n00b built a PC, and it's all gone wrong!

Hi everyone, I've just joined, and am currently in a state of desperation.

I decided not too long ago that I wanted to get into the PC gaming scene. So, on the advice of my friend, I decided to build my own PC. Everything went OK, bar a few things he helped me with due to me knowing the bare minimum about computers.

However, it all went quite badly wrong when it came to installing Vista Ultimate.

It took me two attempts to install it, freezing on the first. Since then, it has run, but very unpredictably, sometimes freezing at various stages before reaching the account login, sometimes freezing just after logging in, sometimes lasting a few hours and then...freezing.

Again on my friends advice, I tried to install XP instead. During installation, my PC kept restarting itself, with no warning or identifiable reason. So I tried to put Vista back on. Now I'm getting all sorts of errors and blue screens, IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, MEMORY_MANAGEMENT, etc. I am am my wits end.

I realise that this is a very broad range of problems that could have many answers. In which case, am I best turning to a professional? I am clearly out of my league in trying to fix this.

Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated.

Memtest86+

It's looking like a RAM issue. Have you manually set the timings and voltages in the BIOS? If not do that and see if it fixes it, if it doesn't run Memtest86+ for a few hours and see if it throws up any errors and post back.

Well that's the issue, I currently have no OS installed, as it just freezes during the install process, that or restarts. I could try removing one of the sticks at a time and see if that works? I haven't tinkered with the RAM settings, just used them stock as they came, I wouldn't really know what I was doing. I know at the moment they're 5-5-5 or something

If you find the RAM voltage for the RAM and make it is set to the same value in the BIOS it could solve your problem. Usually you press delete to get in the BIOS at the first screen that appears at boot.

Alternatively it could be faulty RAM, try 1 stick at a time to see if you get the same problem.

Thanks for the quick reply guys.

I tried 1 stick at a time, the first stick still blue screened, the second went into the installation process, restarted got to 'complete installation', but then it restarted itself. It now just gets up to the point where the OS should pop up, but just restarts, and so the cycle continues. I just tried changing the voltage, but the restarting problem persists.

I had the exact same problem... Its your motherboard that is causing the issues m8 :)

First time I got the problem was when I bought a new motherboard and CPU, the motherboard was DOA(Dead on Arrival) so I sent it back and everything was fine with the replacement. Second time I got the issue was the first warm day this summer(I say warm because it only got to 29 degrees yet my PC still couldn't handle it :().

First problem was faulty motherboard, northbridge not handling information correctly, and the second issue(same symptoms) was the motherboard overheating, from my overclock :rolleyes:

I would RMA your motherboard seeing though its new. You should get a new one in a week :D

Well I am now posting from my newly installed Vista pc. The problem seems to be OK, I installed a few Intel drivers that were missing, seems to be OK. However it has still frozen once for no real reason, though at the moment it's been on for a few hours with no problem. Looking good.

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Originally Posted by ss3goben

Well I am now posting from my newly installed Vista pc. The problem seems to be OK, I installed a few Intel drivers that were missing, seems to be OK. However it has still frozen once for no real reason, though at the moment it's been on for a few hours with no problem. Looking good.

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Sounds better but the problem is most likely still there... lurking.

I tried the same with short term results like you are experiencing but the next day it started with the issues again. Give it a couple of days. Hopefully it is a simple driver issue for you, I wasn't that lucky :(

Seriously, run Memtest. You don\'t run it from within Windows, you burn the ISO to disc and boot from that, then it runs automatically. While it *could* be an issue with your motherboard the seeming randomness is still pointing to RAM for me.

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Originally Posted by Splash

Seriously, run Memtest. You don't run it from within Windows, you burn the ISO to disc and boot from that, then it runs automatically. While it *could* be an issue with your motherboard the seeming randomness is still pointing to RAM for me.

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Agreed, this is your best course of action right now. It's a simple enough test, perform it with both sticks then individual sticks if you do get errors. You might have to give the ram some more voltage if they're falling over.

Doesn't OCZ Reapers like juicy amounts of volts?

Definitely do what mrt9888 suggested, get into your BIOS and manually set your RAM voltages and timings.

Are you using 4x1gb sticks for a total of 4gb of RAM or are you using 2x2gb sticks?

Also the suggestion by Splash is SUPREME advice. Definitely run memtest86+. If your friend can help you out, he can burn you the CD from the ISO located here. Set your BIOS to boot from CD as first device and insert the memtest86+ CD. It runs automatically and with a PC like yours, it'll finish a single pass within 30 minutes (easily). So pop out, go watch some TV, come back later and if the bottom of the screen throws up errors you know there is an issue between your RAM and Motherboard. It does not mean there is DEFINITELY a hardware failure but it can help isolate the problem. There is also no translation on type of test ran and problems found. A working PC will pass memtest86+ with no errors all day long.

Simplicity is best, so when testing use 1 RAM stick at a time and ensure you try each and every RAM slot.

I had that problem when my motherboard was slightly at an angle (more tightly screwed in on one end than the other which caused a very slight bend). Long shot, might be the cause though.

My joy was short lived, the problem does indeed remain. Now it's just freezing at random, and quite frequent intervals. I will give memtest a shot now. My elation at having my first PC is fading rapidly. :censored:

I am using 2x2GB OCZ reaper ram.

Rummaging around the net I can see OCZ 2x2GB Reaper HPC (Part Number OCZ2RPR10664GK) at 5-5-5-18 timings like 2.1v. Perhaps both the voltage and/or timings needs to be set manually in BIOS as per mrt9888 suggested before things are stable. Try that first before disassembly parts of your PC to test each ram stick individually with memtest86+.

Set the correct (higher) voltage for the RAM in your BIOS and run Memtest86 like what people keep saying. You are just so completely wasting your time if you don't.

The standard voltage for DDR2 is 1.8v and your motherboard will assume this voltage unless you change it. Budget RAM like corsair value is designed to work at 1.8v but performance RAM often requires more volts.

The voltage adjustment in your BIOS might be to set it to 2.1v or it might be to set it at +0.3v (ie the standard 1.8v +0.3v gives you 2.1v)

How about being patient eh?

He isn't an enthusiast user and if his BIOS has the hidden RAM settings then he might not be able to find them... He also probably has problems trying to get onto this site if his new PC is the only one he has.

There is also the possibility he has tried that and the PC is still not working but he has been unable to get onto the website to tell us this.

He has recently bought this PC so I still feel the best bet would be to send the components back to the supplier so they can do the testing and send a replacement of which ever component is playing up. The motherboard has the highest probability of being the culprit so I'd send that back with the CPU and memory.

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Originally Posted by ExHail

How about being patient eh?

He isn't an enthusiast user and if his BIOS has the hidden RAM settings then he might not be able to find them... He also probably has problems trying to get onto this site if his new PC is the only one he has.

There is also the possibility he has tried that and the PC is still not working but he has been unable to get onto the website to tell us this.

He has recently bought this PC so I still feel the best bet would be to send the components back to the supplier so they can do the testing and send a replacement of which ever component is playing up. The motherboard has the highest probability of being the culprit so I'd send that back with the CPU and memory.

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Problem there is that if the parts show no fault (which I suspect will be the case) then he's paid to ship back to vendor, will have to pay to ship back to himself and likely pay a fee for the NFF. He *really* needs to get the proper voltage set for his RAM, and run some testing. As for being patient... I don't think anyone here is showing any impatience whatsoever - it's all good, solid advice.

Vista has issues installing with 4GB of memory but it also looks like you may also have faulty memory, I would hold of sending random components back until you have done testing. MEM test is the best advice here atm run that and see if you can find a fault.

One other thing you can check for:

On my previous builds the motherboards had extra holes that could be mis-construed as mounting holes. DO NOT install screws at those locations as it will short out the motherboard. Check with the motherboard manual for the appropriate mounting hole locations.

Thanks for all the advice so far guys, it's quite reassuring to have help from people who know what they're talking about.

Just to eliminate a few of the possibilities, I've tried running each stick at a time, the problem persists. I've changed the ram timings to those specified for the OCZ Reaper kit, and that doesn't help. Neither does a change in voltage. I'm pretty darn sure I haven't put any screws in the mobo where they shouldn't be.

I am currently on a different PC, burning a copy of memtest on. Do I just burn it to disc, then boot from disc, simple as that?

It's quite frustrating at the moment, knowing I have a beast of a PC that won't stay on for more than a minute. I guess power really is nothing without control.

Just to reiterate what's actually happening, basically...all sorts. Sometimes I will turn it on and the PC is on, but the monitor doesn't show anything. Sometimes it freezes at varying points of the boot. Sometimes it freezes just before loading the login screen, or on the progress bar. Sometimes it gets to when the login screen should appear, then just...restarts.

In hindsight I feel quite stupid, I've spent all my cash on this build, leaving nothing spare for any possible need to return items, or replace them.

Any further advice would be hugely appreciated, as it that which has already been offered.

Time to burn memtest.

I hope when you send the motherboard in for testing that the replacement comes quickly... Its never nice to be without your PC.

You burn Memtest as you would any other .iso (ie don't just copy the file to CD, use something like Nero, CDBurnerXP or ImgBurn to burn the raw file as an image). Then boot from it and leave it for a few hours.

Can you try any other components ie HDD, cpu, PSU? I'd have said HDD prob at first glance due to similar bugger-ups i've had with a dodgy HDD.
We've all been there with first builds, check all the cables are in tight (i've forgot to plug in things a hundred times & spent hours trying to figure out what was wrong!) Check your mobo isn't shorting on the case (ie build your pc up outside of the case, be careful of static!) reseat the cpu, etc etc

Well I took it to my friends on Saturday, he had a little jiggle, turns out I didn't have the latest BIOS, or the latest GPU driver. Both were put on, using my friends monitor (;eft mine at home) and it seemed to then work fine. I got through a couple hours of Afro Samurai on it being watched from the DVD drive, then bang...freezes. So I restarted, got through another hour of Afro and then...froze. Rebooted, finished watching it, and thought, hey, I can livew with a freeze every hour or two, until next weekend when we can look for another problem. Take it home, it runs for all of 20 minutes, then the screen freezes. On a reboot, nothing will come up on the monitor (my monitor) at all.

A few things of note- when it was at my friends, three times over the space of about 6 hours, the graphics card went nuts, blowing out air like nobodys business for ages, whilst the PC had frozen. This was accompanied I think by some red lights on the GPU. Also, my monitor at home (yes this is ridiculous) has a pin missing in the connector. I'm picking up my friends monitor and will be using his from now on, generous guy.

So I'm taking it back to my friends this weekend, God knows what we can do. If it isn't fixed this weekend then I get paid on the 24th and may just get it fixed professionally. I just want my frickin PC!

My friend also suggested possible component incompatibility, so I thought I'd list it-

Asus P5Q Deluxe
4GB OCZ Reaper 1066
1TB Samsung F1 Spinpoint HDD
ATi Readeon HD4870
Q6600
1000W Collermaster RealPower PSU
Antec 900


The fact that I know can't get a display is very disheartening to me, and I don't think it's the monitor, as I see no HDD activity, and my mouse/keyboard normally light up, which they are no longer doing.

Did you actually get round to running Memtest? Do you get any error message when you restart after a freeze?

Sounds like the memory or the motherboard.

Run memtest and it'll tell you if you have a motherboard or ram issue.

Is it the Asus boards that are quite picky with RAM? Dangel has a weird issue with his current build and he has heard Asus boards being "quirky" but he uses Geil ram not OCZ and of course he is using a GTX280 and not a HD4870...common factor is motherboard.

Take a read of his thread here and if you are interested his current build here.

Hopefully the symptoms will be similar and may discern the fact the board doesn't like certain RAM/GPU/PSU configs and we can try and assist from there on.

But please do run memtest and let us know how it goes. It'll only take 15 minutes of your time to do 1 pass (enough time to go watch a tv episode and it'll have done 2 passes).

I've had the exact same issues - Was memory for me.

I'd say this is 90% memory - Run Memtest NOW. Both Crucial and Corsair ask me to run memtest before sending any parts back for testing and definitely do not take the advice from the guy claiming its the motherboard (the probability claim is false) and to send all your parts back.

You will be charged for this and in this instance your problems are bang smack in the middle of ram error territory.

Google memtest - It's easy to run. ANY errors on memtest is warrant enough for a replacement.

memtest does not prove that the memory is faulty, only that there is an issue between the motherboard and RAM.

When my machine failed memtest it was the motherboard not the RAM that was at fault.

You'd need spare (in working order) hardware to successfully pinpoint the problem.

Read the FAQ here for further information.

what was the problem with the mobo when u had the memtest failure? just curiours : )

I've said it before and will say it again... ITS THE MOTHERBOARD. Now take it out your PC and ship it back to the store you got it from for a replacement.

The red light on your GFX comes on because the motherboard is not communicating with the card properly. And all your components are perfectly compatible its just your useless motherboard that is not functioning properly in order to link them together.

Please stop running this guy around in circles... he should of shipped his motherboard back to the store 2 weeks ago and this problem would not have been such a big issue.

Please qualify that statement. Are you making guarantees that if he RMAs and it's a NFF you'll cover the charges?

What we're suggesting is basic troubleshooting. Had he run Memtest on the 31st August as I'd suggested we might have gotten a little further, but everything points to the fact that it's not been done as yet.

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Originally Posted by inonefly

what was the problem with the mobo when u had the memtest failure? just curiours : )

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Because it is an LGA 775 motherboard the memory controller is on the motherboard so I assume that went wonky and as such was the cause of memtest failure and not the RAM modules. I had almost my whole PC sent for RMA due to this problem. I assumed it was the RAM and RMA'd 3 different sets with one 1 set being faulty and the other two fine.

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Originally Posted by Splash

Please qualify that statement. Are you making guarantees that if he RMAs and it's a NFF you'll cover the charges?

What we're suggesting is basic troubleshooting. Had he run Memtest on the 31st August as I'd suggested we might have gotten a little further, but everything points to the fact that it's not been done as yet.

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Thank you splash for iterating my thoughts.

I think Memtest needs to be run also. If you're unsure as to the the proceedure just ask and someone can provide a step-by-step guide. It's not that hard.

I also think it's worth building the PC outside of the case. Using a nice piece of firm cardbox (like the case's box - that'd do nicely) to support it.

If memtest shows no errors, and you're still getting freezes outside of the case I'd suggest trying a cheap replacement graphics card (for testing) as this is another potential cause. It's highly unlikely to be the processor or PSU (given it's a quality PSU). The motherboard is the last option but you should try and confirm the errors still happen with different RAM (proves yours is ok), a different graphics card (to prove yours is ok) and building outside of the case (to prove a short in the electrics isn't the cause).

Method:

1) RUN MEMTEST NOW!!!!!!!!!!
2) If ok, build PC outside of the case...If memtest gives an error, run the RAM in your mates PC to reproduce it there too, if you still get an error - return the RAM for replacement
3) If you have i) no RAM error, ii) still have error with PC build outside of the case, then try a cheap graphics card. If the replacment graphics card makes the system stable, try the graphics card in your mates PC to reproduce the error there. If it moves with the graphics card, RMA the graphics card....

It's just logical deduction really...

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Originally Posted by cptwhite_uk

I think Memtest needs to be run also. If you're unsure as to the the proceedure just ask and someone can provide a step-by-step guide. It's not that hard.

I also think it's worth building the PC outside of the case. Using a nice piece of firm cardbox (like the case's box - that'd do nicely) to support it.

If memtest shows no errors, and you're still getting freezes outside of the case I'd suggest trying a cheap replacement graphics card (for testing) as this is another potential cause. It's highly unlikely to be the processor or PSU (given it's a quality PSU). The motherboard is the last option but you should try and confirm the errors still happen with different RAM (proves yours is ok), a different graphics card (to prove yours is ok) and building outside of the case (to prove a short in the electrics isn't the cause).

Method:

1) RUN MEMTEST NOW!!!!!!!!!!
2) If ok, build PC outside of the case...If memtest gives an error, run the RAM in your mates PC to reproduce it there too, if you still get an error - return the RAM for replacement
3) If you have i) no RAM error, ii) still have error with PC build outside of the case, then try a cheap graphics card. If the replacment graphics card makes the system stable, try the graphics card in your mates PC to reproduce the error there. If it moves with the graphics card, RMA the graphics card....

It's just logical deduction really...

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You forgot

4) Profit!

I hear you all, the general consensus is run bloody Memtest lol, which I would love to do but I'm no longer getting any signal to the monitor. The tower powers up, but the HDD seems to do nothing, and nothing appears on the monitor. I have passed all these comments on to my friend, who has agreed to use all the parts of his PC, in order to ascertain any faulty component. As soon as I can get an actual signal, I will run memtest.

Again, thanks for all the help so far, I am due to lark about with my mate again this Friday, and will keep you posted on any developments.

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Originally Posted by Splash

You forgot

4) Profit!

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lol - hope i'm not the only one to get that :mrgreen: