New system Hardware problem, hanging with pink & blue pixels

Hi,
I have just built a new PC for a friend and it all looked fine until I left!
The computer hung when it was just left running and no applications loaded.
The screen had corruptions of pink and blue pixels around the screen, some dots and some making lines.
It did this when I built it at home on the windows ratings test so I installed the latest amd catalyst drivers and it did

seem cured, but alas came back for my friends

I think this maybe to do with either the memory or the integrated graphics? Has anyone had the same issue with any of the

components in the setup below?

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Asus M4A785TD-V EVO motherboard, with onboard video enabled and no video card plugged in
AMD Athlon II X4 620 2.6GHz AM3 Processor
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10666 XMS3 DHX Memory Kit
Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache
LG GH22NS50 22x SATA DVD±RW Drive
Antec Sonata III Piano Black Quiet Mid Tower Case - With 500W EarthWatts PSU
Samsung Lavendar P2050 20" LCD Monitor 16:9 1600x900 300cd/m2 50000:1 (Dynamic) 2ms VGA/DVI

Any help appreciated.

Thanx,
MD

 

I don't see where memory would have anything to do with this.

Where did you get the latest graphics drivers? It should be from ASUS and not AMD/ATI. And you need to make sure they are for the 64-bit version.

Also, before digging too hard, make sure both (the 24-pin and 4-pin) motherboard power connectors are securely fastened and the monitor cable is secure (on both ends - some monitors have detachable data cables), then try another monitor just to make sure the problem is on the computer side and not a bad monitor.

 

Corsair has had to do a product recall on a specific range of the memory recently Digerati and as the IGP will be sharing the RAM therefore it is a possibility. Check Corsair's site:

http://i4memory.com/wp/article/703
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1433179/corsair-drops-failing-elpida-memory-chips
http://www.totalrecallinfo.com/freerecalls.php?id=12539

I agree with only grabbing the IGP Driver from Asus:

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=Ic2Z48E0qdz0KwIU&templete=2#

 

Those were all 6 months ago, it seems any bad ones should have been recalled by now - at least if bought from a big retailer. I am not sure I have seen artifacts as described cause by shared RAM - but since it is shared, you are right, it is a possibility. Therefore MD, you might try running with just one stick for awhile, and/or testing your RAM with MemTest86+, or give Win7's own included Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool a try.

 

Have to agree with mem testing one of the first things I do whenever I buy RAM.

Also possibly try the different [Primary Video Controller] settings in the BIOS, p.2-13 of he manual.

 

Hi guys.
Many thanks for your responses.

I have installed the drivers from both the asus site first, and then catalyst from AMD.

I have disabled the onboard graphics and added my own video card, with its own forceware drivers.

I have tried each memory chip singlely in every slot.

^^all the above still causes the system to hang, or reboot randomly. Last night however, it stayed on all night without crashing?!

Today I noticed that every time i re-run the "Windows Experience Rating Test" it hangs when the dialogue says "Tuning windows media decoding"

I wonder if this could be a cpu fault even?

I am yet to try the mem test, that will be tomorrow, although im pretty sure i'm going to try and get ebuyer to swap out the mobo, processor and memory now. ALthough, that may invalidate the windows 7 we installed

Thanks again for any help offered

Regards,
MD

 

Hmmm maybe you need to get the latest DirectX, with Win7 this will include DX11.0:

http://www.microsoft.com/games/en-US/aboutGFW/pages/directx.aspx

 

I took ram from my own pc out last night and put in the system in place of what was there.
The PC has now run without any problems for around 14 hours!!

Looks like the memory is dodgy! ..or not compatible...?

Regards,
MD

Thanks for all your help guys

 

Sry I didn't answer you.
I got the drivers from ASUS and they were the 64 bit. I tried both shared video and sideport memory seperately and then disabled it all and put a video card in.
Pretty sure its the memory now as it worked fine with my memory.

Thanks,
MD

 

Corsair have excellent RMA procedures from what I have read and "a good reputation is earnt and cannot be bought" so hope the procedure goes smoothly. Glad you have it sorted.

 

Me too - even though I was initially wrong about RAM. Always learning.

Thanks too for the followup. Let us know how the new RAM works out.

 

From what I was reading the RAM chips (wafers) were "fading over time and use" on the Corsair and so some people were noticing it very quickly due to highly stressful useage (within spec) while others may not experience any noticeable problems for many months but have deteriorating performance over time (many avg users might not even realise it was RAM). At least Corsair have done the right thing and tried to make the market aware of a product recall and is replacing parts without a fuss.