1

Built 2 computers for a client’s ‘art’ room, they needed decent specs for the applications they were running.

Both computers have crashed randomly, however one of them much more frequently. The BSOD_dump.txt I’ve attached is from that computer. They have been in place for about 1 month and the attached BSOD_dump.txt will show you how many times in the past month this computer has crashed.

Below are the specs for the build:

ArtRoomComputers.JPG
ArtRoomComputers.JPG609×680 70.2 KB

I’m stumped - We’ve updated all drivers, put different RAM in but at slower speed of 1600 instead, Same problems occur. Even double checked that all the hardware components were compatible.

Thank you for your help.

BSOD_Dump.txt (103 KB)

5 Spice ups
2

Test the memory with something like memtest, if you see errors it’s either a faulty RAM module or some problem with the main board.

3

We’ve already put another set of new RAM in the board, same result.

I thought it might be the board too, but do you really think 2 boards would be faulty?

4

Sorry, just realised you were having the same problem on both computers.

It could be a driver issue then, but it’s strange that you are getting different BSODs. Did you get any error during the installation?

1 Spice up
5

No errors, and these were both clean Windows 7 64 bit installs, with 5 applications:

  • Adobe photoshop,

  • Corel Painter X3,

  • Office 2010

  • Chrome

  • Firefox

6

In that case I would run the memtest anyway. All seems to be ok, but there must be a problem somewhere.

If memtest gives you errors, you know that the problem is above Windows and drivers.

7

I’m sorry for you, deeply!

Assuming you have already ruled out any possible problem due to the fitting or cooling, have you tried to update both drivers (for me it works wonders driver booster) and patches of windows update?

The attached file, I have the feeling that there is something to do with some external USB device.

Have you got to recreate the crash personally, observing the situation at hand?

At least to highlight a relationship between cause and effect.

8

I’m not a whitebox guy, but if I had to upgrade the RAM in this unit I would look at Kingston’s website for “System Specific” RAM. Their part number for a 16Gb kit is KVR16N11K2/16. They post a spec sheet on this 2 DIMM kit.

Why don’t you take a look at it and see if it differs in any way from the RAM you’ve been trying.

I just perused your attached document. The errors are all over the place. Quite e few driver errors. Some of them I would relate to chipset drivers. I take you’ve downloaded the latest chipset drivers from the ASRock? Have you bounced any of this off of them?

In the future, I’d consider a used Dell Precision Workstation. They are a dime a dozen on eBay, and will handle the power needs of some of the higher end graphics cards (although the ones you’re using probably would work in an Optiplex). I just bought one, quad core Xeon, for $143, in the door. Threw an SSD in it and it flies.

9

Are you at the latest BIOS version? I find this to be critical when using SSD drives.

3 Spice ups
10

+1 for checking the bios, I would also make sure that there are not firmware updates for the ssd.

1 Spice up
11

Why have you got them an APU with a GPU?

12

It doesn’t look like the G-Skill RAM you got is on the supported memory list. I couldn’t tell you exactly why, but that’s one place you can go for a possible resolution.

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Thank you all for your input, we are trying some of the suggestions and will get back to you.

14

irq and pagefault errors are usually ram related. i would be checking the ram with memtest.

also try just one piece of ram in the machine. could be a weird timing thing when in dual channel.

the ram is a good brand, but sorry i think the asrock board as a brand are rubbish. doesnt help though. BIOS update, turn the ram to lowest speed setting if you can tune in BIOS.

while the ram isnt “certified” i would be amazed if that was the issue.

15

According to the crash times these PCs run 24/7. It is correct?

I think this CPU and video tandem requires more powerful power supply. I would put 600W Gold at least.

16

Those video cards are nothing special and those SSD’s are drawing next to nothing.

1 Spice up
17

Some good advice so far, I’d also add: Pull the nVidia GPU and any unnecessary parts/drives - run it on the APU graphics, does it still crash? Remove any nVidia drivers and reinstall your Chipset and APU drivers - does it still crash then?

My MSI FM2+ board has a nice app to update all the drivers itself automatically which saves a lot of effort, hopefully ASRock has something similar. To be honest I wouldn’t expect the 740 to be much faster that the A8’s Radeon so if it works OK just leave the GPU’s out, if you want an easy life :wink:

18

G.Skill ram is known to be a tweaker brand. It requires precision tweaking to function, and then even more for optimal settings. They also have a history of selling ddr 3 ram that doesn’t adhere to the voltage specs and causes random failures as a result.

Higher speed ram generally requires the ability to run at higher voltages, and the motherboards usually adjust it within a 5% tolerance range controlled by the SPD chip on the ram.

If you check the motherboard ram compatibility list, it is also important to note that the 8GB chips supported is a VERY small list, and there are none above 1600mhz. This points to a very high likelihood of incompatible ram.

2 Spice ups