Weird problem vaguely associated with OC'ing

[Abraxus#]

I've finally got sick enough of this issue i've been having to seek help with it:

Basically whenever I overclock either my CPU, my RAM, or both I get a massive increase in the incidence of it taking ages to shutdown my PC. I go 'start-shutdown', or press the power button then my one startup program (Speedfan) and virus scanner close, CTRL-ALT-DEL doesn't work (although the start menu does, but I can't open programs because it say it's shutting down) and it takes ~ 5 minutes before going off the desktop to the logging off screen, which then proceeds at the normal speed to power down.

This still happens very occassionally without any OC but it is rare.

I can see no obvious correlation between what i've been doing (gaming, work etc.) or for how long i've been doing it and the problem. Also I tried seeing if it was process related, but I turned all the pointless ones off in MSCONFIG and no change, I also don't have many running at once anyway. It happened both with my SSD and the Raptor I had before.

The only thing I do think is related is that it seemed to start when I got some new RAM - a Dominator DDR2 PC8500 2GB kit as an upgrade from Geil PC6400 2GB for my new Quad CPU.

When I OC'ed I never used it at it's full speed and I set the timings pretty slow (compared to what it's supposed to be capable of) with 2.1v. However the issue always appeared. I have since upgraded to a 4GB Kingston PC8500 kit and the issue is worse - if I set anything manually (even lower than normal) it takes ages to shut down almost every time.

The settings i've been trying are: FSB 400 (x8.5), 800mhz RAM, 1.2375v Vcore, 2.1-2.3v RAM, 5,5,5,15 timings, which are all pretty conservative. I've tried a number of variations plus setting various bits to AUTO rather than manually tweaking them.

So, my ideas are that it's:
1) PC8500 related. But I don't really want to buy some 6400 just to test it.
2) Mobo related - my Commando is pretty old now, and they are supposed to wear out (it does have the newest bios though). Also doesn't officially support PC8500, although i've never run it this high even though it supports my processor's FSB.

I was going to format and upgrade to W7 (from XP) to see if that fixed it but I've got too much work on at the moment.

Any ideas/help appreciated!

[Revs]

Have you checked your Event Viewer to look for any timeouts, etc? I used to get this every now and then, but it was never a consistant problem.

[Abraxus#]

Yeah, I checked and nothing is noted. I suspect it isn't software related due to it being worse when overlocking.

[XDanger]

shot in the dark..

How is your PSU

Can you disconnect non-essentials and see if anything changes?

[Abraxus#]

I don't really have any non-essentials - 1 HDD, 1 Graphics card, 1 DVD drive. The PSU is a pretty good quality, high amp one with minimal extra stuff and the issue appears with only minor voltage increases. It was working fine for a while before the issue too.

Thanks for the suggestion though

I kind of think it's most likely to be memory related, which seems to fit the symptoms and presentation, but I don't know enough technical details to know if i'm right. Someone with a similar experience would help but extensive searches on google found nothing the like my problem.

[$n][pErMan]

This happens to me too.... no clue why! But I do have a pretty high OC. Sometimes it shutsdown perfectly with no issue...

[Abraxus#]

At least it's not just me, I see we have both have P965 boards plus PC8500 RAM. Maybe i'll get some PC6400 to try. Does the issue go away if you set everything back to stock?

I turn my PC on and off a few times a day so it's way too annoying for me to bother with the minor performance increase of OC'ing.

My Asus board undervolts by default. Running my ram @ 1066 (rated @ 2.1vdimm) actually needs to be set to 2.2 to be rock stable.

FWIW, many of my woes also disappeared when I switched from Kingston to another brand.

Just a shot in the dark....

[Abraxus#]

I've tried 2.3v with the Kingston, but i'm kind of reluctant to go over that for fear of blowing it up. Maybe i'll try though, undervolting is definitely a problem with the Vcore - set at 1.2375 it actually gives 1.2 in CPUZ and less when under load.

I had the same issue with Corsair Dominator so i'm guessing it's not brand related.

Originally Posted by Abraxus#

I've tried 2.3v with the Kingston, but i'm kind of reluctant to go over that for fear of blowing it up. Maybe i'll try though, undervolting is definitely a problem with the Vcore - set at 1.2375 it actually gives 1.2 in CPUZ and less when under load.

I had the same issue with Corsair Dominator so i'm guessing it's not brand related.

Not at my pc now, but that sounds about like what it shows on mine. The only other thing that comes to mind is my first P5E. Mem slots 1&3 were unusable with 2x2Gb sticks, but it was rock stable with them in 2&4. I RMA'd that board and the second has been fine.

Come to think of it, that board never boot properly if an IDE device was plugged in.

Best of luck with it..that would frustrate the heck out of me too.

[$n][pErMan]

Originally Posted by Abraxus#

At least it's not just me, I see we have both have P965 boards plus PC8500 RAM. Maybe i'll get some PC6400 to try. Does the issue go away if you set everything back to stock?

I turn my PC on and off a few times a day so it's way too annoying for me to bother with the minor performance increase of OC'ing.

I never tried... I turn my computer on 1 time a day and off 1 time a day... so for me... having a very high OC all the time is worth it. I never thought it could be my OC... I had just assumed over time Windows has become somewhat flakey at shutting down. Untill about a month ago I never had this problem... and I have had this OC for ages now. Check my voltages in my Sig too... nothing terribly high.

[hokeyplyr48]

run memtest with it OC'd??