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New PC Issues, need some help

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Tunasam

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Jun 28, 2005
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Ok, this one is bugging me, any help would be appreciated.

I just put this system together recently:
ASUS A8N SLI Premium
Athlon A64X2 4200+
2x 1GB Corsair DDR 400 Mem (XMS)
BFG GF7800 OC
Antec P180 Case
Maxtor Diamondmax 300GB HD (SATA150)

The system runs quiet and cool, 32C CPU/MB idle and the 7800 is at 49C idle.

My problem is with game stability. Every game I throw at it can run maxxed out settings, but it randomly locks up. BF2 seems to lockup the most, sometimes 5 minutes in, sometimes 30. CSS rarely does, and WoW happens every once and a while.

It doesn't seem to be a heat issue.

Here's the thing, when I tried to format the Hard Drive in a complete long format, it doesnt work, it gets 20% done then says there's an error, but a quick format works (as Im on the PC now).

I dont have a floppy, so I cant boot Memtest to see if its the memory and I dont have another computer that can attach the SATA drive.

What can I do to fix this? The HD is brand new and its something like 20% fragmented too. Sometimes the computer has weird errors when moving large chunks of data.

What do you think I should do? Any help would be appcreciated.

-Tuna
 
..."friendly reminder" that off topic posting in G[H] is not allowed. On topic, please.

Thanks - B.B.S.
 
you can download bootable CD image of memtest86... as for your HD - it doesn't sound good... I'd either low level format it or RMA it..
 
I ran Memtest86, it did all the tests 3 times, no fails. WHat does this mean? How long do I need to run it and should I be running all the tests or just 7 and 8 like some people have said?

If its not the memory, do I just have a bad HD?

-Tuna
 
Determine the manufacturer of your hard drive and download their diagnostic tool from their website.

You should run memtest86 for at least 5 passes to rule out any memory problem.
 
Its passed 5 times, and its still going, am I putting the computer at risk by letting it continue?

Also, I have the Maxtor Diamondmax 300 GB HD with 16MB Cache. I downloaded their HD diag tool "powermax" but it doesnt work with Nforce4 boards! wtf!

And they wont let me RMA it until I do, doesnt make any sense at all.

So is it 100% NOT the memory if its passed the test that many times? What else could this be.

Any info would be appreciated guys.
 
Tunasam said:
Its passed 5 times, and its still going, am I putting the computer at risk by letting it continue?

Also, I have the Maxtor Diamondmax 300 GB HD with 16MB Cache. I downloaded their HD diag tool "powermax" but it doesnt work with Nforce4 boards! wtf!

And they wont let me RMA it until I do, doesnt make any sense at all.

So is it 100% NOT the memory if its passed the test that many times? What else could this be.

Any info would be appreciated guys.
Click to expand...
Running memtest for extended periods of time does not put the computer at risk -- it just puts a load on the memory.

I'm suprised PowerMax doesn't work with NForce4 boards. Let me do some checking around to see what I can find out.
 
Sure enough:

Note: PowerMax v 4.21 will not detect ATA or SATA hard disks connected to embedded or add in RAID controllers, NVIDIA Force 3, Force 4, VIA KT 600 and KT800 chipsets. If the hard disk is connected to an unsupported controller, it will have to be moved to an alternate system, or controller for diagnosis. Please check the PowerMax download page periodically for updates. Beginning March 1st 2005 all versions of PowerMax prior to v4.21 will no longer be supported. Maxtor recommends that you update to version 4.21 before testing your hard disk.
Click to expand...

Do you have another system to attach the drive to? If not, you can try booting to a Linux Rescue CD or a Knoppix CD and running the following command:

Code: 
dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/null bs=16384

This takes into consideration that Linux will recognize the hard drive as sda (SATA drives are recognized as SCSI devices). This command will read across the whole disk and report any I/O errors to the console. Any errors are evidence that the drive is defective and Maxtor will replace the drive. I've gone through this process many times with Maxtor, you just have to be a little pushy over the phone when requesting the RMA.
 
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