Motherboard or video card?

[Zubir]

After about 2 months of my system running fine, I started getting BSOD's complaining about the nv_4 file (page fault.) Over a period of about 2 hours, it got to the point to where I couldn't have ANY nvidia driver loaded without reboots. Whenever I had an nvidia driver intalled, the system would reboot or have gargage on the screen right after the Windows splash screen. I could boot normally with the BFG if i'm using the Windows VGA driver. Also, the system would work fine if I had my old Radeon 9700 Pro installed. Thinking it was my PSU (Antec Trupower 430,) I bought an Aspire 550 with 35A on the 12v rail, and I still had the same problem. So, it had to be the BFG, right?

Wrong... I think. I sent the BFG back to be RMA'd, and they say nothing's wrong with it. I'm thinking it has to be the mobo. Here is a list of diagnostics I've run on the system to come to this conclusion:

1) Run memtest off of a floppy for 12 hours, no errors.
2) Run Prime 95 for 12 hours on blend, no errors.
3) Zero'd out the harddrive, then reinstalled, no change.
4) Checked voltages through Corecenter, all ABOVE spec.
5) Disabled the DEP thing in SP2 completely, no change.
6) Used the GART driver that comes with SP2, no change.
7) Have all RAM timings set to auto, fast writes off, all caching options disabled.

I updated the bios to 1.8, but since there's a bug which disables all USB devices (my keyboard and mouse) until Windows loads completely, I installed the 1.6 bios. I was using 1.1, or 1.2 when the problem started.

Anyone have any ideas here? It would make me very angry to buy a new mobo, then find out it was just a software conflict with my old mobo causing problems.

[einstein_314]

Sounds like the video card to me. If your 9700 pro works fine then it can't be the mobo. Maybe your vid card is conflicting with another device. Can you maybe take your card to a friends house and try it out in their computer? That would tell you for sure if it's the card or not.

[troyburnett]

I'm having the exact same problem with similar hardware and a BFG 6800. My computer ran great for about two months and then I woke it from standby only to have it crash and then would not boot past the Windows splash screen. Exactly how Zubir described. Runs fine in Safe Mode, VGA Mode, or without the Forceware drivers installed. 61.21, 62.20, 66.81, 70.41, all driver versions cause the computer to hang after the splash screen, monitor looses signal, no Windows chimes are heard.

- Updated BIOS. Updated Via drivers. Same problem.
- Tried different BIOS setting as suggested by BFG. Same problem.
- Reformat, reinstalled XP. Same problem
- Tried Win 2000 on a different HD. Crashed on the first reboot.
- Replaced my power supply. Didn't fix it.
- Tried a different RAM slot. Tried different RAM. Still didn't work.
- Installed the BFG 6800 on a friends computer and it ran fine. But it also ran fine in my computer for two months.

Running out of things that I can try. I'm looking at replacing the mother board, but would hate to do that and still have the same problems.

If anyone can help Zubir and I that would be great.

-Troy
___

Athlon64 3200+ | 512MB Corsair DDR400 | Asus K8V SE Deluxe | BFG GeForce 6800 OC NU | Enermax Noisetaker 420W | Seagate 80GB ATA | WinXP Pro SP2

[Zubir]

I notice that our motherboards are using the same chipset, Troy. Maybe there's an issue with the Via chipset. I'm seriously thinking about buying a Nforce 3 250 motherboard. I'm tired of fooling with this thing.

[saturnotaku]

I noticed you're both running Kingston HyperX and Corsair memory. Both of those brands (especially the Kingston) are known to have issues in Athlon 64 setups regardless of chipset.

[troyburnett]

I thought the memory was the problem because I had adusted the memclock to cpu ratio in bios and got the computer to boot all the way into windows a few times. But soon after I moved the mouse the computer would hang, monitor would loose signal, and I'd be forced to reboot. So, I tried a different stick of memory out of a friends computer and it reproduced the same problem. Don't remember what brand it was, but the two different sticks shouldn't cause the same error I don't think.

[saturnotaku]

I thought the memory was the problem because I had adusted the memclock to cpu ratio in bios and got the computer to boot all the way into windows a few times. But soon after I moved the mouse the computer would hang, monitor would loose signal, and I'd be forced to reboot. So, I tried a different stick of memory out of a friends computer and it reproduced the same problem. Don't remember what brand it was, but the two different sticks shouldn't cause the same error I don't think.

If that's the case then you probably have a bum board. Time to see if you can RMA it back to the manufacturer.