ahhhhh random computer restarts?!

[icksol]

so for some random reason my computer has been restarting alot lately at random when im on a website or about to launch a game or something. i recently uninstalled WoW because i read on their tech faq that it can cause your computer to do this. i dont know if it has anything to do with this problem. since this starting happening i cleaned and dusted out my computer case and parts incase something was overheating, i ran numerous spyware removal programs and a registry cleaner and i defragmented, did a disk check in windows for errors it found some and corrected them. also i scanned for viruses with avast. and when my computer is just running idle at the desktop with nothing other than taskmanager running it has only 28 processes running. i still cant figure out what the problem is if anyone has some input it would be much appreciated.

[Limbo]

I would try running Memtest86+ for one. http://www.memtest.org/

[icksol]

ok i ran a test but what information should i be looking at to tell if my ram is bad?

[Limbo]

How many passes did you run? It takes time to complete a full pass. Did you see any errors, they show up in red.

[icksol]

i ran 2 passes, and yea there was two red ones and alot of errors i think.

[Limbo]

Try removing one stick of RAM and if you still get errors replace it with the other and test again. If you still get errors either you have 2 bad sticks or improper settings for the RAM in the BIOS. Are you overclocking?

[icksol]

i dont overclock idk it worked fine i guess they just went bad so ill try and see if one of them is defective and get back to you.

[icksol]

ok i tested both sticks seperatley and one was fine and the other had a bunch of errors so i assume thats the bad one. im running with just 1 stick of 512 right now. how much will my performance be impacted by losing my other stick?

and i was looking at a replacement dual channel kit here give me your opinions.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590

thanks.

[Limbo]

So without the bad stick no more reboots? If so it looks like the problem has been found. That looks like a decent 2GB kit, I am no expert though, perhaps others will chime in. You will be severely impacted running only 512mb of RAM.

[Goliath182]

That XMS is good RAM. ;) You will see a big performance gain from adding those 2 gigs.

Running on 512 megs of RAM will impact a lot of things. Dont try playing any high demanding games. Defiantly stay away from WoW, its a RAM hog.

[Pablo 54]

Great RAM. Used to run 4 gigs of it in a 4 X 1GB setup. Now I have a 2 X 2GB of similar Corsair RAM.
At that price, buy 4 gigs.
Can your board take 1066?