Lines through screen

[longnmusic]

Hello all, I have just put together my first PC and when I booted it up there were horizontal lines running through the entire display even at post. At first I assumed this was a driver issue so I just brushed it aside and went ahead and installed windows 7 with all these lines anyways. Once I installed windows I immediately installed the driver for the Intel HD 4000 Integrated Graphics which made things worse because in addition to the lines now my screen was flashing like a strobe light. Is this a software issue or a hardware issue? As I said before this is my first build so I have no idea where I might've messed up. Once thing that confused me a bit was when connecting the power to the mother board, there was a part by the CPU that was 4pins only. My PSU didn't have any 4pins only but it did have an 8 pin(4 + 4) so I am using half of that to power the cpu. I don't know if that could be an issue or not. Please help me, Thanks!

My hardware:
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z77-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core w/ Intel HD Graphics 3000
RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
HD: Samsung 830 series 128gb SSD
PSU: Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W Continuous @40°C,80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7,i5" Power Supply

I am in the process of getting a GTX 550 Ti for my gpu so this problem might go away but if its an issue with hardware I'd like to know so I can return it for a new one.

 

[smorizio]

it a hardware issues. the gpu is inside the intel cpu not on the mb. it could be a few simple things. the first is if your using an after market heat sink it may be on to tight and is flexing the cpu/mb. if your using the stock intel heat sink then power off the mb and pull the power from the wall for safety and give the mb 5-10 min to drain. take the cpu heat sink off and check for any bent pins. you need a maginfire to see if there any bent pins. if you dont see any flip the cpu over make sure there no burn marks. there have been know issue that sometime there are seating issues with intel cpu and mb slots. where not all the pins hit the cpu and can cause burn marks. if there no bent pins or burn marks from a seating issue and the lines are still there then you have a bad cpu or mb.

 

[longnmusic]

Thanks for the quick reply! I'm assuming the heat sink is the big fan thing that came with cpu, which I am using. I will do what you said and report back the results, thanks!

 

[longnmusic]

Okay, when I took the heat sink off of the CPU there was this weird gray gooey stuff on the botton of the heat sink and on top of the cpu. I'm not sure what that was but I wiped it off. I checked for bent pins but I'm not really sure what I'm looking for everything seemed fine and I couldn't see any burn marks. I put everything back together and there are still lines.

 

[InvalidError]

The gray 'goo' is thermal paste and is required in order to achieve good heat transfer from the CPU to the heatsink-fan (HSF). Without it, your CPU may quickly overheat and either cause your PC to shutdown or operate at much higher temperatures than it should which can lead to premature failure.

As for the horizontal lines, if you see them from POST and they remain at the same locations regardless of whether you are in BIOS or Windows and regardless of selected screen resolution then it is quite possible that it is your LCD that is defective.

 

[longnmusic]

The lines change after post. I have also tested the monitor with a different machine and it works fine. So I guess I should buy some more thermal paste than since I wiped it off >.<

 

[longnmusic]

I just checked again and after a closer examination I've noticed a burn mark on the CPU and a bent pin on the motherboard. What should I do?

 

[smorizio]

if it under 30 days call the vendor you got the parts from and say there was a bent pin from shipping you did not see it in till the unit was built and had an issue. like to return both the mb and the damaged cpu. they may balk at the bent pin and you may have to talk to a t2 or t3 customer support rep. if they refused you may have to have your credit card company do a charge back. some mb vendor wont replace mb for bent pins..it up to the person you talk to. also the same for the intel rep. the black cpu covers do work to protect the pins but they can be bent when putting the cover on or in shipping. you learn as a builder to use a set of glasses to look at the pins before the cpu goes in. most pin damage is from new builders they drop the cpu onto the pins or they dont seat the cpu right and crush pins when closing the cpu slot.