A
Andrew Bailey
Hi,
I'm having a few problems with a new homebuild PC...
PROCESSOR 1× AMD AM2 FX 62 Windsor Core, Dual Core 2.8GHz, 2x 1MB Cache,
Retail
MOTHERBOARD 1× ASUS Crosshair R.O.G NF590 SLI, S AM2, PCI-E (x16), DDR2
533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX
MEMORY 1× 2GB (2x1GB) CorsairTwinX XMS2 Dominator,DDR2 PC2-6400,240 Pins,
NonECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12, EPP
POWER SUPPLY 1× 850W Coolermaster Real Power Pro RS-850-EMBA 85% Eff' ATX12V
V2.2 SSI EPS12V v2.91 4xPCI-E/8xSATA
CPU COOLER 1× Zalman CNPS9500-AM2 AMD Aero Flower Cooler, AM2/939/754
GRAPHICS CARDS 2× 768Mb Asus 8800GTX PCI-E (x16), Mem 1800 MHz, GPU 575 MHz,
128 Streams, 2 x Dual Link DVI-I HDTV
SOUND CARD 1× Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music Sound Card OEM
RAID STRIPE 2× 150 Gb Western Digital WD1500ADFD Raptor Enterprise, SATA150,
10000 rpm, 16MB Cache, 4.6 ms, NCQ
DISC DRIVE 1× Sony AW-G170AB2 Black 18x DVD±RW x12 Ram Dual Layer DVD-Writer
OEM
STORAGE DRIVE 1× 300 Gb Western Digital WD3000JB Caviar SE, IDE (PATA), 7200
rpm, 8MB Cache, 8.9 ms
FLOPPY DRIVE 1× 1.44Mb Sony Black Floppy Disk Drive OEM
CASE 1× Coolermaster WaveMaster Black TAC-T01EK Aluminium Case (w/o PSU)
DISPLAY (Using just 1 for now) 3× 22" Iiyama PLE2200WS-B, Widescreen VGA/DVI
1680x1050, 5 ms, 1000:1, 300 cd/m2, Speakers, Black
VGA (Not yet used) 1× Matrox TripleHead2Go x3 Monitor from x1 PC (1x
Analogue input splits to x3 Analogue Output)
USB CARD READER 1× Icy Box IB801B Black Removable-Portable Internal/External
16 in 1 Card Reader
MEDIA (Not yet installed) 1× Hauppauge WinTV HVR1300 Analog & Digital MCE
PCI Kit c/w Remote and nVidia *Gold* DVD Decoder
OS Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2b OEM Single Pack
OS Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD)
I flashed the bios to the latest version 0502, set up the raptors using the
NVidia Raid drivers in stripe mode using optimal bandwidth setting. In order
to test the hardware without having to wrestle with a new operating system I
installed WindowsXP Home on a 50GB C: partition. I then ran through the
install discs for the graphics cards, sound and motherboard and then updated
them with the latest Creative, Forceware and NForce drivers. Next I
installed all available updates via Windows Update (Is there any way to do
this within the grace period without activating Windows?).
The system was completely unstable and would even BSOD while performing
mundane file copy tasks. This surprised me so I rechecked the bios to make
sure that apart from the Raid options everything else was set to default
which didn't improve the situation. Thinking it may be a heat problem I have
been running the rig with the side panel removed, again to no avail.
I decided to abandon the WindowsXP Home OS and install Vista instead,
afterall the system is intended to end up as a Vista based pc, there was the
possibility that the hardware was too new for XP and it had served it's
purpose of confirming a boot in to (an unstable) Windows.
With the C: drive wiped I installed Vista. Didn't use the manufacturer's
drivers as Vista rejected their setup applications and went straight to
NVidia for the latest (100.59 then 100.64) Forceware and nForce 590 SLI AMD
NForce version 15.00 drivers. The Creative drivers were tricky but I tracked
down a beta driver that worked. Installed all updates from Windows Update.
Vista is up and stable but every time the pc switches to 3D rendering I get
BSOD. If I open the (slow opening) NVidia control panel the 3D preview
spinning logo works but if I try to play Titan Chess it crashes. 3Dmark06
crashes just after the Return to Proxicom loading progress bar completes and
the display tries to switch to 3D. Flight Simulator X has occasionally
worked (in game cockpit) for a couple of seconds before BSOD. BF2142 has on
ONE occasion worked (in game) for about 15 seconds (at least it proves the
graphics cards do work) but usually crashes at 3D initialisation.
The best success I've had so far is the Cascades demo from NVidia which ran
beautifully for about a minute before BSOD with the same nvlddmkm.sys
causing 0x00000116 stop code.
It seems that core drivers for this type of system are still beta and
requires a bit of patience but I'm still concerned that I can't run
anything, yet there does seem to be dual-core, 8800 SLI rigs out there
(hardware review sites and we've all seen DX10 game videos) which are up and
running.
Ultimately I guess I need to know if it's just a matter of getting the
software right or do I have a fundamental hardware issue?
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Andy
I'm having a few problems with a new homebuild PC...
PROCESSOR 1× AMD AM2 FX 62 Windsor Core, Dual Core 2.8GHz, 2x 1MB Cache,
Retail
MOTHERBOARD 1× ASUS Crosshair R.O.G NF590 SLI, S AM2, PCI-E (x16), DDR2
533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX
MEMORY 1× 2GB (2x1GB) CorsairTwinX XMS2 Dominator,DDR2 PC2-6400,240 Pins,
NonECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12, EPP
POWER SUPPLY 1× 850W Coolermaster Real Power Pro RS-850-EMBA 85% Eff' ATX12V
V2.2 SSI EPS12V v2.91 4xPCI-E/8xSATA
CPU COOLER 1× Zalman CNPS9500-AM2 AMD Aero Flower Cooler, AM2/939/754
GRAPHICS CARDS 2× 768Mb Asus 8800GTX PCI-E (x16), Mem 1800 MHz, GPU 575 MHz,
128 Streams, 2 x Dual Link DVI-I HDTV
SOUND CARD 1× Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music Sound Card OEM
RAID STRIPE 2× 150 Gb Western Digital WD1500ADFD Raptor Enterprise, SATA150,
10000 rpm, 16MB Cache, 4.6 ms, NCQ
DISC DRIVE 1× Sony AW-G170AB2 Black 18x DVD±RW x12 Ram Dual Layer DVD-Writer
OEM
STORAGE DRIVE 1× 300 Gb Western Digital WD3000JB Caviar SE, IDE (PATA), 7200
rpm, 8MB Cache, 8.9 ms
FLOPPY DRIVE 1× 1.44Mb Sony Black Floppy Disk Drive OEM
CASE 1× Coolermaster WaveMaster Black TAC-T01EK Aluminium Case (w/o PSU)
DISPLAY (Using just 1 for now) 3× 22" Iiyama PLE2200WS-B, Widescreen VGA/DVI
1680x1050, 5 ms, 1000:1, 300 cd/m2, Speakers, Black
VGA (Not yet used) 1× Matrox TripleHead2Go x3 Monitor from x1 PC (1x
Analogue input splits to x3 Analogue Output)
USB CARD READER 1× Icy Box IB801B Black Removable-Portable Internal/External
16 in 1 Card Reader
MEDIA (Not yet installed) 1× Hauppauge WinTV HVR1300 Analog & Digital MCE
PCI Kit c/w Remote and nVidia *Gold* DVD Decoder
OS Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2b OEM Single Pack
OS Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD)
I flashed the bios to the latest version 0502, set up the raptors using the
NVidia Raid drivers in stripe mode using optimal bandwidth setting. In order
to test the hardware without having to wrestle with a new operating system I
installed WindowsXP Home on a 50GB C: partition. I then ran through the
install discs for the graphics cards, sound and motherboard and then updated
them with the latest Creative, Forceware and NForce drivers. Next I
installed all available updates via Windows Update (Is there any way to do
this within the grace period without activating Windows?).
The system was completely unstable and would even BSOD while performing
mundane file copy tasks. This surprised me so I rechecked the bios to make
sure that apart from the Raid options everything else was set to default
which didn't improve the situation. Thinking it may be a heat problem I have
been running the rig with the side panel removed, again to no avail.
I decided to abandon the WindowsXP Home OS and install Vista instead,
afterall the system is intended to end up as a Vista based pc, there was the
possibility that the hardware was too new for XP and it had served it's
purpose of confirming a boot in to (an unstable) Windows.
With the C: drive wiped I installed Vista. Didn't use the manufacturer's
drivers as Vista rejected their setup applications and went straight to
NVidia for the latest (100.59 then 100.64) Forceware and nForce 590 SLI AMD
NForce version 15.00 drivers. The Creative drivers were tricky but I tracked
down a beta driver that worked. Installed all updates from Windows Update.
Vista is up and stable but every time the pc switches to 3D rendering I get
BSOD. If I open the (slow opening) NVidia control panel the 3D preview
spinning logo works but if I try to play Titan Chess it crashes. 3Dmark06
crashes just after the Return to Proxicom loading progress bar completes and
the display tries to switch to 3D. Flight Simulator X has occasionally
worked (in game cockpit) for a couple of seconds before BSOD. BF2142 has on
ONE occasion worked (in game) for about 15 seconds (at least it proves the
graphics cards do work) but usually crashes at 3D initialisation.
The best success I've had so far is the Cascades demo from NVidia which ran
beautifully for about a minute before BSOD with the same nvlddmkm.sys
causing 0x00000116 stop code.
It seems that core drivers for this type of system are still beta and
requires a bit of patience but I'm still concerned that I can't run
anything, yet there does seem to be dual-core, 8800 SLI rigs out there
(hardware review sites and we've all seen DX10 game videos) which are up and
running.
Ultimately I guess I need to know if it's just a matter of getting the
software right or do I have a fundamental hardware issue?
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Andy