Intel 3rd gen upgrade options... suspected mobo failure.

Leigno

Leigno

Leigno

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Joined
9 Oct 2012
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150
Location
Solihull, Nr Birmingham
Hi guys, based on lots of research and swapping out my gpu and ram I am pretty happy to say my mobo is dying. i get crashing in games and windows and artifacts visible in bios when it is acting up, if you google GPU failure every pic you see, my PC has done at some point apart from blue screen of death, but it repeated the problem with a different gpu fitted, and also same again with different ram sticks fitted, leaving only PSU and Mobo at fault, Im happy my software is all fine and it is hardware related issue. So I’m here looking for advice on the most cost effective solution to get my machine alive again, Im not chasing performance gains but I dont want a loss in performance as it struggles these days anyway. This will only ever be a temporary solution as when finances allow I want to build from scratch. Heres the hardware I currently have https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/my-first-gaming-build-d.18468744/ thanks for the input as ever :)
 
What sort of budget do you have, and what are the exact problems? Do you have a way to test another PSU?

If it is your mobo and you don't want to spend much, you're probably stuck looking for a second hand replacement I'm afraid. Although that should only set you back £50-60 if you look at a well known electronic auction site.
 
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Budget like I say is as cheap as possible, and no other PSU to hand, would a PSU fault cause intermitent issues, dont they just tend to die? And I want to avoid that route if I can unless it comes through a community contact as we all know the mine field said auction site can be
 
A PSU can have issues without flat out failing, given you're using an old PSU at this point it might be a problem as PSU's do degrade over time. That said, you've not been specific with your exact problems, which would help narrow things down.

As for the e-auction site, I've found that as long as you're careful with who you buy from you should be okay.
 
@Leigno, Saying a budget of "as cheap as possible" is not a budget, give us a number to work to, what you consider cheap may not be what i consider cheap.

You may want to consider getting a new PSU, although what i suspect was a good quality unit when bought in 2012, its now nearing 7 year's old and 2 years out of warrenty. As Gray mentioned, they do deteriorate over time so if you have the money then you should consider it, especially if you are getting new components.
Out of interest, what GPU do you have?

Here is a motherboard, CPU and some RAM that would give you a good upgarde and be what i would consider "cheap"
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £380.47 (includes shipping: £10.50)​
​
 
my budget is around £150 -£180 tbh, I see i3-9100f's are around £90 but no idea what mobo would be suitable to go with my gpu/psu i currently have, DDR4 ram I am being gifted by a friend if I need it as he's just upgraded his ram. But basically my GPU seems to be dying under load and then giving graphical errors in the bios when it boots and windows wont load, I have swtiched out the GPU with a known good card and same with RAM just to cross that off the list and both gave the same results.. Also not sure if it is related my headset (razer kraken 7.1 v2) keeps distorting and cutting out also which makes me think its mobo or psu related as I did start to notice a pattern that my headset would cut out during nosiey areas/loud discord comms (requiring more voltage to work from my understanding?)

my GPU is a 7970 as per the link above with all the details as im clueless.

I am eager to try a PSU though which I'm going to see if can arrange as I really think it is PSU related the more 'testing' im doing.

Its also been booted when known to be having a problem with my HDD's unplugged and it was still giving me graphical errors on bios screen.

Also its worth to note, sometimes it is working fine, like now, not the sign of any faults.

Am I right in my assumption that if my PSU cant give my GPU the power it needs under load that would cause a driver crash which is sometimes recoverable, as thats what is happening, sometimes when it locks up it will come back to life reporting a driver fault due to a system failure?

I just need some ideas of where im headed if i do have to replace my mobo with a new one. In an ideal world I'd replace the lot but thats just not an option and im super reluctant to have to buy a second hand mobo if that is my problem due to the plethora of problems that can arise trying to find one from a trustworthy stranger plus a warranty is always good :)
 
Ok, swapping out the PSU to see what happens is a good idea, the 79** series were very power hungry from what i remember of my 7950.

I had the driver crash issue with my 7950 but it turned out to be a problem with the card and i had it replaced for an updated version, i suspect that issue can be caused by a few factors though.

Can you take out your GPU and just run the monitor off of the motherboard? you can then test the graphics issues in the bios and perhaps run some benchmarks to just stress the CPU.

Also do you know what your temps are when at idle and load?
 
i've taken my gpu out now and seems to be running ok, for now, which localizes the issue but still no closer to the route cause.

PSU is the more viable candidate, 7 years old, running a 7970, high usage (5k Hrs gaming, 10k Hrs daily use {guestimated)

Would it be an issue if i moved my gpu down into the 2nd PCIE-16 slot on my mobo to rule out the socket has somehow killed itself?

I know ideally I need to get a hold of a PSU to test but thats proving trickier than I thought as I missed the boat already on that one to the point where I had it in my hand and let it go #fail...
 
also temps are fine, CPU hasnt ever got toasty and on idle the cores are all roughly the same and under load my GPU never really got 'hot' as per say but it has ran on the warmer side for my liking at the high 70's when the fans start speeding up which is usually about the time I call it a day from what ever im playing to give it a rest
 
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