Hardware gurus, please help with new comp vista stability issues.

[echo]

Info:

CPU: C2Q 6600
MB: Asus P5Q-SE
Vid card: Radeon 4850
Memory: 8 gig Kingston DD2 800 (4x2 gig sticks)
HDD: 500gig WD sata (x2)
OS: Vista Ultimate x64
Power supply: Ultra 600w

Problem:
Had trouble with installing vista at first. Turns out it was a defective memory slot on the mobo. Returned it and got a new one, and installed vista x 64 fine. Problem is if I try to use the system with full 8 gigs of ram installed, vista is HIGHLY unstable and usually with BSOD within seconds of booting to OS, 95% of the time it wont even get that far and comp will BSOD or else reboot itself, only to get into the same problem again. the error messages are almost always different in term of the offending file, but it's usually some device driver or system files that is causing problems. At work atm so dont have screenshot to post, but can do that later tonight if anyone is willing to help.

What I have tried:
I have tried swapping out the different memory modules. At 6 gigs, the system is relatively stable. No error message except once during shutdown, otherwise fine. I have tried mixing and matching the different modules in the same slot, and seems that as long as it's 6 gigs or less, and not 8gigs of memory, I'm ok.

Checked heating. I am using the stock fan that came with the retail boxed Q6600, but I'm not overclocking at all. And immediately after a crash I checked the mobo hardware monitor, and my cpu is running usually around 45 degrees celsius right after a crash, so that shouldnt be it right? mobo temp is at 30 degrees celsius. power supply is only 600w but I did an online power consumption chart and according to that i only need about 583watt to run my system. and system is stable with 6 gigs of ram, just not 8. error is repeatable and consistent. will that 2 gigs of extra ram overtax my PSU?

this is the 2nd asus p5q SE board that I tried in my system. both are new boards. possible that i got 2 defective new boards in a row? or that board has compatibility issues with my components? I have spend the last weekend trying to troubleshoot and need additional help. should i return and get new components? if so, recommendations in similar price ranges? (mobo was $110)

thank you in advance for any help that you might be able to give.

[Duane]

Have you checked to see if you have the latest bios version?

[dorlockt]

I've had two Asus mobos over the past 3 years and both were horrible with respect to memory.

If you try a Google on Asus mobos, you'll this same post over and over and over....4 sticks of RAM = crash after crash, but if you take one or two of them out, the system goes stable. My opinion is that Asus needs to stop putting 4 memory slots on their mobos. I currently use a Striker Extreme and I'm running 2GB with 32-bit Vista HP. So far, no fix for this and I'm not holding my breath...although I must admit that Asus finally got Hibernate working correctly with the 1603 BIOS update.....That only took like a year and a half. :cursing:

[Sarduci]

WARNING: You can damage your system if you do this without understanding what you are doing! Try bumping up the voltage on the memory a tiny bit. More RAM requires more energy per refresh cycle. Less RAM requires less energy per refresh cycle. Make sure you are also not auto detecting the setting on your RAM either, you should set them to factory specs yourself in case the DSP on the chips are not being read correctly. I have to bump mine +.03v before my system became stable with 8GB of RAM. 4GB of RAM it ran perfectly fine.

Google VDROOP for more information.

[dorlockt]

WARNING: You can damage your system if you do this without understanding what you are doing! Try bumping up the voltage on the memory a tiny bit. More RAM requires more energy per refresh cycle. Less RAM requires less energy per refresh cycle. Make sure you are also not auto detecting the setting on your RAM either, you should set them to factory specs yourself in case the DSP on the chips are not being read correctly. I have to bump mine +.03v before my system became stable with 8GB of RAM. 4GB of RAM it ran perfectly fine.

Google VDROOP for more information.

I see a lot of Asus mobo users trying this and the success rate is pretty low. I've tried voltage levels on my Striker Extreme from 2.1V to 2.5V and it still crashes with more than 2 sticks of RAM. This is in both Vista 32-bit and XP 32-bit. I'd advise the OP to try it too, but since it's Asus, I wouldn't hold my breath.

[echo]

Thanks to you all for taking the time to respond and help me, really appreciate it.

I will try the voltage adjustment that was mentioned (thanks for that tip by the way), but if it doesnt work I guess I will return and exchange the motherboard.

To that end, any recommendations for a motherboard that is similar in performance and price range? I read somewhere that geforce plays better with the nvidia 630/680/etc. chipsets and that radeon cards (like my 4850) works better with the ati chipsets; any truth to this or just urban legend?

Thanks again for all you guys' help. Have a good day!

[Duane]

If you can drop a little more money, this board is rock solid and works well with the 4850-4870.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131284

[BobGnarly]

Not sure I consider myself a "guru," but I do know that many motherboards have problems when you load up all the RAM slots. Bumping the voltage is a good idea to try. Another idea is to just remove 4G of the RAM and see how it works for a while.

[mikekim]

Also you might want to check that the ram is running at the right clock speed and timings. I've tried 8GB in Asus boards and it decided to butcher the timings and mem speed (and kept crashing) once i changed the settings to what it should be it seemed to be OK.

[HPAVC]

Info:

CPU: C2Q 6600
MB: Asus P5Q-SE
Vid card: Radeon 4850
Memory: 8 gig Kingston DD2 800 (4x2 gig sticks)
HDD: 500gig WD sata (x2)
OS: Vista Ultimate x64
Power supply: Ultra 600w

I have pretty much the same machine for my warlocks P5Q pro, 4870, mushkin 991587.

Have you made sure the memory is compatible (the exact part numbers)? Have you run memtest88+? (over night or more?) Have you specified the voltages in bios? What is bios reporting exactly for the memory, is this what is to be expected?

Make sure your running the newest ASUS bios, with the new boards they are all about making memory compatibility changes.