Widescreen Gaming Forum

all that should do is fully discharge the line capactors in the PSU, CPU voltage phases etc. Unless there is some very strange capacitance issue with the said motherboard at the memory stage VRM, there should be no reason why the RAM would act funny depending how often/ recently it had power.

Just to throw something else into the mix, if this is the case...

the motherboard could be dodgy, as in having a fault/ design flaw with this RAM

I supose it is possible the CPU memory controller for that channel of RAM could be funny, which might mean a new CPU (although I think this one is very unlikely).

The only way you can diagnose is to swap the RAM sticks around, and see how the problem re-manifests itself.

You are right, you do have 2 years to fix it.

But I would want that monster to be working asap :P You seem very relaxed about your fault finding :P

_________________
P8Z68-V Pro | 2600K | HR02 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 128GB M4 + 6TB | X-Fi > HD595 | AX850 | Tai Chi | PB278Q | G110 + Deathadder 2013
P8Z77-V | 3570K | Mugen 2 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 500GB | X-750 | Fractal R3 | U2212HM | G110 + G400
P8H77-I | G860 | 4650 | 2x2GB XMS | 320GB | CX500 | Prodigy | T22B350EW | MX518
DC3217IYE | 1x4GB Vengeance | 64GB M4 | TX-42VT20E

[quote]there is no way the power bar or overloaded circuitry would cause this problem, the load he is running would not cause it to excede the ratings

I second that & the rest of his post.

ho and by the way
when estimating max input current take max rated Wattage & divide by efficiency
so 750W with an efficiency of 80% (for example) means a draw of 937W

You guys are in Europe, whole different game. As I stated, it's an unlikely cause anyway, and my knowledge of your power grid/circuits is limited. In USA/Canada, it's not uncommon to have a regular 15-amp circuit heavily pre-loaded with just room lighting and other basics. You can have up to 12 devices/outlets on a single circuit. I've had a vacuum cleaner blow a breaker when the room lights were on. We also have some dodgy power grids in some cities with brownouts in urban areas, which can compound the issue. Modern electronics can be very sensitive to power requirements, it pays to check the basics - that is all I am saying. I've lost 2 PCs to surges, both of which went right through the cheap surge bars I was using. I now only use high-end bars with built-in breakers. I believe I already stated a couple of times that this was an unlikely cause, but worth verifying anyway, IMO.

I would still suspect faulty PSU or RAM as the primary cause.

The only way you can diagnose is to swap the RAM sticks around, and see how the problem re-manifests itself.

Already done. Currently waiting for the next failure. It did not fail today.

You are right, you do have 2 years to fix it.

But I would want that monster to be working asap :P You seem very relaxed about your fault finding :P

Part of being relaxed about it is the fact that it is working. There's just this small glitch most users would never even notice (how many people unplug a rig like this for 2 days?). Does make me wonder whether it's not secretly a more widespread issue...


I have this story in some slightly different form on another forum, and someone's pointing at the CMOS battery, and its proximity to the PCIe slot. Much like I've read in this thread as well, that the battery might be dodgy. Indeed, it could be the culprit, but formally speaking, that would make it a faulty motherboard, which it is part of. Anyway, I do think it's something to consider...

all that should do is fully discharge the line capactors in the PSU, CPU voltage phases etc. Unless there is some very strange capacitance issue with the said motherboard at the memory stage VRM, there should be no reason why the RAM would act funny depending how often/ recently it had power.

yeah I kind of agree with you, I said that because it's the only thing that I could think of which could relate to the length of time the computer was without power like it seems to happen for him...

I experienced computers both mine & clients not boot up or act strangely when subject to such "power issues"

ho and thanks for the technical details, I'm not used to talking about that in english ;)

Yesterday it went straight to 6GB. But today, it was 4 GB once more! Good good good.

But now... which channel was it?

I'll tell you: channel B. That's right, same DIMM once more. This DIMM has failed Memtest, failed in channel C, and failed in channel B.

What are the chances that something else is bugging the system now?

What are the chances that something else is bugging the system now?

So slim they're probably not worth considering. :(

Sucks you get a bad stick. :( I've had one bad stick of RAM in the last... oh... 80 sticks that have been through my hands? (System builds not necessarily for me...)

Well, I'm glad it's the RAM. Because it's the easiest part to replace. I don't even have to move my pc from it's place to do so.
Were it to be the MoBo, I'd have to disassemble everything. So I'm quite relieved now actually. It'll be a few days without pc, but I'll live. Always have my Wii and my 50D to play with ;)

Incidentally, I might just put the old rig together again and reinstall WinXP on it. And check out the X-Fi, whether it's working at all. If there's life in the card still, it will work in there.

Yep, time to call tech support to see if there's any final objections from their side and then it's RMA time tomorrow.

Edit: the tech had little to add to the story. I'm sending the RAM back tomorrow.

The RAM has been sent over yonder. With luck they'll receive it tomorrow and send the replacement on Monday, so I'll be back online with the new rig on Tuesday. Basically that would leave me with just tomorrow to cover. Monday evenings I don't usually have much time for using it, other than some quick browsing, which the one I'm using now will suffice for.

I've freshly installed the old rig. And now it's running once more. And boy, was it making those annoying fan noises before the new one? They do sound familiar, heh... I suppose the new one wasn't half bad then.

Of course, since I was installing it anyway, I figured I might as well try out the X-Fi.
And although Windows did detect some 'media device' on the PCI port, the drivers would not detect it. Therefore I have concluded that the X-Fi card is knackered. Which is kind of a relief, because it sets the new motherboard free of all charges.

All it should take now is to receive good memory DIMMs, install them and run the new pc happily ever after.

awesome sauce!

_________________
P8Z68-V Pro | 2600K | HR02 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 128GB M4 + 6TB | X-Fi > HD595 | AX850 | Tai Chi | PB278Q | G110 + Deathadder 2013
P8Z77-V | 3570K | Mugen 2 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 500GB | X-750 | Fractal R3 | U2212HM | G110 + G400
P8H77-I | G860 | 4650 | 2x2GB XMS | 320GB | CX500 | Prodigy | T22B350EW | MX518
DC3217IYE | 1x4GB Vengeance | 64GB M4 | TX-42VT20E

I sent it on Friday. But since the local mail only does recorded deliveries on Monday-Friday, it was delivered yesterday. Apparently, since the track&trace site still hasn't updated from 'underway' to 'delivered'. But I've been sent the replacement by the vendor already, so I'll just assume it arrived :roll:

The rig should be up and running again tomorrow. Hopefully problem free now.