Having some major problems with home built gaming rig!

[simo2541]

So about a month ago I built myself a gaming rig. For the first few weeks everything worked perfectly, but for the past week the computer has been locking up constantly in random places. It's frozen while playing games, surfing the net, in the bios, and while trying to reinstall windows.

As far as the POST goes, it's really random. Sometimes it doesn't post, sometimes it posts successfully, and other times I get error codes. I've tried replacing the HDD with a brand new one to no avail. I've used an older motherboard with all of the same components and it still froze in the bios twice and I also got inconsistent posts. One POST error code using the older motherboard pointed to faulty RAM or motherboard.

I've been using memtest86+ to test my RAM, but so far after 3 hours of testing I have 7 passes and no errors. I'm so confused on what to do at this point and any help is appreciated. Also speedfan has shown CPU/GPU/System temps all around 40-60c even under load so I don't think temperature is an issue.

Here's my system specs:
-AMD Athlon II x4 635
-GTX 460 768mb
-2gb Kingston DDR2 Ram 5-5-5-15 timing
-Corsair 400w PSU
-GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H motherboard

[123456]

Bingo. 400W PSU. Get at least 600W for that thing!

[simo2541]

Bingo. 400W PSU. Get at least 600W for that thing! Thanks for the quick reply! :D Just wondering though, it has 30A on the 12V rail which I thought was what mattered as opposed to numerical watts? Also, if it is an underpowered PSU, wouldn't I have seen problems right away as opposed to a month after use?

[123456]

You never know with underpowered PSUs... best bet is getting a much larger one from a reliable brand like Thermaltake, Corsair, etc.

[mjc]

The Asus version of that video card...

The ASUS GeForce GTX 460 video card requires a 450 Watt or greater power supply with a minimum of 24 Amps on the +12 volt rail.

If you have the 30 A on the +12V, that card is taking 24 of them...leaving 6 for everything else. So depending on your cooler, case fans, hard drive(s), optical drive(s) and anything else, a 6A margin is very 'slim'.

I'd say nothing less that 35 or 40A (single rail). Something like this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171036

[jlreich]

Yep, power supply.

30A is pretty good for a 400w unit, but that's not enough. 12v x 30a = 360W on the +12v rail. Not enough for a modern system with a video card. The +12v rail is the most used rail in the system. Pretty much everything uses +12v.

wouldn't I have seen problems right away as opposed to a month after use?
All PSU's have a "continuous" wattage rating, the one that is advertised, and a max rating, usually meant for a needed surge of power often used during startup. It was probably doing fine running at max output for awhile, but no PSU can run at max output all the time. After awhile it just started failing. It's like running a sub-compact car with the pedal to the floor...

I like this PSU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005) better. More amps and cheaper.

[simo2541]

Alright thanks for the replies guys. I actually already went out and bought the PSU jlreich suggested before seeing that post, makes me feel even better about my purchase. :)

Something strange though, I tried taking my video card out and my system feels like its running fine now, and when I put it back in the mouse stopped working at windows log in screen. After a couple reboots to see if the mouse would work the display stopped appearing even though I was getting a successful POST. Weird. Hopefully this new PSU does the trick.

[jlreich]

Inadequate power can cause some strange issues. And it would make sense that removing one of the biggest power hogs (the video card) from the system would help alleviate the problem.

[simo2541]

Computer just froze with the new PSU in. :( Just took out the video card to see if it freezes without it. This problem is starting to drive me nuts. :mad:

[hackerballs]

have you tried to format since this issue was detected? Maybe a bad virus that was not caught? Other than that it sounds like a possible driver issue (GPU)...have you tried going back too an OLDER driver first and then a new one?

[123456]

Make sure you completely uninstall the driver before reinstalling a newer/older version.

[AlienBZ]

The Asus version of that video card...



If you have the 30 A on the +12V, that card is taking 24 of them...leaving 6 for everything else. So depending on your cooler, case fans, hard drive(s), optical drive(s) and anything else, a 6A margin is very 'slim'.

I'd say nothing less that 35 or 40A (single rail).

Was just looking at this thread since I'm going to build my next (an adventure gaming rig) PC in say, approx. 6 months from now after I gain the necessary experience with disassembling/re-assembling an old PC tower that I have sitting in my office, and I'm getting curious - how do you figure out the amount of amperes (or volts/wattage) that a certain video card that one may select for a new, custom-build PC/a PC video card upgrade will take from the PSU that was selected/or already in a 10 year old PC (such as my Dell Dimension 8200 which may need a new video card to play games)?

[123456]

Can't use the PSU from the Dell 8200 cause that was when Dell used propriety ATX connectors... in other words, just because the Dell PSU's connectors will fit in any mATX/ATX board, doesn't mean that it will work. Besides, PSUs aren't very expensive and that PSU is probably 250W max... not worth it.

[jlreich]

I usually reference a chart such as this one (http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2010-gaming-graphics-charts-high-quality/3D-Power-Draw,2403.html) to get good idea of how much power the video card is going to draw under full load. There are other similar charts out these as well. There are also usually stated power requirement by the manufacturer for mid to high end cards.

Another way to get a quick visual on how much power a card needs is by how many power connectors it has and what type. A PCIe x16 slot can provide 75w. A 6pin aux PCIe connector another 75w (officially). And an 8pin PCIe connector 150W. So you know that if a card has only one 6pin power connector it can only require up to 150W. A 6pin and an 8pin = 300W. And so forth in different combinations.

But for a 10 year old system you will be hard pressed to find such charts. Besides I wouldn't bother trying to upgrade such an old system anyway. It's a money pit and who knows how much longer it will keep running.

and that PSU is probably 250W max...
Not to mention after surviving ten years it is on its last leg and adding anything to the system will most assuredly kill it.

[123456]

Actually, those Dell PSUs from that era are quite durable and long-lasting... I still have 3 or 4 of them and they all work very well.

[jlreich]

Actually, those Dell PSUs from that era are quite durable and long-lasting... I still have 3 or 4 of them and they all work very well.
Fair enough. But still the capacitors are aged and there is no way after ten years the unit can pump out the rated wattage like it used to.