Sandy Bridge - Cold boot BSOD's

[Mattbot2]

Hello guys,

Have been having cold boot BSOD's on my Sandy Bridge rig since day #1.

Specs are

-i5 2500k
-Asus P8P67 Pro
-Mushkin 4gb PC-12800 DDR3
-EVGA GTX 460

Now, on to the problem.

If the computer is left off for any more than roughly 3 / 4 hours and I try to boot it, I get a BSOD after the Windows 7 loading animation. Usually 5 or 10 reboots later, it will boot into Windows, where everything runs great! I haven't had any BSOD's after being booted into Windows.

One thing I have noticed is this.

Cold boot, RAM in slots 1 and 3, BSOD.

Switch RAM to slots 2 and 4, boots fine.

Shut down, computer goes cold after 4 hours.

Cold boot, RAM in slots 2 and 4, BSOD.

Switch RAM to slots 1 and 3, boots fine.

Which, to me, shows that none of the slots or modules are at fault.

The BSOD's vary, here's some off the top of my head.

NTFS.sys
PAGE FAULT IN NONPAGED AREA
IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL
bad pool
Memory management
vga.sys
win32k.sys
c0000071a
c0000071b
SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
0x00000007e

More that I've forgotten too.

Here's the list of things I've tried.

-Latest BIOS
-Memtest
-Stock clocks
-Minimum boot (boot drive only etc)
-Reinstall Windows on different HDD
-2t command rate + 1.55, 1.60 and 1.65v on the RAM

Probably tried more things that I can't remember. Throw out ideas and I'll tell you if I've done them or not.

Really fed up with this.

Many thanks,

Matt

[watercooled]

What power supply are you using?

[Mattbot2]

Brand new XFX 750w Pro.

[watercooled]

Hmm, it might be a driver issue. Don't suppose you're using a bad copy of Windows or the beta/RC are you? I had problems with BSOD's on the RC which stopped after installing the full release. If you still have the memory dumps you could run them through an analyser like WhoCrashed or the Windows Debugging Tools.

[Mattbot2]

Hmm, it might be a driver issue. Don't suppose you're using a bad copy of Windows or the beta/RC are you? I had problems with BSOD's on the RC which stopped after installing the full release. If you still have the memory dumps you could run them through an analyser like WhoCrashed or the Windows Debugging Tools.

Nope, fully genuine copy, for the re-install I did I even re-downloaded the image from MSDNAA (legit student copies of Windows) and burned another disc to make sure.

Ran them through the analyser, none came back as third party drivers, was all Windows stuff crashing.

[watercooled]

Try running memtest on the RAM, it might only be a small fault but anything is too much. If it fails try one stick at a time.

[Mattbot2]

Try running memtest on the RAM, it might only be a small fault but anything is too much. If it fails try one stick at a time.

I let Memtest run for 6 hours on them and it found no fault!

[watercooled]

How many passes was that? Especially since it's an intermittent problem it might need to run for longer than that to find it.

[Mattbot2]

How many passes was that? Especially since it's an intermittent problem it might need to run for longer than that to find it.

Can't remember mate, 9 rings a bell but can't be sure.

[watercooled]

Err, not really sure then. Are CPU/chipset temps, heatsink fitted correctly, etc?

[Mattbot2]

Err, not really sure then. Are CPU/chipset temps, heatsink fitted correctly, etc?

I'd assume so, I can max out Battlefield Bad Company 2 for hours, it hasn't crashed once!

CPU maxes out around 67 with my fan on low.

[watercooled]

SATA cables/connections good? Booting Windows involves lots of disk activity, and there's a few forum members have had strange problems solved by replacing cables.

[Mattbot2]

SATA cables/connections good? Booting Windows involves lots of disk activity, and there's a few forum members have had strange problems solved by replacing cables.

Yeah have tried both the new ones that came with the new board and my old ones, verified as working from my old board.

[watercooled]

Try one stick of RAM at a time.

[The Fish]

Just a random one, seen anything elsewhere on SB's? Didn't they have an issue in production for some? Or I am getting mixed up?

And the fact it's a cold boot that's the issue, literally in temp terms. Hmmm resistance is higher at lower temps I believe, your changing sticks and it solves it, so...


RAM is my favorite because of that and they are sensitive souls aren't they? Tried any other RAM just to see? As opposed to swapping sticks?

Best of luck on this one.

[watercooled]

The SB problem was with the southbridge, it affects the SATA 2 ports. Is the OP aware of this? Make sure the HDD is on a SATA 3 port, and don't forget to get the board replaced!