Problems with new rig

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fudzy
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Fudzy

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Hey guys,

Just dropped quite a bit of money on a new rig and am having problems.

Here are the specs:

- MSI P55-GD65 motherboard
- i7 860
- MSI ATI Radeon R4890 Cyclone
- 2 x JM1333KLU-2G Transcend® JetRam™ High-Performance 2GB DDR3-1333 240-Pin Ram Module
- 1 x 500GB Seagate hard-drive
- 1 x LG DVD Writer
- Antec Smart-Power 500W PSU*

Intitially it started freezing on me while installing Windows 7, changing the location of the dims fixed this and now I have a working system until I try load any game. It keeps freezing, generally right at the beginning but sometimes it lets me get in.

I've put an asterisk next to the PSU because I've troubleshooted the graphics card and RAM, the PSU is a 3 and a half year old swap out. The other thing which gives me an indication it might be the PSU is that the motherboard has an 8 pin 12v connector socket and the PSU only has a 4 pin PSU connector. Saying this though,4 of the pins on the mobo were covered by a small plastic cover.

Any suggestions as to why my system is freezing? I was running Windows 7, but I've recently installed XP and it's giving me the same problem.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi i recently assembled my new corei5 system with the same board, have you checked that you have the latest BIOS firmware, mine came with V1.2 which i updated to 1.3 using the m-flash utility in the BIOS.

I'm also only using a 4pin CPU power connector.

Saying that, i'm not without problems of my own, my system seems a bit unstable under load, the PC restart if my graphics card gets around 70 degrees which i doubt is dangerous territory for a modern day GPU.
 
If you ask me, it's the PSU.
The fact that it locks up when the power hungry cpu and gfx card gets under load, might be an indicator.
 
Fudzy said:
Pretty sure it is. I've updated the specs to display the full name.
Click to expand...

Its not listed in the compatible list.
http://www.msi.com/uploads/test_report/TR10_1846.pdf

But I'm pretty sure it should still work.
PSU seems a bit weak for the setup, but I have seen similiar setups running the same powersupply (spec not brand)

If it freezes during the installation of WIN7 I dont think it is the PSU, as the GPU wont draw much power during the installation. I think its the RAM.
Maybe you can borrow some RAM from a friend or do a mem test.

Edit, only reading now the PSU is 3 1/2 years old. Was it in use for that time. Looks like it is really the PSU
 
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Check the NB temp in the bios. Freezing sounds like it could be overheating. I would remove your CPU and make sure that none of the pins are bent as well, this can cause a short and bugger you around as well.
 
Well since my post I've successfuly run 3DMark2006, no problems. I think its got something to do with the soundcard.
 
blogbytes said:
Its not listed in the compatible list.
http://www.msi.com/uploads/test_report/TR10_1846.pdf

But I'm pretty sure it should still work.
PSU seems a bit weak for the setup, but I have seen similiar setups running the same powersupply (spec not brand)

If it freezes during the installation of WIN7 I dont think it is the PSU, as the GPU wont draw much power during the installation. I think its the RAM.
Maybe you can borrow some RAM from a friend or do a mem test.

Edit, only reading now the PSU is 3 1/2 years old. Was it in use for that time. Looks like it is really the PSU
Click to expand...

Thanks for the doc, the PSU has been sitting in my cupboard for that time. My original SP-500 died, I took it in to get swapped out but bought another PSU in the interim.
 
Your setup shouldn't breach the 400W mark under max load.

I'm running a HD 4890 OC, a Q9550 @ 3.4GHz, 3x Seagate 1TB HDD's and 4 x 2GB DDR 800.
Under full load with Prime95 and ATI tools stress test running together, it reaches 395W Max on my Odin GT 550W PSU, and around 117W Idle.

Maybe the age of the PSU is the cause of the problem, but the power rating should be more than sufficient.
 
Get Real Temp and check your temps under load. You can use Prime95 to put your system under load.

what makes you think it is the soundcard?
 
milomak said:
Get Real Temp and check your temps under load. You can use Prime95 to put your system under load.

what makes you think it is the soundcard?
Click to expand...

It seemed to freeze whenever sound was involved. Ie. if i use 3Dmark it worked fine but if i try load a game it freezes.

What should the temp be under load?
 
Okay installed real temp and prime95. The last cpu got up to 100 !! so I stopped the test, the machine did not freeze though.
 
If this is temperature related, would the temperature just spike when I start games? I would think that temperature shutdown would be a gradual, less specific occurance?

Incedentally, I've run quite a few burn in/hardware tests that have all gone fine without any errors.
 
Fudzy said:
If this is temperature related, would the temperature just spike when I start games? I would think that temperature shutdown would be a gradual, less specific occurance?

Incedentally, I've run quite a few burn in/hardware tests that have all gone fine without any errors.
Click to expand...

No, it wont just immediately spike to 100C.

You have problems. Check the thermal paste and make sure the heatsink is seated properly.
 
ponder said:
No, it wont just immediately spike to 100C.

You have problems. Check the thermal paste and make sure the heatsink is seated properly.
Click to expand...

I doesn't spike at all though, I don't even hear the fans picking up speed. It just freezes, I'll recheck the seating but I'm pretty sure its okay.
 
100 degrees on a cpu sounds like its hitting its shutting down as a safety precaution !

i run an i7 920, with 6 gigs ram, and 5 HDD's on a 550 watt :) so ya...
 
4cer said:
100 degrees on a cpu sounds like its hitting its shutting down as a safety precaution !

i run an i7 920, with 6 gigs ram, and 5 HDD's on a 550 watt :) so ya...
Click to expand...

Yeah but the only time its hit 100 was when I ran that Prime95 app. It took quite a while to get to that temperature too. It wouldn't explain why the machine freezes a couple of seconds of running a game?

Looking at the event log, there's an error called Kernel-Power, Event 41 which occurs each time this has happened.
 
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