I'm using a custom built pc, and the issue is this, every 6 weeks or so the pc wont boot properly it gets to the motherboard page and freezes.

To fix that i have to remove the electric supply and then power it on to drain the electric, it will then boot up and make a message of 'overclocking failed' whether i change settings or not it will boot up after displaying that message.

I believe the issue can be narrowed down to 3 possible areas

my power supply, which is a gold corsair ax 1200 (due to the need to drain electricity)
my motherboard a asus p9x79 deluxe (with all its overclocking failed messages and the freeze may be due to that)
my ram 16gb ripjaws ddr3 (the freeze and overclocking failure may be due to this and mentioned below)


originally i thought the problem was the MB but when i get the overclocking failed message the only thing overclocked is the ram, from 1600 to 2133mhz, nothing else is overclocked or changed.

Today i've noticed that videos on the web, youtube, dailymotions etc and some programs have been responding slow


I'm thinking the ram may be the issue now but when i did a DXDIAG it recognises all 4 sticks


for now i've stopped the overclocking of the ram to see if that will help and will run a VC to see if theres anything happening there

any help apppreciated

The overclocking failed message would seem to me to be pointing to issues with the RAM overclock. Since you've turned it down/off, see if the issue persists. I'd also suggest checking the RAM for errors (overclocking may have caused permanent issues). Check with memtest to see if your RAM sticks pass.

memtest says i need to burn the iso to a cd? i have cds but how do i go about burning it to it?

i used that and the disc now has 3 things on it
a folder called isolinux, a zipped folder called src_v40a and a file called src_v40a.tgz both folders have no files my pc recognises

Go to This Page and scroll down to the "Download (Pre-built & ISOs)" section. You want the second file link. It's called Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)

DL that file and extract the contents to a folder that you can easily find (or to your desktop). You'll end up with an iso called mt420.iso. This is the file you want to use when you burn the image.

Hope that helps.

In case you're not aware, you then boot with that CD you create from Coelocanth's linked instructions. Memtest will do its thing. From what I've read in the past, it's a good idea to set it up to run a few passes overnight.

Nice thing about Memtest (besides the price) is that it's pretty much the de facto memory testing standard for folks testing their personal systems, and I've previously used its results to make a warranty claim. "Failed Memtest at memory location umptyscratch" or something like that.

Good luck finding the fault.

started memtest last night, went well for 2 cycles then i left it overnight and got this


http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx282/ShogunDarius/memtest001.jpg

Damn - first time that I've ever seen memtest do that. It's like the very small portion of memory that memtest itself was residing in became corrupted.

If you experience errors in memtest, it is usually a good idea to then run each individual stick alone to determine/verify the offending stick.

I would also check to make sure that you're running the latest BIOS and verify adequate cooling by monitoring operating temps.

i should att that i have played guild wars 2 at max with my pc and there was no issues playing it bar trying to use superlative sampling or whateveer its called caused my fps to drop below 10 in capital cities

how long should i run mem test for individual sticks? as for cooling, i have 7 fans in the case plus water cooling, and i did update the bios to latest about 2 months ago

Normally 2 to 3 complete passes is enough to induce an error if the stick is faulty.

You could try different mem test (like windows memory diagnostic). also do a bit 'merry go round' with your 4 sticks - test them separately, in pairs, in different slots etc

just tried windows memory diagnostic left the test to standard, no issues were found

Memtest is the better memory tester since it runs at boot and independent of the operating system. This ensures that practically all of the memory is free and not "in use." It's also what memory manufacturers commonly use themselves to test/verify memory. I would make sure that memtest was running clean before worrying with a test that runs inside of the operating environment.

Edit: just to verify - Are you running this build of memtest (Memtestx86+)?

memtest86-4.0a.iso thats the iso file name