Curse

Painbringer · Feb 16, 2010, 09:40 PM // 21:40

Weird thing is happening with my system. I am guessing its ram but not 100% certain.

System (about 1 1/2 months old)

AMD Phenom II X4 3 GHz Processor (higher wattage version)

F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH 1333 (7,7,7,21) 1.5 v I set my system this setting per directions by g-skill (These are G-skill DDR3 1333 ripjaws) I set the setting a few days back with no problems

M4A78T-E Asus Mother board

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB

Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500W ATX 12V 2.0 Power Supply (Purchased this long time ago on sale with nice rebate way before I decided on final system specs)

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

XFX HD-485X-ZDFC Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (Sorry I had Best buy gift cards to burn and of course they did not have the 5000 series available)

I do not overclock anything (except setting the ram to the manufacturers specs)

My temps are low 30-40 range for board and cpu. The graphics are not really hot ever
I think I got it to 50 once.

Problem

I was playing a game and the system stuttered, went black (case fans everything shut off) and a nice static screech in the headphones. Then the “No DVI” display message came up on my monitor. When I tried to restart the system IT would not do a thing (only case fans turned on) no beep no harddrive action. So I shut it off and turned back on nothing happened (except the case lights and fans started) again. I switched the dvi out put from my video card to the motherboard dvi port. Thinking maybe the card burned up. I turned it on and the same thing happened “No DVI” output detected no errors no beeps nothing. Just black screen and case fans on I did notice the fan on the processor spin stop spin stop. So I shut it off again. I switched back the plug to the graphics card and turned it back on again. This is about 5-7 min or so after the initial blackout. It started up whew, but it gave an overclocking not stable screen from the bios and asked to restore defaults. I did this and was able to start the system. I did CPUZ and noticed the timings are back at the default settings? 9 9 9 24. (The memory was set to the advertised speed 7 7 7 21)

Please advise if this sounds like a memory issue. The only other thing I can think of that I changed recently (week ago) is I maxed out the graphic settings of the game I was playing. And I was playing it at time of shutdown. Someone else mentioned my power supply is weak for what I have but the calculators state I need only 334-370 range for wattage. I did have windows7 freeze once before the black out.

For the mean time I am keeping the memory at bios defaults and will be turning down the settings a little bit for the graphic card.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Painbringer

Elder III · Feb 17, 2010, 12:05 AM // 00:05

It sounds like either the memory or possibly insufficient power to the GPU. I would suspect the former. Generally speaking your system will be most stable when running at the BIOS default settings. Also, 500 watts is plenty for your setup, but what about the amperage on the +12volt rail(s)?

Painbringer · Feb 17, 2010, 04:19 PM // 16:19

The power supply has the following on the label

(+12V 1 14A) (+12V 2 15A)

I ran the Microsoft Memroy test (created a boot disk and let it run for an hour) no errors but this was at the Bios Defualt settings on the memory

Quaker · Feb 17, 2010, 05:08 PM // 17:08

From your description, it sounds like your video card overheated.

When you plugged the DVI cable into the on-board connector, I'm not surprised that it didn't work. You would need to remove the HD4850 for the on-board to work, even when things are working properly.

As far as the memory is concerned, if the default settings work, don't mess with them. Any extra performance you would get by changing them would not be noticeable except in benchmarks.

harbingerofdoom · Feb 17, 2010, 07:17 PM // 19:17

wait.....so you OC'd the ram... but not the system bus? isnt that a bit backwards there since the FSB is going to be limited by the ram either way you look at it? its been a long time since i did any overclocking, but thats how i remember things being.

sounds to me like exactly what was reported... an unstable OC with the ram OCd to run faster than the system bus....

try setting your ram to defaults, then OC the FSB first... once you find your stable FSB speed, then OC the ram till you find the best performance. once you hit that reduce your FSB (if needed) to match the OC on the ram. that should stabilize things for you.

Elder III · Feb 17, 2010, 10:39 PM // 22:39

like Quaker says, you won't notice any performance increase by messing with the RAM, other than benching...

also, your amperage is lower than reccomended for a 4850.... if you have further troubles you might consider getting a beefier PSU (not more watts - something with closer to 40 or more total amps would be better).

Painbringer · Feb 18, 2010, 02:16 AM // 02:16

So if I am looking for a new power supply I should be looking for the rails to be 40 amps <
(combined) And also enough wattage to cover my system. Calculated on the Manufacturer website Power Supply Calculators.

BaconSoda · Feb 18, 2010, 04:00 AM // 04:00

Just to say, if your Mobo fails to beep and your hard drive fails to rev, it's definitely a power supply issue. It might state that it has the correct wattage, but, it might just be failing, especially if it's pretty old. Even Thermaltakes do die after a while.

Might just want to get one with a higher Wattage anyway if you want to continue upgrading. A Thermaltake 500 Watt is some $60 these days, so springing another $40 or so for a 600 Watt and cover yourself for a while might make sense.