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Purchased a custom, gaming computer for the speed and power. 550 Watt power supply, Asus Sabertooth Intel X58 chipset motherboard with Sata3, USB 3, Intel Core I7, Arctic cooling, 12 GB Ram, NVIDIA 460, 1 TB hard drive, 2 optical hard drives/Blue Ray, . . .

I do mainly photos with Adobe Photo Shop Elements. I do not like a Mac, so bought as much as I could in a PC. Problem is it is inconsistent in speed and performance, and depending on 'whatever' it may work fast or not! I get blue screens, a reboot screen on restart and other annoying inconsistencies like settings don't hold. I've sent it back for repair/checking and diagnostics on RAM, etc. and, of course everything was fine! Could it be Windows 7/64? The software worked great on another computer, so I don't believe it's the software.

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If you're using dual/triple channel RAM, make absolutely sure that you're putting the RAM modules into the proper slots. Check the motherboard manual. If it is not "properly" installed, RAM tests will still pass, but there can still be instability. – Zabba Jun 5 '11 at 1:55
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For one, I wouldn't class a 550w PSU useful for a Gaming system, the GTX 460 is a power hungry card and depending on the overclock status on it and the Core i7 I'm not 100% on that power is on your side. I would've gone with at least a top brand 650w model.

As for diagnostics testing.

for other components, just try gaming and when it comes up with the BSOD, note down the error and report back here.

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I know I'm on a site far above my head - my computer was built for me and I don't game - just photos. I honestly don't know how to do the testing you recommended and I think it has already been done. I know the RAM test was and it was OK. Thank you for your response and I will keep the site of tests just in case. Nancy – Nancy Jun 1 '11 at 19:52
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