Worst start for a first time builder

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29 Apr 2012
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I'm really stressing out at the moment.
Here's the scenario, I've put together my first build I bought from here today and it worked perfectly for about an hour.
After installing windows, drivers and updates, I decided to get my system ratings through windows. However the pc crashed forcing me to reset.

So once i booted back up, it worked for about 10min then my pc kept turning off then on,

I've checked out the general troubleshooting thread and i've tried all that i can possibly do. One thing i'd like to note is that at times i can turn it on n boot up fine for a few mins, about 10min but then it happens again.

Here's what i've tried,

3. Front Panel Connections - Check that the front panel “Power On” cable is connected to the correct front-panel header on the motherboard. If you suspect a faulty switch or cable, then you can test this by “Shorting” the two pins with a flat head screw driver. If the PC starts with the screw driver but not with the front panel cable or switch then it would appear the front panel cable/switch is faulty. Likewise, check the “Reset” connector. If this is shorting, it can cause shutdown/restart problems.

4. PSU - Assuming that the basic power connections are in place and working, your next step is to test your PSU. Read through my “How to check if your PSU is working” guide for a step-by-step guide.

***I've done nearly all on the link provided except hotwiring, Checking motherboard LED (Z77-D3H Dont think it has one), Checking Voltage, Swapping the PSU***

5. Memory - Check for if your problem is memory related. Refer to “Trouble shooting Memory” guide.

6. Reset the CMOS. Either remove or replace the CMOS battery or set the jumper setting to “Clear”. Refer to motherboard manual.

7.Unplug everything except essentials for test boot up
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What could it be? If its a motherboard problem, is there no way i can get compensated? or sent back for repair?
Here's my build:

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560Ti "448 Edition" WindForce 3x OC 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W)
BenQ G2222HDL 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black
Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383)
Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller
Kingston HyperX RED Limited Edition 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3B1RK2/8GX)
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366)
HP dvd1270i 24X SATA Multiformat DVD Writer

Apologies for the long post and if its in the wrong section but I'm really worried that my first high budget build will go to waste.

Any suggestions and ideas on what the problem could be would really be appreaciated, taking into account I'm fairly new to pc building, some solutions may be out of my reach to do.
 
check temps on you cpu before it crashes.

do u have any other parts you could swap out and try?

Boot with only HDD, CPU and Ram,

Remove DVD drives and gpu and see if it will boot.
 
check temps on you cpu before it crashes.

do u have any other parts you could swap out and try?

Boot with only HDD, CPU and Ram,

Remove DVD drives and gpu and see if it will boot.

Booted with only cpu, gpu and 1 ram on slot 1 instead of 2 rams.... so far its lasted the time its taken to write this (about 7min so far)

Shall i wait longer and see if it'll soon restart -(may try replace the ram with the other one, if it loads up and stays on, will this be a motherboard fault?)

Also a quick note, I left the pc to rest for about 40mins before trying this solution - could this be the reason its lasting longer?

Edit: 15min without restarting.

EDIT: So after 20min i decided to switch to the other ram, immediately it started rebooting, switching it to the working ram = no rebooting


*****Before plugging in more components, is there a possible reason for the ram to be faulty? or isit just a faulty product sent to me?
because maybe something else is causing it to be faulty and adding more components may put them in risk?
 
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kool keep it going for a bit.

Then if it stay alive add the other RAm stick in and see how that goes.

It could be that youve left it and the CPU has cooled down.

Have u checked what your cpu temps are?
 
kool keep it going for a bit.

Then if it stay alive add the other RAm stick in and see how that goes.

It could be that youve left it and the CPU has cooled down.

Have u checked what your cpu temps are?

worked with 1, added the faulty one and it rebooted again, havent checked the cpu temp yet (would i check it with the working ram put in or both?)

Memtest+86.

Would i run this with both the ram sticks in?
 
if its running for a few minutes then shutting down sounds like it could be an incorrectly mounted HSF on the CPu,

try reseating the cooler :)
 
Thanks for the input,
would checking the cpu temp before hand clarify if it is a hsf problem?

yup if you can get it running long enough :)


one word of advice, if your reseating the cpu cooler, apply fresh thermal paste
 
have you tried the faulty memory in different memory slots on the mobo, and the working memory in other slots to confirm its not a problem with the mobo memory slots ?

unlucky with the problems on your first build :(.
 
To save a costly RMA, I'd want to confirm the stick of RAM is faulty. You can run memtest outside of windows (create a bootable disc of it and then load it up, this way you don't have to worry about windows crashing on you). Run the test about 8 times to be sure, but as soon as you get an error, that's it so don't bother continuing. If you can run the system fine indefinitely on the one good stick then this is most likely the issue, but I think it's worth double checking.

If memtest throws up errors with the bad stick installed, then raise an RMA ticket with OcUK and they'll sort the rest. I'd printscreen or take a pic of the error'd test though.
 
Have you made sure the motherboard is running BIOS version f12? It adds Ivybridge support.

This.
Plus, does your mobo have to have the 2 sticks in specific slots? ie. both blues or both whites?

There are plenty of mobo's that DO requires such a config. Worth checking in your mobo manual.
 
I had faulty ram on my first build too, a royal pain in the **** diagnosing it too as it was intermittent and passed 3 multiple pass memtests before finally failing on the 4th go.

On the plus side when your rig is all good you'll massively appreciate it and I bet you've gained a lot of troubleshooting knowledge too in the process.

Best of luck with it.

.
 
Have you made sure the motherboard is running BIOS version f12? It adds Ivybridge support.

Haven't tried this yet but with the faulty ram unplugged it seems to be working great, will check the bios though

try the dodgy memory in the slot the one is working in and faulty 1 in the other 1 see what happens.

Yep did this, put the faulty one in slot 1, then slot 2 and it stilled had the problem
 
To save a costly RMA, I'd want to confirm the stick of RAM is faulty. You can run memtest outside of windows (create a bootable disc of it and then load it up, this way you don't have to worry about windows crashing on you). Run the test about 8 times to be sure, but as soon as you get an error, that's it so don't bother continuing. If you can run the system fine indefinitely on the one good stick then this is most likely the issue, but I think it's worth double checking.

If memtest throws up errors with the bad stick installed, then raise an RMA ticket with OcUK and they'll sort the rest. I'd printscreen or take a pic of the error'd test though.

Tried this with the working ram on slot 1, pass about 20 tests with no errors however i did not try it with the faulty ram (at times it wouldnt even stay long enough to get to the bios)

This.
Plus, does your mobo have to have the 2 sticks in specific slots? ie. both blues or both whites?

There are plenty of mobo's that DO requires such a config. Worth checking in your mobo manual.

Z77-D3H, Yes it does have slots, 2 whites and 2 blues - i correctly plugged it in order 1 and 2 (the two whites)
 
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