figuring out which part is dodgy

Banzai_Joe · 1 Jan 2009 at 12:41

Happy New Year all.

Ok, to business.

I built 2 identical rigs for the kids, one works fine, the other has been a son-of-a-b*tch since day one (about this time last year).

Gigabyte GZ-1 case
Gigabyte GA-P35 DS3R mobo
2Gb PC6400 Corsair matched ram
Sapphire HD 3870 512mb
Thermaltake 500w modular psu
dvd-rw
250gb sata hdd
Logitech 5.1 speaker set
Vista HP x86

Now, the problematic pc, symptoms:
1. onboard sound had terrible interference problems, always buzzing. Fitted a x-fi pcie card which solved that problem.
2. Whilst playing cod4 the game would constantly freeze for about 10 secs every few mins. Event log showed that the ccc display driver had closed down due to an error then restarted (then consequently closed again for the next game freeze). Updating drivers didn't solve this issue (properly uninstalling and installing new ones)
3. dvd-rw drive no longer mounted, seen in the bios and by device manager but couldn't update driver for it so it won't show in 'my computer'.

So....i reformatted and reloaded vista back on, with fresh install of everything. Latest 8.12 catalyst, all updates.

Result?

1. Onboard sound doesn't buzz but will not configure correctly for 5.1. So X-Fi went back in and that sorted that, but now when the pc is booted up it emits a continuous and annoying beep until you get the windows loading progress bar then it stops.
2. 3870 still freezes on cod4, so i turned AA off (was set at x4) and that seems to have solved it.
3. dvd-rw is back and working fine.
4. tv-card has all drivers loaded but vmce just doesn't find a signal anymore to set up his tv.

Ok, so i'm wondering what component is likely to be the cause.
The mobo seems to be the common denominator here, with the onboard sound not working correctly. Could the the dvd-rw falling off the pc be caused by dodgy sata controller?
3870, could the mobo be responsible for the failing AA on that?
Could it be the hdd with bad sectors?
I've not checked the hdd yet, but i've had hdd's that have passed certified tests yet still failed.
I know bad ram can do dodgy random stuff, but i suppose equally it could be the ram slots on what i already suspect is a dodgy mobo.
All parts are about 1 year old now, so not sure which way to go with it all.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks

zophiel · 1 Jan 2009 at 13:09

certainly looks like a mobo problem. have you tried the other components in the other computer?

Banzai_Joe · 1 Jan 2009 at 13:58

no mate, not yet. Was a bit reluctant too really, partly due to the fact that the pc's are in such a tight space, i'd have to partly dismantly the bedroom the get to it, lol.
I can try the 3870 in one of the other pc's, if that works fine with cod4 at 4x AA with 8.12 catalysts, then that would help point towards the mobo too i guess.

UltimateBadger · 1 Jan 2009 at 14:16

The sound problem could be do with some kind of EM interference?

Banzai_Joe · 1 Jan 2009 at 14:24

UltimateBadger said:
The sound problem could be do with some kind of EM interference?

Understood, but god knows what/why!?

I did think it could be the case for some reason, but the pcie x-fi card works, albeit that horrible beep until windows loads, which kind of points towards a driver issue.

Snograt · 1 Jan 2009 at 14:33

Is the beep coming from the speakers or the mobo's sounder?

If the latter, that's often caused by a badly seated card. I think that it's only graphics cards that do this, though - either badly seated or missing a 6-pin or 8-pin power connector.

Admittedly not very likely if your graphics is ok, but hey - it's a theory

Banzai_Joe · 1 Jan 2009 at 14:38

nah, the cards are all seated correctly and it is coming from the speakers.

Banzai_Joe · 9 Jan 2009 at 20:11

update:
bought a new mobo (MSI P31 Neo2) and ram, so basically rebuilt the rig, with a diff hdd too.
Now getting different and weird problems.
I've installed vista, installed the mobo drivers etc, updated the bios etc. Windows updates wont show the availability of SP1 which i've read about with certain drivers, but i've never had an issue with any other vista build. I've not really checked if i have any of the problematic drivers yet. I've noticed that Vista denies ATI's CCC as a startup program (?)
Also sometimes the pc won't shutdown correctly and often lose video signal on bootup, which COULD point towards a gfx card issue (see op).
I've also pondered over whether it could be a case issue with faulty power/switch button connectors as even when connected correctly the power led won't work.

So, rebuild number 4, my old lian li PC7 case, same psu, cpu and dvdrw as has been used all along, although i truly doubt any of these parts are the cause of all my issues. Might try installing with a diff 3870 gfx card see what happens.

Any way of logically testing to see if a gfx card is faulty.