Loads of issues with PC; please help!

SpiritSharD · 27 May 2012 at 10:09

Hey everyone,

So basically I'm having a lot of issues with my PC recently and I need help determining what the issue is. I'm not amazing with PC's so for all I know these are common problems...

I installed a 5.1 sound card about a week ago to fit into the PCI slot on my motherboard. The first issue I had was that the display would not work at all, however through searching the internet I discovered it was something to do with the BIOS' load priorities and changed it so that my PCI-E slot (my GFX card) was loaded first for use as the display; that said, occasionally the display will not work upon booting up my PC, and I have no idea what the cause is.

Next is my fans. Every now-and-again my PC fans will go into "overdrive" (very loud and very fast) upon booting up my PC. I have no idea why this is as it has never done it before, and it does not stop until I shut down my computer. I cannot determine which fans are making the noise. The chance of the issue happening is noticeably decreased if I place the computer case on the floor, lying down.

The next issue happened this morning; whilst my computer was booting up it randomly shut down. No warning message was given; it just shut down.

All the hardware in my PC is pretty much brand new aside from the PSU that I've had for a year. Temperatures are fine during idle/load. All cables are plugged in correctly. There are no cables getting in the way of fans or other components. The only thing that has "changed" was the installation of the sound card, which I have since removed.

Any ideas?

SpiritSharD · 27 May 2012 at 10:39

Slade2 said:
Have you disabled on board sound from the bios since you have the new sound card installed? My pc also does the whole quick fan thing but only when I turn it on at start of the day but it is only on for a few seconds. Perhaps you have a fault termp probe or something that is causeing the fans to continue to run?

I haven't disabled on-board sound because I use that as well. The reason I brought the sound card was because I had brought a 5.1 headset and wanted to have them and my 5.1 speakers plugged in at the same time so I could switch between the two at will.

My PC does that too usually, but now it's constant. I've also noticed that when they don't go really fast/loud, they're actually quieter on start-up than usual and normally "rev-up" two or three times on boot-up, as opposed to when it used to just do it once.

FallshirmjAEger said:
What's your spec? I.e gfx card, cpu, mb, psu etc

HDP8H67-M
Radeon 6970 @ stock settings
Intel 2500k @ stock settings
720w PSU
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM (4GB x 2)

SpiritSharD · 27 May 2012 at 11:48

Blue160 said:
The shutdown on bootup sounds very like a PSU problem. It's possible the other issues are connected as well. Is your PSU a decent brand or is it a no name cheap one?

A no name, cheap one. When I first built this PC I had a low budget and was lacking in knowledge about PC hardware, so I skimped on the power supply. With that said it's lasted me well and hasn't caused any issues so far.

Klitschk0 said:
Are all your drivers up-to-date?

Yup.

honosuseri said:
I'll be honest it really does sound like the PSU. If you don't have a spare to try, you could take the 6970 out of the system and use the IGP. This removes the extra power draw by the GPU and you might find the PSU can cope to boot the system in a stable fashion.

Ideally you want to be trying a know working PSU, 500W is ample for a single GPU. If you need any help with suggestions for a branded replacement let us know

I'm happy to replace the PSU, but my main concern is cost really. Also I think the graphics card has a recommended minimum of 550w. If you could suggest a fairly reliable 700w+ power supply, that would be appreciated.

SpiritSharD · 27 May 2012 at 11:55

Orcvader said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £44.99
Total : £55.49 (includes shipping : £8.75).

Thanks for the recommendation; would that be enough to power everything though? The AMD site recommends 550w or greater for the GPU, and then there's all the other components it's got to power as well. :confused:

SpiritSharD · 27 May 2012 at 12:26

I'll probably end up purchasing this one;

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-058-OC

Thanks for the assistance everyone; you've all been very informative and helpful!

SpiritSharD · 27 May 2012 at 12:40

honosuseri said:
The review for the OCZ did say it's not very quiet, having used the coolermaster I can say that it is very quiet. Although I do believe the OCZ PSU has a longer warranty.

Think i'd prefer the CM but atleast you have the options to make your own decision

I was thinking of the CM, but there's no mention of SATA or peripheral connections. This is what I need;

1x Mobo connector.
1x CPU connection.
2x PCI-E 8 pin (the GPU needs a 6-pin, but I have the adaptor)
1x SATA (HDD)
1x peripheral (CD drive)

Excuse my ignorance, but I'm assuming these connectors are universal for power supplies. I've never brought a power supply that didn't have the connections I need (save for the 6 pin), but I just want to make sure before I purchase.

SpiritSharD · 27 May 2012 at 22:51

Brought the CM; awaiting delivery on Tuesday so I'll pop back to let you know how it goes. Hopefully this solves all the problems I've been having; so far the PC's been fine today - no issues when playing games etc...

Only other problem I have is when I re-install the sound card; the card is literally right up against the graphics card so there's not a lot of space between the card and one of the GFX card fans. Also the sound card can't be screwed in properly otherwise it pops out of the PCI slot. >_> Ah well.

Once again, thanks for the help everyone.

SpiritSharD · 30 May 2012 at 13:24

Hey all, me again.

Right, so I've installed the new power supply successfully. I've already have some problems. Firstly, the fans DID speed up at one point, but only for a short time; I believe they were the graphics card fans. The other issue I had was 2x BSOD's the first two times I booted up the PC; I ensured all the connectors were pushed in the third time around and since then I've not had a BSOD, but I'm still worried something else may be damaged (bearing in mind everything is only like a month old).

SpiritSharD · 30 May 2012 at 13:54

Downloading and installing now.

Prior to writing this I had switched the computer on twice to find that the fans were really loud/fast and that there was NO display (through either graphics card or motherboard), and the first time the computer shut itself down by itself. Third time the computer booted up as normal. What else could be causing this?

These problems appear to be just occurring randomly, and I have no idea what the cause of it is since the only changes I had made was installing the sound card (which is now removed).

SpiritSharD · 30 May 2012 at 14:06

Yup. When I removed the old power supply I unplugged EVERYTHING so I could move things about to make it neater; everything is connected as it should be.

EDIT:

Also, doing a stress test with Prime95 now; never done anything like this before so it's alien to me, but I'm currently on Test 8 with all 4 "workers". :confused:

SpiritSharD · 30 May 2012 at 14:29

honosuseri said:
You have a quad core CPU hence the four workers. Prime95 is making the CPU number crunch. The CPU will be running at 100% as it is a torture test.

I assume I just wait until I get an error or a completion message?

honosuseri said:
You did remove the drivers for the soundcard as well not just physically remove it?

Nope, but I have done now. I don't see how that may be relevant to the issues I've been having though. I mean, what could be causing the fans to go into "overdrive", my computer to randomly shut down on boot and my display to go completely?

EDIT:

I say that and it sounds like the graphics card perhaps, but I've been playing fairly intensive games with no issues over the past few days.

SpiritSharD · 30 May 2012 at 14:51

I'll run intelburn test now.

Hmmm...the motherboard is new as well. It's bizarre how it may have gone faulty after just over a month. Heh, I hate troubleshooting.

Well I haven't had any BSOD's since I checked all the connections, so perhaps they were cause by one of the power connectors being loosely connected to the card? I will try removing the card shortly.

SpiritSharD · 30 May 2012 at 15:09

I switched off my computer having read your reply; sure enough the fans were loud/fast again and the display didn't work. I got the same result each time I switched the computer back on.

I've now removed the graphics card and booted the computer several times; the fans are at their normal speed/sound levels and I had no issue display. I guess it was a graphics card issue. Fortunately it's still under warranty, so hopefully ****** choose to replace it.