Solved Regularly occurring BSODs - mostly CACHE_MANAGER problems

[richardday]

I built my machine in late June and have been getting regular BSODs since then. Mostly it is a CACHE_MANAGER problem with stop code 34. However, various other codes have popped up too.

There's no obvious pattern to the crashes. At times the computer would go for a few days. At other times it crashes every few minutes. It can crash when the machine is quite busy; it seems to be equally able to crash when not doing much.

I suspected the cause could be a bad driver and I have upgraded all the drivers to the latest version and updated the BIOS on the motherboard too. That has not solved the problem.

Other things I have looked at:

- Memtest comes up clean
- running Driver Verifier seems to stop the BSODs but instead makes the machine freeze


I think (and I am guessing here a bit) that the problem may be that the PSU is not powerful enough. The spec on the PSU says it will only deliver 360W max on the 12V rails (picture attached) and the Sapphire site suggests the card needs a PSU that supplies a total of 400W.

However, before splashing out on a new PSU I was hoping somebody might be able to confirm that to be the likely problem? Or see something else that could be the problem?

btw I've taken the video card out and am running on the integrated graphics and everything seems fine (after a couple of hours or so).

Any help much appreciated.

Richard

 

[richc46]

Welcome
I see you took memtest, well every dump report showed memory problems
This is how the test is done, please do it again and carefully
Take a memory test.
Run for 8 passes.
Then test each stick in a good slot for 6 passes.
If you have dual channel, the results may be incorrect, if shows pass.
Guide to using Memtest86+ - Geeks to Go Forums

If you pass again, do you have dual memory as this can cause a false negative.
If you do pass, run with one stick for a while, then add another and run for a while, and so on.
Remember alternate slots/alternate colors for dual memory

 

[richardday]

Thanks. I ran memtest the other night and ran 9 passes with just one error. I assumed that was OK. Is that right?

In any case, I'll try running again as suggested above with just one stick each time.

However, I've taken my video card out and my system seems stable. Is there some way the video card could cause the memory errors?

 

[richc46]

Sorry even one error is a problem.
and
You must test each stick separately.
The Grapics card uses a certain amout of RAM, it can cause errors in memory.

 

[richardday]

I've tested both sticks individually and both are fine. I've tested with memtest in all the different slots and at least 6 passes on each test. I've also tested them as a pair - again it was fine.

That's without the graphics card in. Think I'll try putting it back in a see if I get problems again.

 

[richc46]

You have to run the test under the same conditions that you have when you use the computer.

 

[richardday]

I'd not even got round to putting the video card back in and the computer started crashing again. And as stated above I'm pretty sure the memory is good as the tests were all clean.

I have been increasingly convinced that an underpowered PSU is the problem (but manifesting in memory problems). I've bought a new PSU today and fitted it. It's too early to tell if it has worked though. Will update here again once it's had more time.

 

[richardday]

I think it was the PSU. Since installing the new one (and putting the graphics card back in) I've not had a single BSOD.

 

[richc46]

Im glad that you got your BSOD problem sorted.

 

[richardday]

Thanks and thanks for your help. It was worth getting me to run all the memory tests just to prove that it was OK.