Repeated annoying BSODs troubling a beginner

[miksu]

Keep ccleaner, it is a good program and has a lot of good functions. I use it, but rarely touch the registry cleaner. Britton30 uses it, but as far as I'm concerned, any time you use the registry cleaner, you are risking a reinstall. But, it does come in very handy at times.

As far as external hard drives, look into a hard drive dock. You can use a regular hard drive in it and switch them out very quickly. One with esata is much faster. This is what I use and it is great. In fact, I have 2. There are a number of options, just choose one that suits your purposes.

Also, here is an easy way to update your system specs. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/180324-system-info-see-your-system-specs.html
It makes it easier for you and us to help when we know what hardware we are dealing with and you don't get asked as many questions.

So, here we are again. A little update regarding my problems. I've been keeping my computer on 24/7 for 72 hours now, doing all kinds og things and tasks. I've encountered no problems or BSODs this far, so it seems that my problems have been solved, thanks to you. So, maybe it is possible now to try those little things mentioned here to improve the stability of my system.

miksu

 

[essenbe]

Please go to your bios in advanced mode, go to the Extreme Tweaker up top. About half way doen the page tou will see CPU Voltage, tell me what the value is in the black box to the right of it. It should say either offset or manual. If it says Offset, right under it should say offset sign. tell me the value of it, under than will be CPU Offset voltage, tell me the value of that. What I would like it to see is the CPU Voltage, offset, offset sign either auto or +, offset voltage auto.

 

[miksu]

Please go to your bios in advanced mode, go to the Extreme Tweaker up top. About half way doen the page tou will see CPU Voltage, tell me what the value is in the black box to the right of it. It should say either offset or manual. If it says Offset, right under it should say offset sign. tell me the value of it, under than will be CPU Offset voltage, tell me the value of that. What I would like it to see is the CPU Voltage, offset, offset sign either auto or +, offset voltage auto.

OK. This proved to be quite challenging for me. I managed to get inside the BIOS with F1 and pushing a botton on the back side of computer, so I managed to avoid this "password" thing. I'm not sure I found the values in right places. But, CPU voltage was 1,044V and auto. I couldn't find any places with "offset" values. Maybe I'm just a little bit lost in the BIOS structure.

 

[essenbe]

Do you still have a bios password? Tou shouldn't. Restart the computer, when the Asus logo appears, start tapping the delete key. You have to do it while the Asus logo is appearing, you have 3-5 seconds, so be ready. Go to the Extreme Tweaker tab if it does not automatically start there. Where you see CPU voltage, what is in the box to the right of it. It will say auto, but probably manual or offset.If it does not say offset, you will not have the next in the list of Offset Sign. DO NOT SET YOUR BIOS LIKE MINE I have marked what to change and what to change it to. Change nothing except what I'm showing now. My bios should be pretty much exactly as yours. If you would like, don't change anything, just look at the arrows I have drawn and tell me what it says. Also, at the very top of extreme tweaker, written in yellow it will tell you what the target frequency of your CPU is and what the target frequency of your ram is.

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[miksu]

Do you still have a bios password? Tou shouldn't. Restart the computer, when the Asus logo appears, start tapping the delete key. You have to do it while the Asus logo is appearing, you have 3-5 seconds, so be ready. Go to the Extreme Tweaker tab if it does not automatically start there. Where you see CPU voltage, what is in the box to the right of it. It will say auto, but probably manual or offset.If it does not say offset, you will not have the next in the list of Offset Sign. DO NOT SET YOUR BIOS LIKE MINE I have marked what to change and what to change it to. Change nothing except what I'm showing now. My bios should be pretty much exactly as yours. If you would like, don't change anything, just look at the arrows I have drawn and tell me what it says. Also, at the very top of extreme tweaker, written in yellow it will tell you what the target frequency of your CPU is and what the target frequency of your ram is.

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OK, I have now entered the BIOS, checked the values and changed some of the according your tips. Not whole BIOS is changed.
I had the following values:

CPU voltage 1,050
DRAM voltage 1,498
DMC DRAM offset sign +
IMC DRAM offsxet auto
VCCSA 0,958
VCCIO 1,053
CPU PCC 1,819
SKEW Driving 1,050
PCH 1,059
VTTDDRV 0,750

Hopefully these numbers mean more to you than they do to me...

 

[essenbe]

Do you have a USB flash drive? If you do, put it into the computer, restart ans go into bios. On screen (as you scroll down) press F12. You will get a prompt, just click it and it will tell you it has placed an image on the USB drive. Just do the extreme tweaker main page for now. Click exit, discard changes and reboot. On your usb drive you will have pictures of your bios, but they will be in .BMP format. if you have the software and know how, change them to JPEG (you can't upload bmp pictures) If you don't have the software, click start, in the search box type snipping, and click on snipping tool ( you can right click it and pin to taskbar to keep you from searching for it each time) In the top left of the small window click the arrow, and select rectangular and use it to draw a box around the window, next window select save as, make sure jpeg is selected and give it a name and save it somewhere. Sounds long but is quite simple.Upload them here.

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[miksu]

Do you have a USB flash drive? If you do, put it into the computer, restart ans go into bios. On screen (as you scroll down) press F12. You will get a prompt, just click it and it will tell you it has placed an image on the USB drive. Just do the extreme tweaker main page for now. Click exit, discard changes and reboot. On your usb drive you will have pictures of your bios, but they will be in .BMP format. if you have the software and know how, change them to JPEG (you can't upload bmp pictures) If you don't have the software, click start, in the search box type snipping, and click on snipping tool ( you can right click it and pin to taskbar to keep you from searching for it each time) In the top left of the small window click the arrow, and select rectangular and use it to draw a box around the window, next window select save as, make sure jpeg is selected and give it a name and save it somewhere. Sounds long but is quite simple.Upload them here.

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OK, sounds simple. I'll get my hands on a USB drive and post results tomorrow.

miksu

 

[essenbe]

OK take your time. How does it seem to be running? Do you notice a difference in speed since it was supposedly overclocked before? I am just trying to get you the best performance with your hardware. If you would rather not do anything at all, it's just fine, as long as it's stable. That's the most important thing. You have a great rig, and congratulations on the hardware you picked out. You should be very happy with it. Any questions you have, please feel free to ask.

 

[miksu]

OK take your time. How does it seem to be running? Do you notice a difference in speed since it was supposedly overclocked before? I am just trying to get you the best performance with your hardware. If you would rather not do anything at all, it's just fine, as long as it's stable. That's the most important thing. You have a great rig, and congratulations on the hardware you picked out. You should be very happy with it. Any questions you have, please feel free to ask.

Hello again, essenbe. The system seems to be running quite ok. And sure, I'd like to optimize the performance as good as it possible. It works fine compared of course to the jams and crashes I've had recently. Now it works like charm. To be honest it's hard to say anything conclusive about the performance. I admit my stupidity, but I ordered an "overclocked" device without even knowing what it means. All I thought was that it "must be good, right?" As I mentioned before the "hardest action" my computer has gone through is running a movie, Spotify and Deus Ex game (2001 edition) at the same time so you understand that I maybe haven't pushed this set-up to the limits.

I've used computers a long time but anything that goes beneath the metal core is Greek to me. That's why I got this "OVERKILL" set-up. I just can't stand dealing with annoying performance issues every other year. Update this and that...It seems I've got myself a nice computer, but there's always something wrong with my computers, operating systems etc. Either I have a bad luck, people screw me over or I manage to screw up a fine system by myself, with stupid actions you must have learned reading my posts It's very nice to see that there are computer-experienced people willing to spend time helping dummies like me! I'm grateful if you really want to help me getting this rig to work as well as it should be! I almost got desperate with the problems I had. I had no idea that these kind of "temperature measuring deep analyzing fortune telling expert programs " you guys use even existed. And they seemed to tell the truth.

Yes, it was a big step for me to come forward with the issues I have on an expert-forum like this. But, it turned out to be a good choice, even though I have my restrictions in English language and computer-skills as well. But, let's see how good we can get this rig to work

 

[essenbe]

Sounds great to me. The reason this form is here is for people like you. Don't be concerned. Not everyone knows everything. Anything you would care to know, just ask. That's what we're here for. I always say the only dumb question is the one you don't ask. I, and most people here, were exactly where you are at some point. I don't consider myself an expert, and never will. But, if there is anything I do know, I'm happy to tell you. There are a great number of experts on this forum and we all learn from each other. I have learned more here than I have ever taught. At any rate, I'm happy to help any way I can. And if you need to know something I don't know, I will get someone who does know the answer to help you. Nobody on these forums gets paid for doing this, we all do it to help others. I'm here to help you as much as I am capable, so ask whatever you want, and don't be ashamed to ask anything.

 

[miksu]

Bios screen shots

Sounds great to me. The reason this form is here is for people like you. Don't be concerned. Not everyone knows everything. Anything you would care to know, just ask. That's what we're here for. I always say the only dumb question is the one you don't ask. I, and most people here, were exactly where you are at some point. I don't consider myself an expert, and never will. But, if there is anything I do know, I'm happy to tell you. There are a great number of experts on this forum and we all learn from each other. I have learned more here than I have ever taught. At any rate, I'm happy to help any way I can. And if you need to know something I don't know, I will get someone who does know the answer to help you. Nobody on these forums gets paid for doing this, we all do it to help others. I'm here to help you as much as I am capable, so ask whatever you want, and don't be ashamed to ask anything.

Hi! These are the screenshot from my BIOS. Hopefully they are what you needed.

miksu

 

[essenbe]

Hold on, the second picture. You have changed it to my BIOS, which I didn't want you to do. Yours should be Offset Mode. offset sign + and offset voltage Auto. In the picture I showed the right side of the arrows states what yours should be. For goodness sakes, don't set yours like mine! You'll be in trouble for sure. Look again, this time I outlined it in a box, but it is the same picture.

View attachment 271212

 

[miksu]

Hold on, the second picture. You have changed it to my BIOS, which I didn't want you to do. Yours should be Offset Mode. offset sign + and offset voltage Auto. In the picture I showed the right side of the arrows states what yours should be. For goodness sakes, don't set yours like mine! You'll be in trouble for sure. Look again, this time I outlined it in a box, but it is the same picture.

View attachment 271212

Gosh! Screwing up again. I'll go and change them right away...

 

[essenbe]

It's no problem Don't be so concerned. We can fix any of that stuff. I'm just surprised it didn't BSOD on you. Later on today, I'll try to reset my bios and post what yours should look like. Mine hasn't been set to default values since the first time it booted.

 

[miksu]

It's no problem Don't be so concerned. We can fix any of that stuff. I'm just surprised it didn't BSOD on you. Later on today, I'll try to reset my bios and post what yours should look like. Mine hasn't been set to default values since the first time it booted.

OK! Looking forward to that.

 

[essenbe]

Here you go. The only exceptions are, in picture 1, where it says XMP Profile mine reads DDR3-2400 yours should say DDR3-1600 9-9-9-31 (or may say 24). Notice in picture 2 the catagory Dram Timing control, picture 4 is the screen you will get when you click the pointer just to the left of it. The values in the box are your values, make them say the same as shown, don't worry about the rest, just what's inside the box. Everything on the main Extreme Tweaker page not shown should say Auto. There is actually very little you will have to change, just make sure you manually input the Dram Voltage of 1.650. Unless you have problems you are done in bios. This is just setting everything at default values, setting your ram to run at the rated speed, and allowing your CPU frequency and voltage to drop at idle. If you have any questions, please ask.

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THIS IS THE DRAM TIMING CONTROL. It should be set for you, but only worry about what's in the box. 9-9-9-27 (or24) 2T
View attachment 271234

 

[miksu]

Here you go. The only exceptions are, in picture 1, where it says XMP Profile mine reads DDR3-2400 yours should say DDR3-1600 9-9-9-31 (or may say 24). Notice in picture 2 the catagory Dram Timing control, picture 4 is the screen you will get when you click the pointer just to the left of it. The values in the box are your values, make them say the same as shown, don't worry about the rest, just what's inside the box. Everything on the main Extreme Tweaker page not shown should say Auto. There is actually very little you will have to change, just make sure you manually input the Dram Voltage of 1.650. Unless you have problems you are done in bios. This is just setting everything at default values, setting your ram to run at the rated speed, and allowing your CPU frequency and voltage to drop at idle. If you have any questions, please ask.

View attachment 271231

View attachment 271232

View attachment 271233

THIS IS THE DRAM TIMING CONTROL. It should be set for you, but only worry about what's in the box. 9-9-9-27 (or24) 2T
View attachment 271234

OK. This doesn't seem to be too complicated. This time I'll try to be more exact with the values I change. I'll get back when I'm finished or if I've got questions. Thanks again!

miksu

 

[miksu]

Here you go. The only exceptions are, in picture 1, where it says XMP Profile mine reads DDR3-2400 yours should say DDR3-1600 9-9-9-31 (or may say 24). Notice in picture 2 the catagory Dram Timing control, picture 4 is the screen you will get when you click the pointer just to the left of it. The values in the box are your values, make them say the same as shown, don't worry about the rest, just what's inside the box. Everything on the main Extreme Tweaker page not shown should say Auto. There is actually very little you will have to change, just make sure you manually input the Dram Voltage of 1.650. Unless you have problems you are done in bios. This is just setting everything at default values, setting your ram to run at the rated speed, and allowing your CPU frequency and voltage to drop at idle. If you have any questions, please ask.

View attachment 271231

View attachment 271232

View attachment 271233

THIS IS THE DRAM TIMING CONTROL. It should be set for you, but only worry about what's in the box. 9-9-9-27 (or24) 2T
View attachment 271234

OK. This doesn't seem to be too complicated. This time I'll try to be more exact with the values I change. I'll get back when I'm finished or if I've got questions. Thanks again!

miksu

Here we go. I've chaged the values in BIOS according your examples. Computer started as normal, so I didn't do any serious damage . I have just one question: could you explain to me what we just did? Apparently I had bad values here and there which cause problems. Why must RAM run at rated speed? Why do we allow the CPU frequency and voltage to drop?

miksu

 

[essenbe]

You don't have to run the ram at it's rated speed. But, you paid extra for the speed, so I would assume you wanted that speed, I would. It is also the normal ram speed of the motherboard, you just have to enable it. As far as the CPU frequency and voltage drop. There is a feature of the CPU/ board callsed Intel Speedstep. By default, if you are isling on the desktop, you do not need a lot of speed and the increased voltage that goes along with it. More voltage=more heat also. So, it will run cooler by using that. When you start using the computer and create more activity on the CPU, it will automatically speed up. So, you don't burn excess electricity and create heat when not needed and get the increased speed when it is needed. That is a basic explanation of what we did and why. Very basic. Now, if you don't want to do that, don't. It is your computer and you can run it however you like. If you would rather, put everything back like it was. To me, it makes more logic to do it this way, but not everybody would want it that way. Is it causing you any problems? it shouldn't. It is a basic default set up with everything running at it's rated speed and frequency. That is the way the motherboard and CPU were designed to work. I think a good analogy is if you were sitting in the car waiting for your Wife to come out of the store, you wouldn't sit there with the engine revved up. When She does come out and you get ready to go home and press the accelerator, the engine will rev up because it needs to. If it is causing you problems, let me know. If you just want it the way it was, change it back. If you have more questions feel free to ask. Or, if you don't understand what I just said let me know. Sometimes, I know what I meant, but others don't understand it.

 

[miksu]

You don't have to run the ram at it's rated speed. But, you paid extra for the speed, so I would assume you wanted that speed, I would. It is also the normal ram speed of the motherboard, you just have to enable it. As far as the CPU frequency and voltage drop. There is a feature of the CPU/ board callsed Intel Speedstep. By default, if you are isling on the desktop, you do not need a lot of speed and the increased voltage that goes along with it. More voltage=more heat also. So, it will run cooler by using that. When you start using the computer and create more activity on the CPU, it will automatically speed up. So, you don't burn excess electricity and create heat when not needed and get the increased speed when it is needed. That is a basic explanation of what we did and why. Very basic. Now, if you don't want to do that, don't. It is your computer and you can run it however you like. If you would rather, put everything back like it was. To me, it makes more logic to do it this way, but not everybody would want it that way. Is it causing you any problems? it shouldn't. It is a basic default set up with everything running at it's rated speed and frequency. That is the way the motherboard and CPU were designed to work. I think a good analogy is if you were sitting in the car waiting for your Wife to come out of the store, you wouldn't sit there with the engine revved up. When She does come out and you get ready to go home and press the accelerator, the engine will rev up because it needs to. If it is causing you problems, let me know. If you just want it the way it was, change it back. If you have more questions feel free to ask. Or, if you don't understand what I just said let me know. Sometimes, I know what I meant, but others don't understand it.

Thanks for the explanation! Now I understand what we did and why. Seeing the BIOS with all these strange numbers, values and terms just made me dizzy. And I want this computer to run like it was meant to run, so doing these adjustments you suggested is something I really want to do. Trying to do them myself would end in a disaster, that's for sure! So thanks again, now we got the BIOS to work like it should. So, if you got some other aces in your sleeve regarding the optimization of this set up I have, I'm all ears