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ASROCK AOD790GX/128M Bios Questions

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apenland01

Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2003
Location
Tucson AZ
Hi all,

First some backstory, since I haven't posted on here in quite some time and I'm kinda bored right now.....

I built the rig below for a buddy back in '09 and he has used it over the last 4 years running stock with Windows XP without any issues. Every year at Christmas, his wife gets a computer part and I install it for him. First year was a new DVD/RW, second was a new Radeon 5830 card and this year was a new Phenom X4 955. Everything ran fine until this last weekend.

A bunch of us talked him into buying Black Ops 2, which he did and installed. None of knew that it wouldn't run on XP, so it had all kinds of errors. We talked him into upgrading to Windows 7, which he did and installed. Then the problems really started. Crash boots, freeze mid load, freeze whenever it felt like it.

The OCZ RAM failed memtest in about 30 seconds, so I'm thinking it was good enough to run XP and surf the web, but couldn't handle a new OS and heavier load. I didn't know that OCZ quit making RAM in 2011, but they honored the lifetime warranty with a refund. Thanks OCZ.

Once I got the new Mushkin Silverline RAM installed, it passed memtest with flying colors, however it had multiple issues on Windows 7 startup and during games when I tested. Orthos ran overnight too, no issues.

I decided to go ahead and update the Bios from 1.30 (original) to 1.90 (newest) and the problems got worse.

The Bios defaults a lot of the settings to auto, but they are overvolting the CPU (1.45) and RAM (2.2v instead of 1.8v). The memory timings were way wrong too. I manually set the memory timings and CPU voltage to stock settings.

Does anyone have experience with this Bios for other settings that would still cause freezes? They are still happening, but not as frequently. There has to a setting off in the Bios, but I'm cooked and can't figure out what it is. CPU and HT settings are Auto with multi at 16x @ 3.2ghz.

I realize I'm chasing stuff down the rabbit hole with a 4 year old rig, but all the gear is solid, so I hate to see it act like this!

Any help is appreciated!


Original rig:
Athlon 64 X2 Brisbane 5400 (unknown temps)
onboard video
2x2Ghz OCZ platinum 1066 DDR2 (dual channel mode)
WD black caviar 640
Windows XP Pro SP3


As of today rig:
Phenom X4 955 BE (37c idle, 51c load)
Radeon HD 5830
2x2Ghz Mushkin Silverline 800 DDR2 (dual channel mode)
WD black caviar 640
Windows 7 32-bit (all updates loaded)
 
however it had multiple issues on Windows 7 startup and during games when I tested. = That does not tell us anything 'what' the issues appeared to be.

Orthos passed for an overnight run. Generally speaking that hints at no hardware problems. However with no idea what you are calling issues as 'you tested', it is nigh impossible to even guess what else might be a problem.
 
however it had multiple issues on Windows 7 startup and during games when I tested. = That does not tell us anything 'what' the issues appeared to be.

Orthos passed for an overnight run. Generally speaking that hints at no hardware problems. However with no idea what you are calling issues as 'you tested', it is nigh impossible to even guess what else might be a problem.


Thanks for using the word "nigh", I love it!

When the system posts, then moves to windows load, the "starting windows" screen appears, then the light blue "welcome" screen with the swirly circle appears for about 2-3 seconds. At that time, the screen blips or blacks out for a millisecond and then either goes on to boot fully into windows or crashes back to post.

This guy is not a heavy gamer, so I "tested" the system when it actually fully loads windows by simply trying to play some campaign and multiplayer Black Ops 2 to see how the system behaved. After about 20-30 seconds of gameplay, the system would freeze. No BSOD, no memory dump, just a hard freeze. I lowered the graphics options to low settings and it would do the same thing.

Before I set the Bios memory timings and lowered the CPU voltage, I did get the blue screen memory dump once, but I/he hasn't seen that since the Bios changes.

It could just be a flawed Windows install again with the bad bios settings, but I hate to keep re-installing stuff over and over when it may just be a bios setting I'm missing.


Also, thanks for the reply!!

Holy crap, the rig I have in my signature was 3 computer rigs ago! Guess I need to change that up now......
 
light blue "welcome" screen with the swirly circle appears for about 2-3 seconds. At that time, the screen blips or blacks out for a millisecond...then go or no go to windows. << That almost sounds like a driver issue. Somewhere about then windows is beginning or is loading drivers.

You could take clear pictures of the bios and settings. Voltage, cpu speed the critical stuff and attach to the forum. Most any of my systems will boot at default and never give issue. My situations come when I begin to overclock. Hehehe.

Or you could RE-install windows now that you have sorted the bios and say you have not had anymore BSODs. About all I can really think of without doing some P95 Blend with HWMonitor (free) running in the background and post a capture of it along with CPUz captured at the CPU Tab, the Memory Tab and the SPD tab. It looks what is below when done up right.
RGone...

CPU Tab in CPUz from CPUID com
attachment.php


Memory Tab in CPUz from CPUID com
attachment.php


SPD Tab in CPUz from CPUID com
attachment.php


And this is screen capture of HWMonitor (free version) from CPUID com
HWMonitor has been scrolled enough and large enough to show Min/Max of Voltages and includes the CPU CORE TEMPS / "package" temps fully visible.

This capture is made of HWMonitor after it has been open and running on the desktop logging Min/Max temps and voltages while Prime 95 was running Blend Mode test on all cores for at least 20 mins and then the capture of HWMonitor was made and it shows the Min/Max temps and voltages before P95 Blend was started and while running P95 Blend mode and gives much greater insight into how the system is performing without guessing.

attachment.php


In order to attach screenshots of INDIVIDUAL images as suggested, first crop and capture the images with Snipping Tool found in Windows Accessories or equivalent. Then click on Go Advanced, a button at the bottom of every new post window. Then click on the little paperclip tool at the top of the Advanced post window when it opens. Clicking on the paperclip tool brings up the file browser/upload tool and the rest is fairly obvious.
 
Thanks Rgone,

I'm going over to his house next week, so I will reinstall windows and see if it's more stable. I agree that most problems come around when you are tweaking beyond the norm, but this is a stock system that has suddenly hit some speed bumps after 4 years of running rock steady and it's maddening.....I expect instability on a tweak when I push the boundaries and use the instability as a measuring stick, but not on a stock rig, very frustrating.....

As for drivers, that's a helpful tip because I downloaded all the drivers from asrock site, but I used the newest drivers for the video card. I think I will pick an older display driver and see if that makes any difference. Maybe an 11 or 12 series Radeon driver. I think I used the 13.4 version of catalyst.

If it is still having problems after the windows reinstall, I will be posting screen shots of the cpuz and hwmonitor.

Thanks for the ideas, I'll post back one way or the other with the results.
 
apenland01, thank you for saying you will post back one way or the other. Forums most often have a user get a fix and they never say they did or in the other case that suggestions did not work. I thank you for giving us a heads-up.

So far since I have just the 5770 video cards that are now 2 series of cards behind, I am not downloading later drivers. There is always a point where the latest drivers cannot reach back and touch the older cards.

I had a 5770 card in this computer that I needed to go match up with its' brother on my other computer to test how to enable CrossfireX for a friend. I stuck an older 3870 into this computer and threw a driver at it. ATI installer would not install a video driver. Plenty of other crap but not a driver. Had to go all the way back to the 11.11 driver to get a version that would install my 3870 video driver not just the other crap.

Maybe it will be a lucky thing that you can find a driver issue real quick and can go on with some happy computering. Luck to you man.
RGone...
 
Sometimes the native Windows drivers are more stable than the ones found on motherboard mfg.'s web sited for the chipset or video. Of course, if Windows doesn't have native drives then you have to use the mfg's stuff.
 
Well, my buddy's computer has run flawlessly the entire week, although he has left it running 24/7. It is stable as can be, even under load as long as windows loads fully and doesn't crash.

I'm assuming you guys are right on the button with the driver issue, but at this point, he just wants to leave it alone since we don't know which driver might be causing the problem and it's totally stable when windows loads.

I will say that this bios cannot be left with "auto" settings for memory or CPU or video, as the defaults are way off. I'm sure this isn't a big deal to most since this is an older board, but good to know anyway.

Thanks for all the tips and ideas, greatly appreciated!!
 
Where it has been in use for quite a while, I would look it over for bulging or leaking caps. Also, check your voltages on the PSU.
 
Thanks for the tip, super. The next time he drags it out to clean it up, I'll make him invite me over for a bbq and beer and we can check out the board.

The PSU is Zippy 500w, which was a tank I couldn't kill when I owned it and it was tight when I gave it to him, but it is now 7 or so years old, so it might need to be checked at the bbq as well.

Loved those Zippy units, couldn't kill those damn things either.....
 
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