South Carolina Video Games & PC Enthusiasts

[|FZ|Onomas]

I came here to ask questions about my pc build. There are many sites out there and all give different answers.

Plus i know your guys technical skills so this is best place to get help.

I bought an Apevia 650w power supply. Was on sale, and 650 was atleast 200+ watts more than i needed. Used power consumption calc. Knew i should have got a better brand lol.

Ok my problem, ill explain what i did to cover all basis:

1) Got my case, mobo, proc, fan, drd, hd, memory extra 120mm fans.

2) Open case up, removed packaging, installed 2 extra 120mm fans on side.

3) Added standoffs to the correct atx form slots and hand tightened them. And organized cables (usb, led, etc.)

4) took mobo out of box, organized items in box on hard wood table on hard wood floor to prevent static (locked dog outside lol)

5) opened proc box took fan and proc out.

6) Placed proc into mobo correctly and closed the lever. Removed fan and lined up fan over proc and clips on side. Moved retained over one clip, keeping fan straight not to damage proc. Moved second clip over and tightened them down with lever. Looks good. Oh added little extra thermal paste, artic 5 i think it was. Did not go over the edges.

7) Took memory out of container, installed memory properly into mobo slots. Clicked into place with little pressure.

added I/O plate to rear of case, gently placed mobo into case and lined up I/O plate with rear I/O's. Mono fit right over each stand off no problems. Added screws to mobo, gently tightening, not to hard to damage mobo. Everything was secure, nothing over or under mobo, and do not think any metal touched mobo, was clear all the way in.

9) Added power supply, hd, dvd rom and organized layout a little.

10) added 20+4 pin 12 pin to mobo, connected proc fan to mobo, connected front and rear fan to mobo (3 pin). Wrapped these cords around the back for cable management, but left enough to move around and adjust. Looked great, no lose wires, everything tucked nicely in the back of case.

11) added the 2 120mm side fans to molex adapters, and closed case once everything was in place.

12) added power supply cord to power supply. crossed fingers, sacrificed 8 virgin, yadda yadda..... Made sure power supply was set for 115, not 230. Turned it on. Hit power button on case and everything lit up, fans running, blowing cold air, quiet as hell. Everything worked.

13) asus screen came up told me what i had, checked to make sure hd, dvd, mem, everything was listed. It was.

14) setup windows xp at first, later vista, then wanted 64 bit so ran out and got windows 7 and installed. ran great. Updated drivers, windows 7, and installed extra softwar came with the components.

15) ran good let it sit for awhile, ran about 2 hrs no issues. Restarted computer a few times to make sure all was good and i had case hooked up right.

16) went to work after powering down.

17) came home, took pc upstairs and hooked it up, started and ran fine. Checked the web for extra's and was thinking good things of the pc.

1 ran pc at full load and checked temp ( speed fan is what i used for temp check, didnt know of many others). Screen froze up a few times, restarted and ok after that.

19) then later on the pc beeped and went dead.

I tried new power cords, tried letting it cool down. Temp was 23-25c at idle and 44-48 at 100% load. With 6 120mm fans i didnt think it was overheating

Well i tried to start back up again, everything came on for 2-5 seconds and died off again. Could see and hear power supply fan come on, heard dvd rom move, even proc fan started to move, blue led lights on fan moved and lit up. Then dark, nothing, nadda

I checked inside case, mobo had green light on, i was hoping i didnt fry it lol.
I tried new power cords.
I tried to remove vid card, dvd rom, 1 stick of memory, and still same thing. Turns on, lits up, 5 seconds dead.

I took PSU out of my other pc and hooked up 4 pin and 24 pin and damn thing started right up.

But problem is this PSU isnt sata ready, so i couldnt hook up hd, dvd rom and everything to test if something else was causing it to not start. My pc i use now is ide mostly, does have 1 sata adapter, but no good for this new pc (need 3 so far and 2 pcie 6 pins).



So is mobo fried? One of components messing it all up.
Or simply a defective power supply?

Since other PSU started it up i think PSU went bad? What would cause this? I know sometimes you just get crap and sometimes you get good from newegg. But damn less than 24 hours? fook me

I havent built a pc from the ground up in a very very long time. My last 2 were store bought, which i upgraded due to price. This time i went for looks and what i wanted in them for expansion.


Please help, sorry for long post. I already started RMA for the PSU, i have a feeling thats the problem, but just want to check with you guru's first.

Thanks
Ono
_________________

[Jagou]

First... Go back and reapply your thermal paste correctly! From your description you did it terribly wrong. The arctic silver website has specific instructions.

It sounds like you have a bad PSU. Order a nice one. I know the PSU isn't a bling item but it's definitely the one you can't skimp on.

The PSU you have that isn't SATA ready, can be used with adapters until your REAL PSU arrives. Don't overload the machine while you wait for the new device to get there.

Most computer stores will carry the adapters... there's an off chance Best Buy or a similar store might have them.
_________________
Jagou

"When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price." -- Richard M.

Stallman
Windows is easier than Linux, just like crapping your pants is easier than going to the

bathroom. —Anonymous
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” — William Butler

Yeats
"God help aliens if we find 'em. Especially if they taste good." — SA

lose [looz] ,lost, los·ing. 1. to come to be without (something) through accident, theft, etc., so that

there is little or no prospect of recovery.
loose /lus/ [loos] adjective, loos·er, loos·est, adverb, verb loosed, loos·ing. –adjective 1. free or

released from fastening.
their [thair; unstressed ther] –pronoun 1. a form of the possessive case of they used as an attributive

adjective, before a noun: their home; their rights as citizens.
there [thair; unstressed ther] –adverb 1. in or at that place (opposed to here).
they're; Contraction of they are.

Please don't complain about things that are easy to ignore.

[|FZ|Onomas]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148041

Thats the psu i bought. Its really nice psu, same color as my case lights, and cables have a nice mess outter layer :/ Had ok reviews minus a few getting DOA ones.

Think ill look for another.

Should i reapply the fan? Getting good temps, this would account for the freezing once in awhile?
_________________

[Jagou]

Well, good temps is nice....but if you applied the thermal compound the way you described it, then it can't be right.

Most stock heatsinks and some aftermarket models come with a pre-applied paste and or a thermal pad.

If you're going to apply your own paste, the manufacturer's paste needs to be removed.

it needs to be wiped very clean. It's best to use a micro-fiber cloth and a solvent that won't leave a residue. I use denatured alcohol. You can grab a can at a hardware store, Lowe's etc...

Lint, or fibers from cloth or a paper towel are a bad deal. Clean, means clean.

Apply the paste to the CPU.

Apply as little paste as is possible and still cover the surface. The goal is to have the thinnest layer you can manage to achieve.

The paste is there to fill any air gaps between the CPU and the heatsink. That's all. Anymore than that, and it's too much.

A lot of folks don't carry the paste to the outside of the CPU. They put a dab in the middle and let the pressure squeeze the paste down. A small dab in the middle, done right, can be effective I suppose, but it's sloppy and creates a greater margin of error unnecessarily. It's not difficult to do it right.

If you don't know what to do with the power supply... buy a PSU tester. They're $10 - $25 dollars on Newegg and usually $25 or so at Best Buy if they have one in stock.
_________________
Jagou

"When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price." -- Richard M.

Stallman
Windows is easier than Linux, just like crapping your pants is easier than going to the

bathroom. —Anonymous
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” — William Butler

Yeats
"God help aliens if we find 'em. Especially if they taste good." — SA

lose [looz] ,lost, los·ing. 1. to come to be without (something) through accident, theft, etc., so that

there is little or no prospect of recovery.
loose /lus/ [loos] adjective, loos·er, loos·est, adverb, verb loosed, loos·ing. –adjective 1. free or

released from fastening.
their [thair; unstressed ther] –pronoun 1. a form of the possessive case of they used as an attributive

adjective, before a noun: their home; their rights as citizens.
there [thair; unstressed ther] –adverb 1. in or at that place (opposed to here).
they're; Contraction of they are.

Please don't complain about things that are easy to ignore.

[|FZ|Onomas]

Took out old psu, cleaned up proc and fan and added more paste. Looks good. And bought another cheap psu to put in until my other one gets pma and returned.

Its powered up and running good now. No freezes.

Temps are 34c idle

Think im good for now lol. Hope to get nanother psu back from newegg soonso i can hook up new vid card.
_________________

[|FZ|Onomas]

Had the guys at local comp shop test psu, said something about it starts up but something trips inside and shuts it off. Something like that, just know its bad psu.
_________________

[Bald_Yew]

Sorry I couldn't answer earlier, was late for work this morning when I read this. Jag hit the 2 things I was going to say on the head. You basically found out the PSU was bad yourself....and thermal paste - use a dab about the size of a grain of rice and let the pressure from the HSF spread it. Check the manufacturers website for best way to apply - different compounds are applied differently.

Grats on the new build!
_________________
(\/)Ò_ó(\/)

[|FZ|Onomas]

Thanks guys! Im just happy its the psu and not proc or mobo even though they are still new i can replace them. It would just hurt the ego if i fried them that fast lol.
_________________

[|FZ|Onomas]

Pc kept hanging. I took fan off, whipped it clean and used alchol on swabs to clean both fan and proc. Put nice layer of past back on and put it back together.

Bought new vid card (xfx radeon 5770 1gb ddr5 and added that.

Still froze up.

Since i installed xp, then vista, then 7 upgrades i had problem with registry and whatnot. So i reformated the HD and reinstalled just xp then 7.

Installed AMD overdrive and tested pc at full load and checked temps. All seem good now and didnt crash when setting cpu to full load for a change.

So i think im fixed.

Heard on Windows website so many are having freezing issues with windows 7 so thought a fresh clean install was best. Hope this lasts awhile lol.


Need a new cpu fan, though think the stock fan will work. Temps seem well at 32-34c idle, so might save the money.
_________________