Problems with new PC build

[biohazard1790]

I just built myself a new PC with the following specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200
OCZ 2GB Pc6400 DDR2 Ram
Diamond Radeon Hd3850 factory overclocked to 725/1800 Mhz
Gigabyte Ga-EP35-DS3L
Antec Earthwatts EA500 500w PSU
Samsung 20x DVD burner
Western Digital 160GB HD
Cooler Master Centurion 5 Case

From early on, this build started having troubles. I ran Furmark to stress the GPU, and it crashed almost immediately, with the screen going black with white vertical streaks. I had to resort to lowering the clocks back to the standard ones in order to get it stable.

I decided to install Windows XP SP3, just to keep everything up to date. During the reboot, however, the PC locked up at the Gigabyte splash/logo screen. I tried pressing Del to enter the BIOS, but nothing happened. I had to reset the CMOS in order to get everything back to normal again.

This anomaly came back again, however, and I was puzzled. I then noticed that if I unplugged my Ipod charger when the PC froze at the splash screen, the computer would boot up normally. This indicated to me that my PSU was having issues.

My games also crash at certain times, possibly due to the video card not getting enough power.

Could the PSU be the culprit for the aforementioned issues? Or is it something else?

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Somehow, I doubt it's your PSU and think it's either driver or resource conflict related.

 

[biohazard1790]

Really? I installed everything properly. Doesn't make sense.

And I don't see how a driver/resource conflict could explain the phenomenon with the Ipod charger I mentioned above.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Most motherboards come with an option in the BIOS to boot off a USB drive. Since the iPod is basically considered as a USB flash drive by the computer, it will try to boot off it and this will basically cause a lockup or an extended boot time. If you're not convinced, try it with a USB flash drive in the USB slot.

As for the crashes, I believe it may be because the video card is overheating. Either get more fans in your case or get a third-party HSF for the card.

 

[biohazard1790]

Regarding the USB issue: It seems odd, considering that I had the Ipod and a USB printer cable plugged into my previous AMD Socket AM2 system with a GA-M61P-S3 board, and an Athlon 64 X2 CPU, for basically 24/7, and I never experienced the issue mentioned earlier. Is there a way to get around this, or am I stuck?

As for the GPU, it runs at 67-68C after being stressed for several minutes. Is this okay?

I also got the Gigabyte splash screen freeze after installing Windows XP Service Pack 3. Could that freeze have been software-related?

I'm still not sure what the problem is, so I'd happy if more people give me feedback.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

No, I don't think it's software related. As I said, it is relegated to most motherboards, not all of them. And you can plug in the iPod after the system has booted, and plugging that in is hardly a difficult thing to do innit? Still, the temps are within acceptable range. Try testing your RAM next IMO. Use memtest86 (Google for it) on each individual stick and if you any errors, that stick is bad.

 

[biohazard1790]

All right, I'll trying the Memtest thing.

I'm still not sure about my video card, though. I mean, it should work right out of the box with the factory overclock. And the crashes happen randomly. Sometimes from the 1st second it is stress-tested, and sometimes only a minute or so in. In either case, temps were in relatively acceptable ranges. (Around 55-60C)

I'm still open to any alternative solutions for this problem, and those mentioned above.

EDIT: I tried plugging in a flash drive to the front USB port to see if it would interfere with the boot operation, and to my surprise, it didn't! So there's still something strange about the Ipod thing.

 

[biohazard1790]

When running Memtest, do you type in 1024MB to test all the memory, or just go with the default "All unused ram"? Because I am currently testing one of the sticks, and if I go with the former option, the test doesn't go anywhere, being stuck at 0.0%. But if I go with the latter option, the test goes normally

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

It's best to use the "All unused RAM" option.

EDIT: I tried plugging in a flash drive to the front USB port to see if it would interfere with the boot operation, and to my surprise, it didn't! So there's still something strange about the Ipod thing.

Of course, if the flash drive was empty it would explain that. But if it had some files on it, that would be wierd...
Maybe someone else can shed some light on the matter.

 

[captaincranky]

I don't think the C2D E7200 is plug and play in that board. At least check Gigabytes web site for the correct BIOS Version.

 

[biohazard1790]

I tested both sticks, and came up with no errors. So it's not the memory that's causing the problem

 

[biohazard1790]

I also noticed something when running a GPU stress test (Furmark): The voltages on the +12V rail fluctuate significantly. At idle the voltage is around 1.1-1.2V. Under load, it goes anywhere from 1.66V-2.2V. Is this normal?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Nope, voltage fluctuation under stress is not normal for that particular PSU, especially since you're not overloading it at all. If you can, try another PSU in the system and see if it helps in any way.

 

[biohazard1790]

Well, it turns out that the GPU is faulty. But turning down the clocks down to 620/800 seems to have solved the problem with crashes. And I bought a better PSU just in case. I'll just have to live with a slightly slower system overall. Thanks so much for the help!