Hey guys,
I know this is a pretty general question, but I have been having consistent but random lock ups since i first installed vista64bit yesterday. They can happen at any time and are only fixed by a manual reboot. They can either leave a highpitched noise, a repeating sound, or silence. They happen 2-3 times a day and almost always overnight. Im not really sure where to start in figuring out the problem. I have tried changing my video card driver, since it was causing other issues, but that didnt fix it. Where do I start?

Here are my specs
nforce2 680i
Intel Core 2 duo e6700
3gigs Corsair RAM
500gb WD drive
150gb Raptor drive
Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme gamer
Windows Vista 64 bit
8800GTX 768mb

Set up your RAM correctly in BIOS. Three gigs of PC6400 at 2.0-2.1v will work. Your default is 1.8v which is not enough voltage for three gigs (4 DIMMS). Check your Corsair specs for recommended voltage. Set the timings to 5-5-5-15 and adjust from there. Also, set the Northbridge voltage to 1.4-1.5v. Your 680i MB is notorious for instability like you describe. You will be lucky to ever have a stable, dependable system with it. Vista 64 is not your problem. Lose the 680i for an x38/48 and the 'instability' problems you are having will cease to exist.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nVidia680i/

What he said.

I adjusted the RAM timings and voltages. Unfortunately I am not familiar with adjusting the northbridge voltages? How do I go about doing that in the bios, does it have an unfamiliar label?

Quick update:
While I havent changed the northbridge voltage yet, the system has locked up again since changing the ram timing and voltage. Also, I have run memtest for 3 and a half hours with no errors so bad ram is probably not the cause.

Your MB manual should outline the voltage settings in BIOS. Default will be 1.3v or so. Try 1.4v-1.45v. Which MB do you have, what brand and model number?

Have you installed the MB chipset drivers for Vista 64? Latest MB drivers should be listed on your MB online product page. Otherwise, the installation CD should have chipset drivers for Vista 64.

When it locks up, does it just lock or give a Blue Screen OS stop error message and restart?

the board an an EVGA nforce 2 680i (122-CK-NF68). I looked into the manual as well as the bios under voltages and found nothing similar to northbridge.

The only things listed were CPU Core, CPU Load Line Rate, CPU FSB, nForce SPP, nForce MCP, HT nForce SPP<-> MCP. I have installed the latest chipset

drivers, and I updated the firmware before I reformatted to install vista. I should note that this lockup didnt occur under XP, only vista. I do not get

any blue screen errors, just a lock up with silence or a repeating sound. Also, since I adjusted the timings and voltages on the memory, the lockups

have been happening about every hour so I changed it all back to the defaults for the time being

Googling '680i HT nForce SPP' I came across this information.

NB (northbridge) is represented by the SPP voltage, and the SB (southbridge) is represented by the MCP. The SPP (NB) comes stock @ 1.35v. never put NB higher than 1.55v (whch I would agree with, 1.4-1.45v should be fine).

Alright I will give those timings and voltages a shot and let you know how it goes. Thanks for your help.

Update: The machine ran stable while I played some Bioshock last night without any problems, however it froze again overnight.

Well, it's getting better, less freeze ups. I had freeze ups with the system in my profile. The 8 gigs of RAM needed 2.2v to stabalize and the NB was at 1.41v for a long while (I dropped it to 1.39v last nght, NB ws at 51c). I have been stable for many months. My machine ran all nght (idleing), so the slight drop in NB voltage is stable so far.

Try using just one DIMM of RAM and check for stability. I know you ran memtest. Or, try 2.2v with all your RAM. I would not go much over 2.2v. You could damage it beyond 2.2v IMO.

What about Readyboost? Try a flash drive and format it as NTFS and activate Readyboost and see what happens.

Hmm apparently its not more stable. The system froze again about an hour after restarting it. I am trying readyboost now. Is this a possible solution to the issue? I was thinking about getting a 4 gig upgrade for my ram to total it at 6 gigs using dual channel instead of the 3 gig single channel i think im using now. Would this help with the stability of the system and level out the voltages while theyre at default?

I use a 4 Gb Flashdrive Readyboost enabled. I have no stability issue whatsoever with the adjustments I have made to voltages and that's with or without Readyboost. Readyboost provides available cache for your RAM at flashdrive speed. I just wondered if it may make a difference, but perhaps not. I have been out of Nvidia chipsets for some time now. Too many instability issues over the years. Vista has a more complex and resulting more intelligent, more stably implemented Superfetch system in place as far as your RAM is concerned. XP is RAM limited or at least memory-wise politically incorrect these days when compared to Vista 64 capabilities and application.

If you happen to have some other RAM around, try it and check for stability.

You know your random lockups could be a defective MB or even CPU. I mean you have done a lot of troubleshooting and made a lot of adjustments and still the lockup is there. You say not so with XP though? If that is so, then your hardware would be non-defective or failing, but it would be a 'compatibility' or configuration issue. I would try some other RAM, set it up in BIOS properly and see how that goes.