Load Testing PC

[Miguel]

Memtest was first thing I run - overnight and it was all fine.

If you are running more than one stick, swap the sticks and run it again.

Also, do you have another video card you could try?

[sinij]

Reinstalled OS with HD format, all new drivers... BioShock still craps out.

Faulting application bioshock.exe, version 1.0.0.0, faulting module bioshock.exe, version 1.0.0.0, fault address 0x001be4e9.
The application, C:\Program Files (x86)\2K Games\BioShock\Builds\Release\Bioshock.exe, generated an application error The error occurred on 08/10/2008 @ 19:04:14.281 The exception generated was c0000005 at address 10ABE4E9 (Bioshock)

[Trippy]

Run with only one of the sticks of RAM. If you have another video card try that too.

[sinij]

Wouldn't memtest or video test expose problems? About the only thing I didn't stresstest is RAID, no idea how to do it reliably.

[Trippy]

If memtest finds a problem. well then, you have a memory problem. If it doesn't find a problem you could still have one.

Basically you need to ignore the tests since they are giving you conflicting answers and just isolate components one by one until you can (hopefully) narrow down the culprit. Unfortunately it could also be the motherboard, which would be a bummer.

[sinij]

The more I think about it more MB seems to be likely cause - every component checked out when tested alone. All errors are random, things go wrong in a very different way every time. What would be good replacement for P5N-D, ideally something that supports DDR3 so I can upgrade that as well?

I will try swapping video cards next, then I will try to stress testing RAID. Any idea how I can max out HDD data transfer and verify data integrity at the same time?

SO's M3A AMD rig is surprisingly stable, 1001 firmware upgrade and not a single problem. Also only 5-10% behind in all benchmarks from my rig, and mine cost nearly twice. This is the last time I am picking up Intel, should have stayed with AMD, regardless of it being slower it is more reliable technology all around.

[Trippy]

The more I think about it more MB seems to be likely cause - every component checked out when tested alone. All errors are random, things go wrong in a very different way every time. What would be good replacement for P5N-D, ideally something that supports DDR3 so I can upgrade that as well?

I will try swapping video cards next, then I will try to stress testing RAID. Any idea how I can max out HDD data transfer and verify data integrity at the same time?

SO's M3A AMD rig is surprisingly stable, 1001 firmware upgrade and not a single problem. Also only 5-10% behind in all benchmarks from my rig, and mine cost nearly twice. This is the last time I am picking up Intel, should have stayed with AMD, regardless of it being slower it is more reliable technology all around.

If it is your motherboard I suspect the problem is more the NVIDIA chipset than the Intel CPU.

Did you still want SLI or you going to give up on that for a while?

[Engels]

Heh, ya, Nvidia chipsets. I've avoided them after a bad spell with a NForce 4 back in 2002

[Ironwood]

What video card are we talking about here ?

[Trippy]

GTX280 BFG OC, I believe.

[Ironwood]

Ok.  I just found out some interesting heat facts about my HD4870 at the weekend and wondered if it was the same one.

Namely, the BIOS Fan control is pretty much broken and won't go above 23%, leading to a GPU of 80.  The solution to this is to actually make your own profile and manually edit the XML file to get the fan to go faster.  As a result, I'm at around 45-50 degrees.

I found this whole situation a little bizarre, especially seeing as it took me a while to find out why the fuck it was happening.

[Engels]

GPUs have a much much higher heat rating than CPUs. 80s isn't that out of control for GPU. My Nvidia card, the 8800gt, for instance, won't kick in the fan above 30 until it reaches above 100. Naturally, I manually tune it.

[Ironwood]

Yeah, but that wasn't really the point.  Since the fan wasn't going properly, the thing was basically turning into a wee grill and heating the case up like an oven.

[Engels]

Ya, its pretty annoying. I have to wonder, however, if that's sometimes done by design. If you think about it, the GPU chip is going to put out high heat regardless of what type of heatsink and/or fan you have going on; its just a matter of how well your heatsink and fan dissapate the generated heat; If the GPU is rated towards extreme temps, wouldn't it make more sense to NOT dissapate that heat inside the case? In other words, let the heat 'hang out' by the gpu as much as possible without letting it spread upwards towards the CPU.

This is, of course, assuming that the video card has no back exhaust, and just blows the heat into the case enclosure. Speaking of which, does anyone have a good recommendation for a video card that does exactly that; doesn't blow heat into the case, but has it funneled straight out the back? I've got a 8800gt, but its just wacky hot all the time.

[fuser]

If it is your motherboard I suspect the problem is more the NVIDIA chipset than the Intel CPU.

I swapped back from AM2 -> p35 was for chipset stability. After nvidia's wonkyness with the ethernet driver (lag generated from the packet tcp offload), and reading HardOCP's comments I swore off of their chips for this generation.

Nvidia is in a weird position anyhoo, AMD/ATI's chipsets are working well, Intel is switching its architecture soon, and dependent on board manufactures to use the nforce 200 on the x48/x58/nehalem(has it been confirmed yet?) to get SLI.
I really hope the technology dies as crossfire has really matured over the past few years without requirements for dedicated hardware/chips besides the x16 slots.

Yeah, but that wasn't really the point.  Since the fan wasn't going properly, the thing was basically turning into a wee grill and heating the case up like an oven.

8800gt has the same issues with the initial release, the fan speed is messed up, atleast you could edit an xml.. nvidia's fix is flashing it :S

[Engels]

I just use NTune and manually jack up the card fan speed to 50 before playing anything serious, like AoC, Mass Effect, etc. It still kicks in at 100 to 100%. Its true to, Nvidia really screwed the pooch with the 8800 series cooling methods and bios profiles. Its a total shame, because otherwise the cards are champs.

[rattran]

The 4870s vent outside the case, and yeah, setting the profile fixes it. I keep mine set to 60% now. And the latest drivers (July 22 or so) default to the profile, so I don't have to set it manually every time.

[Ironwood]

This is, of course, assuming that the video card has no back exhaust, and just blows the heat into the case enclosure. Speaking of which, does anyone have a good recommendation for a video card that does exactly that; doesn't blow heat into the case, but has it funneled straight out the back? I've got a 8800gt, but its just wacky hot all the time.

Er, mine.

The HD4870 slings it out the back.  My case temp went down at least 5 degrees once I cranked the fan up.

[sinij]

GTX280 BFG OC, I believe.

Yep. I think I will go SLI,  price dropped to the point that you might as well.  Still at this point I just want it to fucking work. I went with P5N-D because so many people had it working.... Not me. So 2x SLI PCI-E2 DDR3 mobo, any out there? All online vendors seem to be into extremes - it is ether 3X SLI overkill mobo or last century junker, nothing in-between. Oh and it has to have optical out.

Before I give up on my current rig and start building another - is there a good way to test RAID? I think this will be the last thing I will test before junking this setup.

On more thing - sometimes WinXP won't load past loading profile. Generally it is instant after I enter password but first boot is usually sluggish or outright hangs. Once it boots once all consecutive re-boots are fine. Almost like something need to "warm up" for it even to work right.

Strangely - I noticed with age I am less likely to tolerate crashes. What used to be buisness as usual in UO/SB gets me walking away in disgust these days. I quit AoC because of crashes.

Could this be that Bioshock and AoC are just two garbage games that are... well just crash? Strangely enough I yet to have a crash with UT3, but then I don't play it for more than hour at a time.

[Engels]

I would recommend getting XP up and running without raid. in fact, if your motherboard has an IDE controller that doesn't utilize the raid chipset, all the beter.

[Trippy]

Yep. I think I will go SLI,  price dropped to the point that you might as well.  Still at this point I just want it to fucking work. I went with P5N-D because so many people had it working.... Not me. So 2x SLI PCI-E2 DDR3 mobo, any out there? All online vendors seem to be into extremes - it is ether 3X SLI overkill mobo or last century junker, nothing in-between. Oh and it has to have optical out.

Well unfortunately they just don't make what you want. So you have to decide what you are willing to compromise on.