GA-MA780G-UD3H - Crashing - Mobo problem?

[Furbydogg]

Hello Guys/Girls

I have a serious issue with my motherboard which I originally thought was a RAM issue.  Will try to keep this brief:

- My CPU is AMD Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition
- I originally installed OCZ Gold Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 Dual Channel (OCZ2G10664GK)
- Have since purchased Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel (KHX6400D2LLK2/4G) but still same problems

- Since putting the machine together I had issues with playing iso dvd and blu-ray images after mounting, the video would free or machine would restart
- The problem has now progressed to the point that I cannot play some avi files without the machine restarting and also restarts at random moments

- I have tried Memtest with all modules in all sorts of configurations.  Sometimes it passed, sometimes the machine restarts early on in the test.
- I think I have ruled out CPU problem by running CPU intensive torture test on Prime95 for many hours with no problem
- Running standard torture test using RAM hangs after a number of hours

I suppose the advice I would really like is - would it be best to buy some RAM from the OVL before ruling out RAM as the problem?  As far as I can tell the RAM modules I have bought should work with the mobo.

Solution seems to be to RMA the mobo but this would obviously be a huge hassle.

Thanks in advance.

[Furbydogg]

Anyone got some advice for me?  Should I buy some officially supported memory or get a new motherboard?
Thanks.

[Beekeeper]

hi

do you have the same problem when only 1 stick of ram is installed?
check what is required voltage for ram you use and confirm in MB's bios if it's the same.
sometimes raising voltage 0.1 V higher may help

or just change to standard memory (Kingston, not HyperX, and why to pay for any Gold series of OCZ?)

[Furbydogg]

Thanks Bee - yes I do have the same problem with 1 stick installed.  I have confirmed all voltage and DDR settings many times in many different configurations but still does not resolve the problem.

You are not a fan of OCZ then?    I bought the first set of RAM because they were on offer and I thought they would be compatible.

Do you think using standard RAM from the official supported list is a worthwhile exercise then?

[oggmonster]

If you tried 2 different types of RAM I would not bother with an official supported memory. Have you tried updating to latest BIOS? Is it a fresh install of windows?
Try having machine with bare minimum plugged in, so disconnect front sound, front usb, optical drives etc.

Also sounds like its crashing when doing something vaugly graphicaly intensive, is it possible to try another graphics card? Latest graphics drivers?

[Furbydogg]

Thanks Ogg - Yes I have updated BIOS.  I am using the on-board graphics (ATI HD3200) HDMI output.  So what you have said makes me think that I should just RMA the motherboard.  I don't want to fork out for a PCIe graphics card just to test that theory.

Cheers

[oggmonster]

Okay no problem, let us know how you get on

[Furbydogg]

Well Ogg thanks for going through the motions with me.  To follow up:

- Motherboard and Processor were tested and no faults found, so happy to pay for the testing and P&P 
- I was completely stuck at this stage but after your comment about clean Windows install I decided to get a fresh HDD and put Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit on it
- So, problems resolved and I am also pleasantly surprised by Windows 7 

No dea what the problem was but all good now after a couple of months of stressing!
Thanks again

[oggmonster]

Thats awesome, glad you got it sorted! Yeah have been pretty impressed with Win7 so far too.