Win 7 x64 BSODs - argh!!!!!

[bandsaw]

I appear to be having a bit of grief with Win 7 Pro x64 and it sticking its head up its own backside. Typically when gaming (or, should I say, trying to) but it also BSODs when little more than IE8 is being used so that doesn't really help. With the exception of the SSD, XP (x86) was installed on the same hardware with no problems.

I did think it was related to the video card as the drivers kept reseting themselves (a little pop up kept appearing saying "the driver has stopped responding and has been restarted" and have even been in touch with AMD support who don't seem to want to believe the driver could be at fault, anyway, I digress - I've tried everything, manual removal of all ATI registry entries, using DriverSweeper, etc. Even tried Cat 9.10 and 9.11 which didn't change things.

However, the BSODs seem to be down to ntoskrnl.exe (two also have references to ntfs.sys and fltmgr.sys and apart from the odd one, none have made reference to ATI drivers) and I'm not sure where to go from here as I've also done a fresh install of Win 7. The first install was done with the SATA controller in AHCI mode, the second with it in IDE mode. In both cases I've tried the default MS drivers and the Intel drivers. Doesn't seem to make much difference although it did seem a little more flaky in AHCI mode.

I've reseated the HD4870 and RAM (including trying different slots) and I've also considered it may be a RAM issue so have run Memtest86+ for 12 hours - that reported no errors. If it is RAM, is "0 errors" in Memtest86+ concrete proof the RAM is OK??

The system details are (and there has been NO overclocking):

Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P (F9 BIOS)
Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz
2x Corsair 2GB PC6400 CL4 DHX (at 4-4-4-12, 2.1V; even tried 5-5-5-18, 2.1V)
Intel X25-M 80GB G2 (not the FW that bricks 'em)
Sapphire 1GB HD4870 (stock)
Corsair HX750 PSU

I have a couple of 1GB sticks (Corsair PC6400 CL4) so would it be worth trying them or am I asking for trouble by expecting Win 7 x64 to be happy with 'just' 2GB? I have read that Gigabyte reckon Kingston is the "most compatible" with their boards so might get hold of some of that... it'd be £80ish but I'm prepared to try almost anything at this point.

Any ideas, suggestions and so on much appreciated!!!!!

[sleepyhead]

Do you have a spare GPU you could try in place of your 4870? Only when I got "the video driver has stopped responding and had to be restarted" kind of message it eventually led to BSOD and since swapping the GPU out for a different once, things have been (touch wood) fine.

[bandsaw]

I've got an X1950Pro, somewhere, so I'll give it a try!

[bandsaw]

Just a bit of info in case it helps anyone else - before switching out the 4870 for the 1950, I've tried two known good sticks of RAM... no BSODs or driver resets in two days!

[nibbler]

Good stuff - I assume case closed?

[bandsaw]

Yup!

[andrewuk]

I had the same problem with my new Windows 7x64 install. Turned out to be the RAM aswell. I run mine at 1333Mhz now (despite it being 1600Mhz and specifically certified to run at that speed in my motherboard!) and it's been solid as a rock since. Perhaps Corsair is not as good as it was...

[bandsaw]

I've wondered that as well... Corsair are replacing this iffy pair so I just hope the replacements don't go the same way.