is my L2 cache bad

[hansraj]

all was fine till last month for last 2 1/2 years.... but all of a sudden with the increased memory load ( while running games or photoshop) my computer started restart on its own.
1. checked for any virus ............... no infection found.
2. i checked my ram using "mem check" it showed some prob but surprixingly on disabling L2 cache there was no prob with memory address.
3 checked the existing ram chip ... no prob... even got a new 512 mb ram and added to the existing 256mb.
4. now it doesnt restart but some times the application shuts down without any warning.

is it possible that my l2 is bad..... is there a reliable software to find this out.... i want to do it before my 3 years warranty gets over.

[infra_red_dude]

well don't use any utility. for real world tests do this, run a heavy loading software/game on the system and note the uptime.

now disable the L2 cache from within bios and rerun the software/game/3dmark etc. that'll will tell u if the cache is bad. i mean use ur comp for some days wid L2 disabled. if you still face problems then its something else.

i'd faced this problem once and this was the best test wid which i concluded that the L2 cache on my PII proccy was bad!

[hansraj]

ya i think thats too a solution but it really makes my system a snail system



p 4 1.7 GHz
256+512 mb 333 Mhz
KOB P4M266 NDFSMx motherboard

[infra_red_dude]

well man..you gotta sacrifice something!! thats a sureshot way to check ur L2 cache for faults!

lemme tell ya something, i used to run windows xp pro on a PII 400Mhz wid L2 cache disabled! thats essentially a celeron 400mhz..did i mention that it had a measly 128mb ram??? wid all the eye candy turned on???