Not sure where to put this - need some help big time.

showtim3

showtim3

showtim3

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Joined
31 Jul 2012
Posts
4
Sup guys? First post here. Let me start by saying i've been a lurker for a while, but have this huge problem that no forum has given me a definite answer to yet! I apologise for the wall of text...

Specs ;

i5 760
Gigabyte US3L mobo
4 GB Geil Ram
Radeon 7850 2gb
Seagate 320gb HDD
WinPower (fail) PSU 750w
Windows 7 Ultimate + XP Dual Boot

Okay, I was having trouble with the infamous ''ATI display driver has recovered'' issue after every 30 seconds > 2 minutes of gaming or straight BSOD - regardless of what game I played. Or complete system freezes or apphangs. Even Football Manager 2012 would occasionally shut down on the replays (which is like SNES graphics ffs) Anyway - after installing XP and 7 again and following about 150 different tutorials in and out of safe mode for 2 days straight I managed (i think) to get rid of it.

Now certain games just freeze dead, literally no sound and the video freezes like I paused the game and I have to physically turn the computer off. Task manager etc won't work. I can sit and play FIFA12 for 3 hours with no issues but Dead Island/Skyrim/Arma 2 just straight freeze or give me the ''send error report'' dialog. These games run flawlessly up till that point - no slowdown or obvious errors they just come out of nowhere.

After testing my system Prime 95 is fine with awesome temps, memtest passes BUT the big issue is FurMark shuts down my computer instantly. Literally unless it's on the lowest possible res like 800x600 or whatever it will shut down in the first second like somebody pulled the power plug. Bad PSU? Can't be the temps - even on prime 95 my cpu is at 60-75, gpu is around 60 when I play fifa or 70 when FurMark is on the lowest res.

Thoughts? Just want to add the GPU has changed twice, swapped the RAM out, used 2 HDD's and my externals, and pretty much every known fix I can apply from cleaning out the PC physically to updating bios.
 
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Thanks for the welcomes!

Whats a ideal size PSU to run that set up + perhaps run another 7850 in crossfire down the line?? The 7850 has a ridiculously low power useage as far as I can tell (like 120w maxed out) so I'm looking at around the 450-500w mark for a nice Antec or Corsair unit. i'm not paying 70+ though, not for my set up. My budget is like £40 which is pretty low but when I do eventually upgrade again I'll replace everything so I just need something for literally right now rather than spending £80+ on a 600w+ PSU!
 
You won't be able to get a good PSU that will be able to support two 7850's under £40, unless it's secondhand.
The two above are good (especially the first one) for just one 7850.
 
Yeah, despite the lower power consumption on the 7850's I'd be looking ~650w as a minimum just to play it safe.

It also wouldn't hurt to run memtest while you get it sorted (provided the machine stays on long enough) just to rule out bad memory too, a bad stick can cause all kinds of random errors.
 
650w+ is just too far out of my budget as it stands - unless it's another no name generic PSU. just can't scrounge up 70 80 quid right now as I've got far too much on in the real world (moving out so deposits and stuff + just spent 200 on the 7850).

i literally can't go higher than 40, and in all honesty i'd be happy with a decent refurb unit or second hand from someone to keep me going for a few months till i'm settled down and eventually completely changing the rig.

also i've tried memtest, one slot + two slots filled. also ran prime95 for ages which hit my RAM too and it ran perfectly. it's just furmark which kills the computer dead - i dont even have time to see it start before the computer completely cuts out with no error message on restart. =/
 
awesome suggestions guys! v. much appreciated - shame my budget wasn't higher as I've seen some nice units for 50-70 range...think its time to sell my xbox elite 120gb, any offers?

on another note arma 2 didnt crash on me in 2 hours but i was on a lower resolution with the bare minimum plugged in. so touch wood i can last till next payday and maybe get a better psu but that might change overnight! also i know software is unreliable for voltages and testing physically or even bios are more accurate but my 3.3/5v are fine but my 12v which is the main one spans from 1v-8v. not saying its right cuz the rig wouldnt boot but maybe there is something wrong with my 12v rail and that's why im having issues?
 
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