GA-P43-ES3G Problem with Nvidia GTS 250 512 MB

[DeJaVu]

Hi all,
Im having an issue with the fore-mentioned motherboard.
My configuration is as follows:
MB - GA-P43-ES3G
VGA - ECS Nvidia GTS 250 512MB
CPU - Intel Q8200@2.33
HDD - 2x320GB WD SATA2
RAM - 2x2GB Hynix DDR2 800
PSU - Enermax Liberty 500W two 12 volt lines 22A each ,combined 12 volt is 32A
Display - Samsung T240 DVI

When im playing a game , after some time (usually after 15 minutes or so) the screen goes blank and i can still hear sound for couple of seconds, after which the sound starts to stutter and the only way out is resetting the pc .
When i run OCCT Gpu test on 1280x1024 the voltage for the 12v line drops from 12.17 to 11.60 as reported by EasyTune . But when using a multimeter on one of the molex connectors on the PSU the voltage drop is from 12.20 to around 12.10 ,so by my logic that excludes the PSU being faulty.
Could there be something wrong with the Voltage regulation on the motherboard (is EasyTune to be believed?), or maybe it isnt even designed to provide that much power ,taking into consideration that it has a Q8200 which is TDP 95W and GTS 250 TDP 150W.
Any help or suggestion is welcome.

[Chike]

For problems that accur after some time under load, I'd suspect temperature related problems, may be the PSU or the CPU or GPU. Any unusual reading?

[Lsdmeasap]

Your voltages sound OK to me, but I would watch them with Everest and see how they do.

What settings are you using, please get a template from the link in my signature and let us have a look. Could just be some settings need adjustment. Do you do stability tests such as Memtest86+ and orthos/prime95? If not, then that could very well be it, your settings are not stable

[DeJaVu]

Originally Posted by Chike

For problems that accur after some time under load, I'd suspect temperature related problems, may be the PSU or the CPU or GPU. Any unusual reading?

Its definetly not a tempereature problem . The GPU runs at around 77 C at maximum load ,when using OCCT or Furmark .No game will get it that hot. While playing NFS Shift the temp with rivatuner was around 60 C . The case temp of the CPU is around 55 C ,and with realtemp is around 5-7 C higher.
Just to note I just did a fresh install of Win7(previous OS was WinXP SP3) and still have the same issue ,so software is out of the question.

Originally Posted by Lsdmeasap

Your voltages sound OK to me, but I would watch them with Everest and see how they do.

What settings are you using, please get a template from the link in my signature and let us have a look. Could just be some settings need adjustment. Do you do stability tests such as Memtest86+ and orthos/prime95? If not, then that could very well be it, your settings are not stable

Im gonna try everest ,but then again its another software. As i mentioned before i took the readings with a digital multimeter and saw no dramatical drop in the voltages. The interesting thing is that the EasyTune Reports the drop in voltage only when stressing the GPU. I did prime for around an hour and had no issues or that dramatical voltage drops. Still havent tried Memtest86+ but im gonna do it later today.
Voltages in the bios are all set to auto. I also tried with the normal settings for the voltages , tried lowering the memory to 667 ,Changing the GPU enhancement from auto to fast , memory enhancement from turbo to standard but the issue remains.
Right now im going to a friend with a similar configuration with my VGA and the PSU and see if i can reproduce the same issue.The only differences in his configuration is the MB which is ECS P45 Black and i think he has a different memory modules.
Thanks for the input

[Lsdmeasap]

Well when you stress the GPU your whole system (CPU, GPU, and ram) is also stressed, that is why you see a drop.

You may want to raise your ICH/PCIE Voltages if you have them in P43, sorry not sure

[DeJaVu]

Originally Posted by Lsdmeasap

Well when you stress the GPU your whole system (CPU, GPU, and ram) is also stressed, that is why you see a drop.

You may want to raise your ICH/PCIE Voltages if you have them in P43, sorry not sure

I did raise the voltage (just after my previous post) for the MCH Core Value (which is ICH) to 1.2v and it gave me an improvement.There is no voltage setting for the PCIE ,just freqency.I managed to play Prototype for around 40 minutes. So what it is indicating? Faulty ram or MB is my guess. In my opinion i shouldnt have to raise the voltages to get more stable system cause nothing is overclocked.
I still havent tested the VGA and PSU on the other system.When i do ill keep you posted.

[Lsdmeasap]

No, MCH is MCH and that is your NB. I suggest you use 1.20-1.24 or so for 2x2GB of ram, overclocking or not this is needed.

So you do not have PCIE voltage in your BIOS? I will check in a second to be sure. PCIE voltage is what I wanted to you raise, incase the larger card is drawing to much power but if you can't adjust it then you can't adjust it.

MCH would need more anyway, so good you raised it, you may need to still raise it a bit more

[Lsdmeasap]

Checked, only MCH Core voltage is in your BIOS sorry about that. It may not matter though, try a bit more MCH as I suggested and see how things go

[DeJaVu]

Originally Posted by Lsdmeasap

No, MCH is MCH and that is your NB. I suggest you use 1.20-1.24 or so for 2x2GB of ram, overclocking or not this is needed.

So you do not have PCIE voltage in your BIOS? I will check in a second to be sure. PCIE voltage is what I wanted to you raise, incase the larger card is drawing to much power but if you can't adjust it then you can't adjust it.

MCH would need more anyway, so good you raised it, you may need to still raise it a bit more

I thought that MCH and ICH are the same because in the bios there is a text MCH/ICH and under that is the MCH voltage. Here is a screenshot

But now its clear that there not the same.

Next step for the MCH is 1.3 ,there are no smaller increments just 0.1. Is it safe to run it at 1.3 ? Because even at 1.2 the cooler on the NB wood get very hot so i put a small fan over it.

[Lsdmeasap]

Yes it would be ok at 1.3 since you have a fan on it

Yeah that MCH/ICH is the "Section" title, as that is where you normally would have a few MCH and ICH Settings, but you bought a budget board so it does not have all the settings.

1.20V may be ok though, can you link me to your ram or give me the model #? Just want to check and be sure as you may need to set more that 1.8V for your ram as well