spontaneous reboot during WoW - memory to blame?

I got my DS computer in Jan 2008 - order #6096

Case: Digital Storm Twister PRO (Black Anodized Aluminum Finish)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz (1066MHz FSB) (8MB Cache)
Motherboard: nVidia 680i LT Core 2 Quad (By: eVGA) (nForce 680i SLI)
Memory: 2GB DDR2 Corsair at 1066MHz Dominator (Dual Channel) (Extreme-Performance)
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB (By: eVGA) (PCI-Express)
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium
Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 2 (Silent Artic Cooling Heat-sink (Copper Heatpipes)

In April, DS helped me overclock my memory from 800Mhz to 1066Mhz.  I have had no problems...

...until this past weekend, when I installed a WoW trial account.  I played for about 5-6 hours, and suffered roughly eight spontaneous reboots.  No apparent pattern to what I was doing in the game during the reboots.

Upgraded my video card driver, but still experience reboots during WoW.

I haven't checked my computer for dust, but my tower sits on a table 4 feet off the ground so I doubt this is a problem.  Also this doesn't happen with any other apps.  It might be useful to know that WoW is the first really memory intensive app I have used - mostly I use the computer for internet and Starcraft.

I just set my memory speed back to 800 Mhz (reduced voltage as instructed, too) and played about 30 mins with no problems (fingers crossed).  I won't be able to get a significantly long test run in for a few more days.

Wondering if anyone here thinks that my slowing down the memory is a reasonable shot, and if you have other suggestions.

Thanks,
BillS

Thanks.

I forgot to mention I ran Vista's Memory Diagnostic Tool in extended mode for 4-5 hours (with the overclocked memory) and it found no problems.  Wondering best way to validate stability of overclocked memory?

Anyway I will post again if the problem shows up with the slower speed, or if I get through a long WoW session with no reboots (hopefully 5-6 days from now).

BillS

Use the search function on the forums for the Memtest tutorial :) That is the best way to test memory.

Kelly, thanks for the "memtest tutorial" tip - will try that first.

Bill

I couldn't find anything about running an "advanced test" using memtest86.

I ran prime95 for nine hours in "torture" mode, and had no errors.

It looks like, according to memtest86 and prime95, my memory is stable at 1066 Mhz.

Last thing to try: run WoW for an extended period with memory downclocked to 800 Mhz.  Hope to do that Fri night or Saturday.  If the reboot problem happens, I guess I can't realistically blame the memory.  perhaps something about the way WoW interacts with my nvidia 8800 GT 512MB card?

Other ideas welcomed.

Bill

Thanks!!  I will try precision both at 1066 and at 800.

I don't know how much precision does for me - I don't know what GPU numbers would be normal vs skyrocketing.  And don't know how much I should increase the fan speed if it is running too hot  Please let me know, unless it is obvious when I run the program or read associated docs.

Thanks again,
Bill

Thanks Kelly, I will follow up after I have a chance to try it, hopefully before the weekend.  Ah GPU for Graphics Processor - I get it.

Bill

Thanks for the heads up, Mark, though in fact the only thing I overclocked was my memory - I left the Q6600 alone.

Bill

60 to 63 is no big deal for GPU temperature, most GPUs can easily take up to about 80 before they will start to artifact, safer to keep them below 75 or so just for a margin of error, but 63 is definitely well within the bounds of normal temperature under a load.

Dave

Just for comparison, I overclock my cards using precision (I have dual 9800 GTX)

To
Core Clock: 792 Mhz (up from 675)
Shader Clock: 1944 Mhz (up from 1674)
Memory Clock: 1152 Mhz (up from 1102)

And I also up the fan from auto to 60% and I can run Warhammer and have temps that top out in the high fifties in my 950SI Case with Stage II Cooling and 1 extra fan I installed in the top.



Edited by Kliebor2 - 18 Sep 2008 at 6:13am

what are your cpu temps? download core temp to find out.
ALso, you may want to try removing the side panel to allow better airflow to see if it reboots?

Bill, just to put it in perspective in all my years playing with computers I have not had a graphics card overheating cause a spontaneous reboot on its own. I have had the display artifact and the card shut down which forced me to manually restart, but never just reboot with no other cause.

I have had a bad power supply do that.
I have had bad memory do that and
I have had a bad motherboard do that.

I never used to overclock, until very recently, read this cool new PC I got from DSO :) however, bad overclock settings can also cause spontaneous reboot, but that is usually during boot up or shortly after in my experience so far :)

Dave

Wow Dave, you have quite the rig!!  congrats!

Thanks for the add'l info.  I will add CoreTemp to the mix and hopefully zero in on the cause of the reboots soon.

Bill

That actually sounds reasonable...

hrm.. how about eventviewer?

i am home sick today and decided to try a bit of WoW.  Got a spontaneous reboot after only seven minutes.  The GPU temp was about 63 (wasn't looking at it when it rebooted).  The last entry in the coretemp log was

13:47:37 09/19/08,CPU#0 (Core#0),58,52,60,11,1599.99
13:47:37 09/19/08,CPU#0 (Core#1),58,54,60,23,1599.99
13:47:37 09/19/08,CPU#0 (Core#2),55,50,57,0,1599.99
13:47:37 09/19/08,CPU#0 (Core#3),56,51,58,2,1599.99

indicating no temps over 60.

If it happens again, I will open the case and see if that does anything.

Bill

played 3 more hours - no reboots.  weird.  no cpu temps ever exceeded 65.  GPU never exceed 64.

if I have power savings modes enabled in the BIOS, then that was the default - I didn't touch them.  I'll check next reboot.

only thing i noticed (grasping at straws) - the sun was shining on the window of my tower during my only reboot today.  I pulled the shade after that.  HOWEVER I had five reboots last Saturday night, well after sundown.

not sure what to try next, other than taking the side panel off while playing,

Thanks,
Bill

no, wait, i see the two screws on the back now (blush)  ez as cake to remove the door.

Bill

One of the obvious questions: did you check your hds with anti-virus/spyware etc. tools?

I use AVG Free for antivirus, and scan with spybot S&D now and then, and run Spybot SD resident.  Haven't done a full AVG scan in about a week, and it's been a few months since I did spybot - will run it tonight.

Thanks,
Bill