plese help! random problem with new build

bazmo

bazmo

bazmo

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Joined
6 Oct 2008
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57
hi I've put together a new system and am having lots of weird random problems! :( I keep getting BSODs (usually along with graphical corruption all over the screen) it also just freezes up completely sometimes

I've tried swapping the RAM out and the graphics card but neither helps

the specs are:
asus p5q-e motherboard
q9550 cpu
4870 graphics card
corsair dominator RAM
corsair 620 modular PS

Thanks in advance for any help. Really hope theres a fix for it coz i've just spent almost £1000 on this :( - maybe a faulty motherboard?
 
Have you set or change anything in BIOS? If you have another PSU tr to swap it? Do you insta windows successful? And try to boot without gfx, ram see what happen? CPU HSF fit properly?
 
haven't touched anything in the bios - its all set to auto. i get blue screen when installing windows occasionally so the problem is definately before thats installed. my cpu temps haven't gone above about 22 degrees so far (idling at about 17) so I'm pretty sure the heatsink is installed ok. It was running yesterday for about 5 hours without any problems - its one of those things that seems impossible to track down because I can't replicaate it... I will try changing the PSU and see if that helps

Thanks
 
sorry if this is really dumn but how can i tell what the vcore is set to? :confused: I've gone into the bios and it just says auto? If i go to the hardware monitering bit its at 1.16 - does this seem ok? what would be normal for this processor? thanks
 
The voltage sounds fine for that cpu I've seen the numbers quoted elsewhere and they were the same (sorry don't have one myself) I'm leaning towards the graphics card as the source of the problem (or lack of voltage to it) are both power cables plugged into it and are they the corect ones (have you plugged a 6/6 cable into a 6/8 graphics card) Other than that the only other thing that springs to mind is a short on the motherboard due to it touching the chassis somewhere.
 
Check that your motherboard is fixed to the base of the cast properly. Sometimes a screw can short the mortherboard and cause random problems. This is a long shot, but a few years ago I had a similar problem which went away when I changed cases - someone on here suggested that a short may have been the problem.
 
any idea how I would check the voltages to the ram / graphics card? In the bios it just says auto? Should I try setting them to something manually and if so what would be sensible levels? Thanks for the help
 
ok i think i might have fixed it. The extra power that goes into the motherboard has a 4 pin and an 8 pin input. I was using the 8 pin one and have changed to the 4 pin - its been stable for about 4-5 hours now! Does this make sense that it would fix the problem? Hopefully might help anyone else with a similar problem too! :)
 
That Corsair Dominator RAM will need up to 2.2 or 2.3 volts to run at its rated speed. The motherboard will default it to 1.8 volts.
 
thanks i have tried this - i ran memtest on my RAM and got loads of errors, i've swapped it with the other stick and get the same thing so presumably its my bios settings that are messing it up? The motherboard had defaulted to 1.8volts so I upped this to 2.2 and then 2.3 but still get lots of errors :confused:
 
Run cpuz, look at the spd tab. This will show the speeds & voltages for different speeds, use the highest:

spd.jpg


Then look at the memory tab. That will show the current settings, if they dont match the settings for the highest speed in the spd you will need to change the BIOS settings:

memory.jpg
 
hi thanks for all the advice on this. I have tried setting different timings / voltages for the RAM but its made no difference at all. Anyone any other suggestions? I'm really stuck here! :( I'm leaning towards faulty hardware tbh but how do I know if I've got a faulty motherboard or 2 faulty sticks of RAM?
 
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