Right, I have really screwed something up this time. Here is my new rig:

NEW RIG: AMD 64 3500+ | Asus A8N SLi Deluxe | 2 x Corsair 512MB PC4400 Overclockers RAM| 1 x XFX 6800GT | Creative SoundBlaster Live | 1 x 74GB Western Digital Raptor )Boot + backup & 2x 200gb Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 (RAID 0) | Plextor 716A Black 16 x16±,x4+ Dual Layer DVD | Tagan 480W | ThermalRight XP-120 with Delta Screamer | 2x120mm YS TECH| [Black Akasa Eclipse 62 | L1980U 19" TFT 12ms 500:1 DVI Ultra Slim Black & Silver | Phillips 5.1 Surround Sound| Razer Diamondback Mouse | ExactMat mousemat | Black Cherry Keyboard | WinXP Pro

It has been running fine for a few weeks now, but I hit a problem before. Naturally, buying an Athlon 3500, I want to overclock it a lot. At least up to 2600mhz (starts at 2200). So I started overclocking it a bit a couple of weeks ago, and got it up to about 2600. I left Prime95 running overnight, and it found no errors. Then when playing Warcraft 3, it started giving me funny DIDIDIDIDI noises through my speaker, and then the computer just restarted. I adjusted the overclock, but I put the FSB too high and it froze on boot. I shutdown the computer and fired it up again, and got this message:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
Windows/system32/config/system.

(then something along the lines of)"You can attempt to fix this by running the original setup CD and using the repair console. To access the repair console press 'r'."

So I put the XP CD in and tried to repair, but it wouldn't work. Eventually after numerous tests, I used the second partition on my Raptor, and it did a disk check, rebooted, and windows started fine...I didn't have to reinstall windows.

So a few days later (aka last night) I was trying different settings again, and windows booted, but the screen kept flickering on and off, I was guessing the CPU needed more voltage. I pressed the shutdown button and held it on, which meant it shutdown and immediately rebooted (I didn't actually mean to do this, but I didn't think it would do much harm).

Windows didn't load again, and I got the same thing as before:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
Windows/system32/config/system.

(then something along the lines of)"You can attempt to fix this by running the original setup CD and using the repair console. To access the repair console press 'r'."

So I thought, Okay, this should be easy to fix, I'l just do what I did last time. But it didn't work. I tried it, and it said "C: is corrupt and cannot be repaired" (or something like that), please exit setup by pressing F3."

So what the hell do I do? Surely my Raptor can't be bust? It checks okay on startup Im sure. I think it might be something to do with shutdown times on a Raptor, but I would have to research this. Does this mean I have to format C: or is there another option? (Also bear in mind I have 2 200gb Seagate barracudas in RAID 0 which can be used if needed for testing).

Regards,
Ross

edited for a more informative title.

[ 05-11-2005, 09:32 AM: Message edited by: RoSs_bg2_rox ]

Sorry to hear this man :(

I haven't got much to add, but the best way to test your Raptor would be to use something like the Ultimate Boot CD and give it a thrashing. I never trust the startup diagnosis [img]tongue.gif[/img] Plus it'll have Western Digital's own hard drive diagnostic and repair utilities on it as well as more generic ones.

Out of interest, why RAID 0? Do you really notice a speed increase that justifies the drop in reliability?


[Edit]If it turns out that your partition table is a bit knackered then gpart should be helpful.[/Edit]

[ 05-11-2005, 11:30 AM: Message edited by: shamrock_uk ]

I tried resetting CMOS etc. and that didn't work.

RAID 0 - there is a very slight speed increase, but since I will be making DVD backups (and using the Raptor for documents I didn't really see why not, and I don't need RAID 1 on that computer, as I have another with 500gb space RAID 1. Thanks for the tools, I'l check them out after I try to boot once more.

What temps have you been observing?

The reboot, or lack off, is a tell tale indicator that the Raid array is askew. Hopefully since it's new you will have nothing to loose for a complete- fresh install. Otherwise, your partially screwed already and your canoe is taking on water fast,

When pushing the FSB, keep in mind if the chipset DOES NOT lock the IDE, Raid, AGP, buses, you are also overclocking them as well. Raid arrays do not like to be pushed, and a change in voltage WILL create havoc.

Reccomend backing down your FSB, and try over, if not, back down all settings, and start from scratch.

Peace

What settings FSB/HTT/Voltages have you been using?

Right, in the end I decided to do a complete format, as after reinstalling windows (and keeping my documents etc which were on the other partition) I found that my RAID array was corrupt and I couldn't access it. So I formatted all drives and started again.

Felix - temps are not a problem, I have good cooling and am observing nothing over 38 degrees under full load. I have a PCI Express lock, so that is OK, but I have been upping the voltages to 1.5 (RAM to 3) so that could have been the problem.

I am currently running at just over 2.5ghz, with the following settings.

HTT=5
FSB=230
Ram Voltage-2.8V
CPU Voltage auto

After a few hours of running it is fine, but I haven't stress tested it yet. Also will be testing my hard drives, and my GPU (once I overclock it).

Still not exactly sure what the problem was though, as it shouldn't be anything to do with the RAID array, as the OS was on the Raptor which is standalone, also the RAID array said it was healthy. I think it might have duffed when I reset the CMOS though, so it's not too much of a problem. I didn't lose much, other than a few game saves really. All my documents were recoverable.

*steps in, looks at size of original post, steps out* :D

On an NF4 based motherboard, PCI and AGP clocks are indeed locked, so there is no danger to the perihperals in increasing the HTT speed alone. Older NF3 boards and you'd be spot on correct!

Whooah there! Back down that HTT multiplier! The overall speed of the bus should not exceed 1000/2000 effective MHz on a 939 NF4 A64 board and you're running 1150/2300 ! Otherwise you risk corruption! Lower it to 4. Heck...you wouldn't even notice a loss in overall performance if you set it to 2 I'd wager, so don't worry about performance loss. HTT speed has very little impact on overall performance.

Point 1: Why did you do it? This is one of the best systems I have ever seen a man I know to have.
Point 2: A64 are not as good at overclocking as non-64 new ones, aka Barton. So don't try to pump one up as high as it goes.
Point 3: Forget about OCing the CPU, you only gain 1% of performance for every 10% of the clock speed you add. If you focus on efforts on the FSB, RAM and CPU bus speeds, you'll get about 1% to every 3% you add of original speed. And keep them working at same speeds, set them to the speed of the lowest component.

There's no such thing as having too much speed [img]smile.gif[/img] . New A64's actually overclock incredibly well - most notably the Winchester and Venice cores. They also scale extremely well thanks to the on-die memory controller!