"Just
tried to open Computer Management and it BSODed straight away so
I'm sure it's a faulty DIMM".
Don't be so sure.
Opening Computer Management doesn't invoke anything special.
Without some type of trap-and-trace diagnostic running it doesn't
really tell you anything. It could simply have been one
additional thread or process overflowed some register or pushed
the CPU to a slightly higher temperature, where the real
instability is hiding.
I realize I'm somewhat
late to the party. (I've only recently registered to Teh Forum).
But let me make a few suggestions/observations that may come in handy.
First, it helps to know
the EXACT make and model of your MoBo. Does your user
profile still accurately list the hardware in question, such as a
MoBo in the Asus P5B series? Is that just a
"P5B" (no suffix), or is it something more like "P5BP-E_4L",
"P5B Deluxe", "P5B Premium", or similar suffix?
Knowing the full
model, socket type, and any revision, helps nail down problems
that are sometimes unique to that MoBo subset. (Note the
Asus classes MoBos by socket type). For instance, most (but
not all) P5B-series MoBos are socket-775 (LGA775).
Knowing the EXACT CPU model also helps.
As does knowing the
graphics card and/or any on-MoBo graphics chipset, which you
presently list as the ATI X1950XT.
If you're not sure what you have under the hood, the free
CPU-Z
utility can answer many
questions about both the CPU and memory. (See the
SPD
tab, which should also tell you the
proper, non-overclocked memory voltage).
The free
GPU-Z
will give you similar info about your graphics card.
With regard to memory,
the first thing I always do is clean the edge-connector fingers
with 91% Isopropyl alcohol on a lintless cloth. This clears
up most problems for memory sticks that had been working, but
seem to develop problems at some later time. (For that matter, I would similarly
clean all card edge connectors, especially the graphics card, before proceeding).
As to
Memtest86, while I like it in general, it doesn't always catch some odd problems. Quoting myself from
this
PCmag forum post:
Further, off-brand
memory module/stick vendors sometimes use a trick,
that while yielding a marginally functional product, will
often fail to work whatsoever in a high-performance
motherboard: They will buy
large surplus lots of specialty RAM chips, not originally
intended for use in PCs, and use a cheap
FPGA
to re-map
and/or otherwise emulate a standard RAM product.
Unfortunately, this can skew access timing in a way that is
not easily detected. Interestingly, the old MS memory
diagnostic will usually flag this type of module as
defective, even when other diagnostics won't. See
this
old post
of mine for a few details, and the download and users' guide links.
So you may want to get a second opinion from the MS diagnostic.
This may seem obvious, but have you tried substituting a different power supply? Or have you measured the various supply voltages, right at the MoBo connectors, with a
VOM?
Continued next post...
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ComtronBob
"It is not possible to undertake vast projects with half-vast personnel"
Red,
white, and
blue
banner seen hanging across aircraft assembly hanger.
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