and have installed [2] 1gb
modules.

The slots I placed these [2] 1gb modules in are Black and Blue, the
ones fartherest from the CPU.

Their are 4 total slots for this board, 2 blue and 2 black.

Did I make a mistake in not placing these 2 modules in the same color?
Was I suppose to place these modules into the blue slots?
The two blue slots are nearest the cpu.
The manual makes no mention of this but then again the manual sucks
about details.

Please help if you can, this is driving me crazy.

I don't like AMDs running over 115F-ish. Seems above that they're
more problematic and prone to adverse random program characteristics
-- things like rebooting, in a split second, in your face, causing
massive heart palpitations. My bias, regardless whether the spec
sheets max 175F, going back to post-Cyrix when I switched to K6-2s --
is I like 'em cool. Be the first thing I'd look to, anyway, CPU core
temp / fan / grease mating -- then memory module substitutions -- then
perhaps a newer-fangled MB. After the "yellow wash" - disassemble
stand it up on a newspaper and spray wash with alcohol. Then
carefully take an aerosol can of old teevee contact cleaner/lube to
the slots. Although that ASUS, as is mine, is really a better board
and shouldn't be up for suspicion yet (they don't even have a 939 MB
on NewEgg these days - still running thin on 756/A3Ghz here).

 

[ProfGene]

I ran several passes of memtest86 and the ram 'seems' to be ok.

However the computer crashes in XP and sometimes reboots.

I have an old ASUS A8S-X Motherboard and have installed [2] 1gb
modules.

The slots I placed these [2] 1gb modules in are Black and Blue, the
ones fartherest from the CPU.

Their are 4 total slots for this board, 2 blue and 2 black.

Did I make a mistake in not placing these 2 modules in the same color?
Was I suppose to place these modules into the blue slots?
The two blue slots are nearest the cpu.
The manual makes no mention of this but then again the manual sucks
about details.

Please help if you can, this is driving me crazy.

Did you let Microsoft give you a report on the crash? Sometimes XP
doesn't like certain hardware such as video cards or RAM. I had one
video card that caused crashes and there were no updated drivers.