Burn-in

I finally got everything running properly with the new PC. Once I got the new motherboard (which works well) I ran some memory testing software to double check its reliability. I got errors four different times, so I had to RMA the RAM as well. That meant I had to wait another few days to start working on setting up the new PC. Everything else seemed to run alright (that's good) and I even loaded Windows and played around with it while the "bad" RAM was in there. I didn't experience any problems, but if Memtest86+ tells you there is an error, then it's not worth it. New RAM should not post any errors in Memtest86+. RAM that is faulty could possibly get past the tests, but if Memtest86+ says it's faulty, then it is, period.

The RAM I purchased was Crucial, which is a respected memory maker. However, apparently this batch had a bad run because when I checked back at Newegg to re-order my RAM I saw 10 out of 16 reviews since April 1, 2008 were bad reviews. That's more than 60%. This wasn't their value-priced line either. This was supposed to be some of their good stuff. I decided not to risk it and bought a different brand - Super Talent. The Super Talent had better specs and was only slightly more expensive. Super Talent has been making RAM for over 20 years, but has only recently begun to sell it outside the OEM market. Surprisingly, the RAM says made in the USA on it.

Now I'm going to run P95 (a Mersenne Prime Number calculating program) over the weekend. It is suppose to be able to utilize 100% of the CPU processing power. I'll set it and forget it. I'll keep an eye on temperatures for a little while and then just let it run for 24-48 hours (checking on it every so often). Once I'm satisfied the system is stable and reliable, I'll start installing the software. This time around I'm going to separate the general computing from the gaming. I'm going to have two different drives bootable to Windows XP and let one be for Gaming and storage while the other one is used for general applications. That should allow for the best gaming experience because there won't be any programs running in the background to eat up processing power. I'll try to post a picture of the new rig once I get it to full functionality. Maybe I'll keep my eyes out for a nice, BIG, new monitor to go with it. ;)