Computer Building Problem

0l33l · 05-07-2005, 03:14 AM

Ok, I've got this problem. Recently I adviced my friend on what computer to build for himself. And now I've got the problem of him not getting it to work properly. The hardware is all assembled and everything. It turns on, off, etc..
But the problem is that I can't get windows to work. It either says that some files are missing or it gives me these weird errors during setup... its really driving me nuts

I've tried different cd drives. Tried different XP SP2 disks.

Oh yeh, my friend says he got the ram for $45 a stick. I told him that its too cheap to be real, but it looks real. I dunno... maybe this could be the root of the problem

The Specs:
GIGABYTE GA-K8NXP-SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 1GHz FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor
SAPPHIRE Radeon X800PRO 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card
2x Samsung 512MB DDR 400 (PC 3200)
Western Digital 250gb SATA
THERMALTAKE Silent PurePower TT-420AD(DUAL FAN) 420W Power Supply
Some RW drive
DVD-Drive
Floppy
CREATIVE Sound Blaster Value

EsKALad · 05-07-2005, 03:19 AM

maybe his hard drive is defective?

0l33l · 05-07-2005, 03:22 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by EsKALad

maybe his hard drive is defective?

I don't think so. I don't get any write errors I think, just read erros from the CDs.
Then I also got this "PFN_LIST_CORRUPT" BSOD

AdrianCase · 05-07-2005, 03:22 AM

Its almost guaranteed to be the RAM, the installation of Windows XP is a great way of showing up defective gear...

0l33l · 05-07-2005, 03:24 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by AdrianCase

Its almost guaranteed to be the RAM, the installation of Windows XP is a great way of showing up defective gear...

Ah, great

I was suspicious when he said he saved like $50 on ram.

Whats a good ram checker that fits on a floppy?

AdrianCase · 05-07-2005, 03:26 AM

I've found installing Windows XP to be one of the best RAM checkers

because if it can't pull of installing it with that RAM, then its damn well not going to run any good

Swap the RAM for some other stuff and see if Windows installs fine...

0l33l · 05-07-2005, 03:27 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by AdrianCase

I've found installing Windows XP to be one of the best RAM checkers

because if it can't pull of installing it with that RAM, then its damn well not going to run any good

Swap the RAM for some other stuff and see if Windows installs fine...

DDR 400 is rare to come by in my house. My development machine uses PC2700 RAM.

0l33l · 05-07-2005, 03:35 AM

Oh yeh, to get setup to recognize the HD, I d/led the "driver_raid_silicon_3114r5.exe" from the gigabyte website. It detected the HD

AdrianCase · 05-07-2005, 03:41 AM

Use the 2700 from your other machine, it will still go (the machine doesn't *require* ddr400) and be a valid test of the faulty RAM theory

0l33l · 05-07-2005, 03:45 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by AdrianCase

Use the 2700 from your other machine, it will still go (the machine doesn't *require* ddr400) and be a valid test of the faulty RAM theory

Yeh, but that means downtime for me

I'll find a memtester that is standalone hopefully soon.

0l33l · 05-07-2005, 03:47 AM

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

0l33l · 05-07-2005, 04:33 AM

Running memtest86 v1.55
Pass:1
Errors:21606
Time:26 min

This proves the theory of "you get what you pay for". Now he's gonna have to get new ram, and this time he'll pay more for the ram, and still have the old ram

HaloGray · 05-07-2005, 07:34 AM

Even bad ram shouldn't give off THAT many errors.

I'm going to guess that the voltage or timings in that ram are incompatible with the motherboard and it's causing all kinds of crap.

Give the mobo manufacturer a call or look on their site for what recomended ram sticks.

0l33l · 05-08-2005, 12:23 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by HaloGray

Even bad ram shouldn't give off THAT many errors.

I'm going to guess that the voltage or timings in that ram are incompatible with the motherboard and it's causing all kinds of crap.

Give the mobo manufacturer a call or look on their site for what recomended ram sticks.

Well, I'm using the normal ram timings. I didn't touch the bios except disableing unneeded things.

Time: 17hours 03min
Pass: 46
Erros: 1034272

I'm guessing that its a dead chip.

lastberserker · 05-08-2005, 01:20 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by 0l33l

This proves the theory of "you get what you pay for". Now he's gonna have to get new ram, and this time he'll pay more for the ram, and still have the old ram

A couple of hints for your friend: get memory with lifetime warranty, burn-in right after purchase and by all means avoid Samsung!!!