Crimsonorion Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 I'm having no luck with a computer problem and decided to try here, I also posted this in Non-Tor discussion. So it starts off with Starcraft 2..really. I had bought a nice Windows Vista computer some years ago, but when SC2 was coming out I needed a better Video Card so I bought a EVGA NvDia GeForce 295 as well as a Rosewill 950w PSU and put them both in the case, it was a tight fit and tbh wasnt a good idea, but it worked. Year or so later the PSU [i'm guessing] shorts out and I replace it with another Rosewill. But I figure it was too packed in so I just left the case open with the PSU sitting outside, wasnt the best idea but what I had at the time. So I get a job/money and decide to make my own computer with a friend. We buy a Cooler Master tower, a AsRock Extreme4 P67 MOBO some new RAM and an i5 Processor, keeping my Power Supply, HDD, Disk Drive and Card. The build goes well. no problems but a few months down the road my 295 just..stops working. I turn the comp on one day and get a blank screen and the computer beeps out a "No display card detected" code. So I replace the card [Which we hooked up to another computer and it was still dead] with a Msi TwinFrozr GeForce Ti560. Works but I start to notice some odd things. Every few weeks while the comp is on the screen would turn off [Monitor still on] then come back up and a "Kernel crashed" or w/e message would pop up. And from there it just got worse. Soon little green squares would appear on the screen that would go away if I alt tabbed my current window. But every couple of months the screen would just freeze with a wierd patchwork of green squares on the screen. It always happened when playing my MMORPG The Old Republic. But once it happened it wouldnt happen again for a couple months. Then the video card turning on and off with the Kernel crashed message started up again. So I said enough is enough and sent the card in for refurb and bought a replacement MSI card. Within a week that card started to **** up. So I went on Newegg and saw quite a few people were having t he same trouble with the MSI card as I was. though not 100% similar so I said I'll just get a EVGA version. Looked on Newegg and it got good reviews Put in the EVGA 560 TI and it worked ok...for a couple months then one day while just sitting on the desktop the screen freezes [though no squares] and static starts coming thru my speakers. I reset, and 5 minutes in it does it again. Reset, works for a few hours then freezes once again... the first time it froze 06 would pop up on my Mobo. 06 according to my manuel is "Microcode Loading" or something but thats a startup code. It could be D6 which is "No card detected". So I send the EVGA in for refurb and put my MSI refurb back in [Was sitting in my closet wrapped up until now]. Now that one [been a couple weeks] is now freezing with 06 on the MOBO, except this one isnt doing static. I'm at my wits end here. I switched what slot the Card is in but even that doesnt work. Also sometimes when it freezes my keyboard will shut off [The light turns off]. But each time my monitor will still be on just frozen. Please note this doesnt always happen on TOR, most of the time now it happens on the desktop or when running something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teclado Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 (edited) ...I had bought a nice Windows Vista computer some years ago... Oops, there's your problem. In all seriousness, I've never been a big fan of Rosewill. Perhaps your PSU is slowly over time killing your cards. Also, whenever I see something like "RAWR 950W AWESOME!!1!!11" I cringe. It's not all about how many Watts the thing is rated for, it's about how many Amps the thing can deliver on a given supply rail, "quality" of the supply (how much Voltage variance is there on the rails), and efficiency (Pout/Pin). PSU efficiency is normally shown (unless it is terrible and they are too embarrassed to list it). My guess is that with your PSU, the rails were either a wee bit too high or a wee bit too low, thus over time the vid cards got tired of being over/under Volted. If I were you, I would throw the PSU out the window and go for a good quality one. They are rated nowadays....see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus Oh and P.S. You don't need 950W for that system. I have an i5 2500K, HD 7950, SSD, HD, bunch of fans and I am running a good quality 80 plus bronze 650W PSU. I'm also running with my CPU overclocked slightly. Your PSU is the only component in your computer that holds it's hand around all of your other components' throats. It is the single most important component. Don't forget that. Anyways, I hope you get this figured out. Edited May 30, 2013 by teclado Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimsonorion Posted May 30, 2013 Author Share Posted May 30, 2013 Hmm yea it might be the PSU, recently [last week] I got on the comp, was on it for 5 minutes talking on YIM and posting something on my FB and the comp just hard shut down, booting back up a couple seconds later. A couple hours later it froze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimsonorion Posted May 30, 2013 Author Share Posted May 30, 2013 Oops, there's your problem. Oh I forgot to mention. When I built my computer a week later Vista gave me crap about needing a Verification code cause it was the same HDD but different components, so I just upgraded to Windows 7. So the computer now runs on 7 and has for a year or so. Sorry An OEM version of Windows 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidanLightwalker Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Oh I forgot to mention. When I built my computer a week later Vista gave me crap about needing a Verification code cause it was the same HDD but different components, so I just upgraded to Windows 7. So the computer now runs on 7 and has for a year or so. Sorry An OEM version of Windows 7 That's not your issue. OEM copies are linked to your mobo and retail copies can only be registered with once, so as long as you did t switch out your mono, you are fine. granted you can new mono of the same one the OEM is set to and you'll be fine as well. I agree that your issue is the PSU. How are you booking it up? Does it have 2 6 pin connectors on their own rail or are you using molex to 6 pin converters all running on rails with other stuff? 9 times out of 10, when your burning through components over and over again, that is your red flag that your PSU is acting up. If you are only running one gtx 560, go with a high quality 600-650 watt PSU. If you plan on running sli, go with high quality 900plus. Little background history, I'm Aries A+ certified and been working in the IT field now for over 12 years. The above poster is spot on with their PSU advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimsonorion Posted May 30, 2013 Author Share Posted May 30, 2013 That's not your issue. OEM copies are linked to your mobo and retail copies can only be registered with once, so as long as you did t switch out your mono, you are fine. granted you can new mono of the same one the OEM is set to and you'll be fine as well. I agree that your issue is the PSU. How are you booking it up? Does it have 2 6 pin connectors on their own rail or are you using molex to 6 pin converters all running on rails with other stuff? 9 times out of 10, when your burning through components over and over again, that is your red flag that your PSU is acting up. If you are only running one gtx 560, go with a high quality 600-650 watt PSU. If you plan on running sli, go with high quality 900plus. Little background history, I'm Aries A+ certified and been working in the IT field now for over 12 years. The above poster is spot on with their PSU advice. You lost me on the rails, everything is hooked up directly do the PSU based on what the tags say "Little black tags that say This goes to your CD Drives, this to your MOBO this to your HDD etc" the only..extension is the PSU is not made for the case I have more or less. Its meant to be a top mount PSU and this tower has bottom mount, so I had to buy an extension for one of the MOBO connectors. But ok I'll buy a new PSU, and if it needs to be lower wattage then it should cost less which is good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annndy Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 PSU for sure, you'd be surprised the weird things a PSU can cause(RAM too grr) but like others have said NEVER cheap out on the PSU it's actually pretty much the single most important thing inside that case and a bad(cheap) PSU can literally trash every single thing in that case i usually use Corsair and i've heard Cooler Master are pretty good but never actually tried 1. i wouldn't go much bigger then you actually need either, 750w is usually more then enough but i like to have a little extra so usually go 800w and that's usually good unless you're planning to crossfire or SLI some beefy cards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teclado Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 (edited) But ok I'll buy a new PSU, and if it needs to be lower wattage then it should cost less which is good That's actually not necessarily true. In fact, in this case, a good quality PSU will likely cost more. It's not that it needs to be a lower Wattage, it's just that a lot of the cheaper (low quality) supplies tend to brag about Wattage output....because that's all they have to brag about. A good 650W or so supply may cost around $100. I'm thinking something along the lines of this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020 If you look at the "Details" tab, you'll notice a few things: - up to 85% efficiency - +3.3V@25A, +5V@25A, +12V@53A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@3.0A They show you how much the thing can supply on each "rail" (3.3V, 5V, 12V, etc.). This supply is what I am using (I'm using the V1 of this). I've been running it for about two years now I think. I've had zero issues. Edited May 30, 2013 by teclado Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimsonorion Posted May 30, 2013 Author Share Posted May 30, 2013 That's actually not necessarily true. In fact, in this case, a good quality PSU will likely cost more. It's not that it needs to be a lower Wattage, it's just that a lot of the cheaper (low quality) supplies tend to brag about Wattage output....because that's all they have to brag about. A good 650W or so supply may cost around $100. I'm thinking something along the lines of this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020 If you look at the "Details" tab, you'll notice a few things: - up to 85% efficiency - +3.3V@25A, +5V@25A, +12V@53A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@3.0A They show you how much the thing can supply on each "rail" (3.3V, 5V, 12V, etc.). This supply is what I am using (I'm using the V1 of this). I've been running it for about two years now I think. I've had zero issues. Hah thats funny, I got on here to list what PSU I was probably gonna get and thats the one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annndy Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Hah thats funny, I got on here to list what PSU I was probably gonna get and thats the one well worth it and it should last a very long time unless they up and change the connections anytime soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimsonorion Posted May 30, 2013 Author Share Posted May 30, 2013 Alright PSU ordered, hopefully that was the issue, thanks to everyone for the replies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidanLightwalker Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Alright PSU ordered, hopefully that was the issue, thanks to everyone for the replies I agree the above corsair PSU is a good one. Always remember that when you build, the PSU is the heart of your PC, do not skimp on it. Even if on a budget, always spring for a good PSU. It will save you headaches and money down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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