Quote:
Originally Posted by Ledgem
It could be a number of things, but it seems to me that one of the most common points of failure is RAM. You built the system yourself, right? I'd go back into the system and verify that all connections are tight (all wires), and that the RAM modules are seated firmly in their slots.
As a more time-intensive method to checking the RAM, I'd suggest using Memtest86+. If you haven't used it before, here's how it works. You download the image and burn it to a CD. Boot off of it, and the tests should start running. I would suggest allowing it to run through all tests at least three times; if errors come up on all three passes, then there's a problem. A random error or two that shows up is not indicative of faulty RAM. The tests can take a long time - with 4 GB I allow it to run over night, and with 6 GB it takes closer to a full day.
If there is a problem and it isn't clear which slot the problematic module corresponds to, remove all modules and test each one individually. |
Memtest86, always recommended. Used it at work to check as to why a PC has some strange restarts, and it found errors in the RAM, as well as bad motherboards (with bloated caps in extreme cases).
For the entire 1GB of memory (PC2700) on my rig, it takes about 20-30 minutes for a standard test, maybe even more faster in more recent machines with higher memory bandwidth.