Brand New Computer Problems

[t33lo]

I just used one stick of 512 in dimm 2 and played some hl2 which normally would crash the comp and restart except this time it didn't. I really do think its that other stick of ram that is killing me. When i mem checked that one it got several errors as opposed to this one in now that got none. If my cousin's ram gives me errors as well we will definitley be looking at a new board. I hope this isn't the case because I really, really like this board.


Whats really strange is that I have the ram in dimm 2 but cpu-z says its in slot #3
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by t33lo on 07/26/05 11:34 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Were you seriously going to ask if it's a PSU problem? To me straight away I could already see it was a RAM problem

I just thought it was funny that we didn't get any PSU stats. That made it weirder when you so quickly jumped to the conclusion that it couldn't be the PSU. I'm not saying that it is the PSU, but I just hadn't seen anything that ruled it out.

In the past I've seen a number of RAM problems caused by the PSU undervolting things. (You can increase the VDIMM all you want, but if your VDIMM is undervolted at stock because of a bad PSU, raising the VDIMM won't give you any more juice.) So because of past experience I <i>always</i> leave the PSU in as a possible cause to check for.

But in this case it sounds like it's the mobo itself being finicky, not the RAM or the PSU.

یί∫υєг ρђœŋίχ @ 193K
Pleased to meet you. Hope you guessed my name.
But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game.

 

[t33lo]

well I do have the OCZ Powerstream PSU and one of the lights of the three in teh back are red. It has something to do with added voltage. If i turn a screw they change but i can't seem to change one of them. The other two are green adn the middle one is red. The left one is +12 V, the middle is +5v, and the right is +3.3 V

 

[slvr_phoenix]

and one of the lights of the three in teh back are red. It has something to do with added voltage.

No, it has something to do with <i>over</i> voltage, which can <i>damage</i> your components.

If I understand OCZ's documentation, a green light means that it's within the ATX specification (±5%). A yellow light indicates undervolting below ATX spec. And a red light indicates overvolting above ATX spec. Both yellow and red are dangerous places to be, but red more so than yellow as it's more likely to damage components.

What baffles me is why the power supply even powers the PC at all if it's not within ATX specifications! That itself is breaking the ATX specification.

So it sounds to me like regardless of your other problems, the PSU is being a problem as well. In fact, it may have even caused damage that you have, if I'm understanding OCZ's documentation.

یί∫υєг ρђœŋίχ @ 193K
Pleased to meet you. Hope you guessed my name.
But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game.

 

[t33lo]

I just called up OCZ and they are in the process of RMA'ing my power supply. When I plug it in, it sparks out the which scared the hell out of me. They say its definitley got problems. Now I don't know if the RAM and PSU are messed up or even the Mobo now. IT could be all three, could be just psu or psu and ram. Looks like i got to a bunch of tests to do 🙁

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Ouch. Yikes even! That's bad. Red was bad enough. Sparks are worse.

At this point goodness only knows what parts may or may not have been damaged by that PSU. You might want to consider finding a pro to take your PC to. A good one should at least be able to tell you what parts are fried.

I wonder if you can send OCZ a bill for any damages...

یί∫υєг ρђœŋίχ @ 193K
Pleased to meet you. Hope you guessed my name.
But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game.

 

[theholylancer]

holy hell!!! man wtf?!??!?!?!?!?!?! this is new! i wish you could have video it man, i would love to see that lol. hopefully it didn;t damage any component of urz though and if it did hopefully that OCZ will pay up or something. my advice is that when ya get the new PSU don't pulg that 7800GTX in there yet, get it stable on some lesser graphics first b4 doing anything with the 7800GTX [/shruddering at the tought of loosing a 7800GTX]

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by TheHolyLancer on 07/27/05 06:44 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[t33lo]

They are sending me a new one along with the ram that got damaged. Lets hope this is the end of the problems.

 

[slvr_phoenix]

None of my voltages are within the ATX specification

That's crazy. Don't you want your computer to have a nice long happy life? Are they above or below spec?

یί∫υєг ρђœŋίχ
<font color=red><i>The Devil himself is good, when he is pleased.</i></font color=red>
@ 194K of 200K!

 

[P4Man]

>What baffles me is why the power supply even powers the PC at
>all if it's not within ATX specifications! That itself is
>breaking the ATX specification.

None of mine are within spec, works just fine. I have yet to see anyone getting issues with less than 10% variation from nominal. He most likely doesnt have a PSU issues, but then, you think everything is.

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[P4Man]

Oh wait.. sparks is NOT good.. I think you should have left those screws alone :/

That said, good chance it didnt kill anything else. I managed to short a motherboard several times, sending sparks everywhere, everything was just fine afterwards. Not that that guarantees a thing tho

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[endyen]

Yah, sparks, the poor man's fireworks.

 

[theholylancer]

lol...

BTW what are CCFLs? (looking noobish)

 

[t33lo]

I can't help but rant about the problems that building a new computer has given me. First, it was the keyboard. Next, it was the psu which also shorted the ram. Dell won't ship my gtx till aug. 16th when i ordered it on july 11th. To top it off i received a monitor scratched. I guess i gots some pretty tuff luck.

 

[t33lo]

Well since the gtx is taking so long, I'm contemplating on buying the one from newegg for $560 and selling the one from dell, $430 (originally 486 but took off 50 for delay) on ebay for $10 so that i can get it quicker without losing money.