need experienced help before i pay a tech

monkeyskin · Apr 24, 2013

first and foremost i will post my specs:

mobo: MSI fm2-a55m-e33
cpu: AMD a10 5800k black edition with radeon hd discrete graphics (currently not overclocked)
gpu: ZOTAC geforce gtx 560 ti (currently not overclocked)
psu: LOGISYS PS550E12BK atx 550w
os: windows 7 home premium
case: sentey bx1 4237 v2.2

all these items purchased new
i scavenged my hard drive and disk drive from my old hp desktop and plan to upgrade them as funds permit

i built this unit about 6 weeks ago with the intention of casual gaming yet the games could be considered graphics intensive. i play bf3, hawkz and currently beta testing world of warplanes. until my beta was approved i played hawkz every couple days and now play WoWP as much as i can.

my old hard drive had the driver for my old aftermarket radeon gpu. i made the mistake of deleting amd drivers without paying attn to onboard graphics. during the past 6 weeks my pc has a habit of doing 1 of 2 things randomly during graphically intense gameplay.

1- instantly shutting off similar to loss of power to unit; it will not come back up unless i unplug the power cord
2- ramp all of the fans to max and put the monitor to sleep; at this point i have to hard reset the desktop

ive done as much research as i can and have found that 75% of these cases are power supply and the other 25% point to the mother board. before i go out and buy new hardware id like to know im shooting in the right direction. i dont mind paying a tech if i absolutely have to so this is my last resort before i come out of pocket.

a few notes:
- my mainboard comes with a bios program i can access from the desktop. i played with a few settings that i thought could help performance. i didnt get into anything that i didnt understand but i noticed my cpu temp reading was 255 deg C. at this point i installed the driver disk and reset it to default settings.

-a few days ago i ran a system diagnostics and my device manager produced 2 unknown items. after some research i found their hardware id's belonged to amd which i can only assume are my onboard graphics. i went to amd's website and did my best to download the drivers. the devices are no longer named 'unknown' but i cant access any program with the search terms amd or catalyst at this time.

-i played around with a second monitor running at the same time as this one, but only for a few days

-all my drivers and my operating system are up to date

-i purchased a copy of advanced system care ultimate and ran all the tools they offered

-my antivirus software detects no issues

i think ive exhausted any tool i can think of at my disposal and havent fixed the problem. im looking at 200.00 for geek squad to tell me whats wrong. id rather buy the faulty hardware with that money as i am beyond any rma at this point and i dont know if the manufacturer will help me. any information not already provided is at your disposal.

i really appreciate this website. 90% of any tech question ive googled has redirected me to this site which is why i became a member. if you havent already, pat yourself on the back. you guys have the answers and hopefully rings true on this tragedy heh.

ricky

Snipergod87 · Apr 24, 2013

Do you or any friends have a power supply you could test out? That PSU was way to cheap to be a decent 550 watt unit in fact it is 550 watt peak, rated for 400 watt continuous from some reviews I am reading.

I would honestly recommend buying an Antec, Corsair, or even better a SeaSonic PSU.
I have had the bad experience of a cheap power supply blowing out a $200+ motherboard, that was an expensive mistake.

monkeyskin · Apr 24, 2013

actually no. most of my friends would buy a pc off the shelf before attempting to build. i am suspect of the cheap psu. i have verified that the fan is turning which is a common question during this case.

i would like to comment that the gpu requires 2 6 pin pci power adapters from the power supply. my psu only offers 1 so i used one of the molex to 6 pin adapters that came with the gpu and the 6 pin from the psu. i dunno if this has any bearing on the situation but to clarify, the gpu is fed from as follows:

psu-- 6pin- -gpu

psu--molex--adapter-
-gpu
psu--molex--adapter-

i hope that is helpful and not confusing lol.

8350rocks · Apr 24, 2013

If your GPU requires 2 separate 6 pin connectors, you need a dedicated 600W PSU and not a 550W peak PSU...that's likely your issue, the PSU cannot keep up.

Snipergod87 · Apr 24, 2013

Typically if it doesn't supply 2x 6pin using a molex to 6pin is a bad idea.

MEMOFLEX · Apr 24, 2013

I agree with the comments above that it seems like a PSU issue. Unfortunatley it is quite often the most overlooked area on lots of PC's (got caught out myself in the early days) mainly due to budget but I would recommend the corsair builder series as a base point should that be the issue.

monkeyskin · Apr 24, 2013

ok now i feel like you are on to something with this issue and there is a spark of hope. since we know the psu is cheap and under the circumstances is probably the problem what size psu would be ideal to replace it. i dont want to buy a minimum req. type psu and i dont worry about noise that much. btw i do run my kb, mouse, flash drive, joystick and wireless reciever off 5 of the 6 usb ports. i also cool my case with 1 200 mm and 4 120 mm fans. i assume they draw somw amount of power taking away from the psu

Cazalan · Apr 24, 2013

Newegg has that Power supply for $24. That is just too cheap. It would be fine for the APU without a discrete.

The 560 Ti can take ~170W under load by itself.

Cazalan · Apr 24, 2013

I prefer modular PS. This one is $59 after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139048

Snipergod87 · Apr 24, 2013

Fans don't draw to much power most of it is going to CPU+GPU.
There is a non-modular one for a few dollars less
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028
However I would suggest modular makes cable management easier.
If I was choosing one I would go with this Antec myself over 600 reviews and a rather good rating:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

monkeyskin · Apr 25, 2013

i like the suggestions. id like some opinions on these as well:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171037

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182131

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182132

whichever of the items listed in this thread best fits my needs is what im getting. ive got around 100.00 including shipping to spend. i dont plan on sli/crossfire in the near future but i want one that will meet any power needs i require. thanks again for the community response.

ricky

MEMOFLEX · Apr 25, 2013

The choice is really up to you matey. With a limited budget I would probably try and get the best power supply you can and sacrafice modular cables as they do add a premium but that is just personal choice as not to fussed with having to spend a bit of extra time tidying cables within the case.

All of those PSU's were 80+ Bronze so they should be ok and all provide enough power on the 12v rail for your gfx.

This one is a slightly less powerful version of the one I currently use :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

and has been fantastic. Good long cables but as mentioned above it is not modular so some cable management would be in order as it does come with a lot of cables.

As mentioned all of those PSU's seem fine for what you need but I have only recommended the corsair one as it is the only one that I have first hand experience with.

Hope that helps in some way.

bluejayek · Apr 25, 2013

monkeyskin :

I am surprised that nobody else has commented on this yet.... 255 is the maximum that can be stored in a 1 byte integer, so its possible that this is simply an overflow or reading error in the program you are using to get the temperature. However, if the cpu is getting anywhere near this hot, it could well simply shut down on you.

I don't have experience with AMD processors, but try this little program to check your CPU temperature http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/ .

If there is a problem with the temperatures, you should check the mounting of your cpu cooler and fan. If the fan is running, take off the heat sink and check the thermal paste application, if it was done poorly/not at all it could be overheating your cpu.

8350rocks · Apr 25, 2013

For the card you have, you'll want no less than a 550W sustained PSU, and I would recommend a 600W PSU personally. The options listed above would make good sense.

ohyouknow · Apr 25, 2013

Any of the PSU's above are great choices. The Rosewill Hive is a fine choice. Good Luck.

monkeyskin · Apr 25, 2013

purchased this today
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

i think it will get the job done. i run nvidia system tools and it gives me a cpu temp hovering around 22 deg C and gpu temp around 38 deg C. i know they probably arent exact but they give me enough confidence to realize it was a glitch and after resetting to default the problem went away.

on this subject alone this site has saved me over 100.00 out of pocket if it resolves the issue. im 90% sure from the feedback it will. thank all of you for your timely andd informative responses and i will post the outcome asap.

couple questions; to this point with the troubles ive been having i havent even considered overclocking anything and am anxious to know if my rig can handle it now given the specs. if so, is it even necessary for the type gaming i do and what result will i experience during gameplay? for instance- if i O.C. both my cpu and gpu and play bf3 on max settings would you see dramatic results vs. no O.C.? would you think it will cause fps loss or improved quality. maybe what i dont understand is the general purpose of overclocking. this is the first rig ive owned with the capability of overclocking ,so to date it hasnt been a subject to consider. suggestions would be appreciated and as always thanks ahead of time for the feedback.

ricky

DukeOvilla · Apr 25, 2013

Just do it yourself and save monies.

ohyouknow · Apr 25, 2013

monkeyskin :

purchased this today
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

i think it will get the job done. i run nvidia system tools and it gives me a cpu temp hovering around 22 deg C and gpu temp around 38 deg C. i know they probably arent exact but they give me enough confidence to realize it was a glitch and after resetting to default the problem went away.

on this subject alone this site has saved me over 100.00 out of pocket if it resolves the issue. im 90% sure from the feedback it will. thank all of you for your timely andd informative responses and i will post the outcome asap.

couple questions; to this point with the troubles ive been having i havent even considered overclocking anything and am anxious to know if my rig can handle it now given the specs. if so, is it even necessary for the type gaming i do and what result will i experience during gameplay? for instance- if i O.C. both my cpu and gpu and play bf3 on max settings would you see dramatic results vs. no O.C.? would you think it will cause fps loss or improved quality. maybe what i dont understand is the general purpose of overclocking. this is the first rig ive owned with the capability of overclocking ,so to date it hasnt been a subject to consider. suggestions would be appreciated and as always thanks ahead of time for the feedback.

ricky

Honestly, there really isn't a dramatic difference IMO. That being said you will notice more difference when you OC your GPU as opposed to your CPU in gaming.

monkeyskin · Apr 26, 2013

ok, thanks. i suppose what i will do is do some self testing. ill O.C. the cpu, run the game, watch my fps and look for any issues, then turn the O.C. off and run the same steps with the gpu, then both together and look for any noticable difference in framerate, temps, machine noise and texture transitioning. if there is anything in particular i should be aware of to keep my eye on id appreciate the input. thanks again.

ricky

need experienced help before i pay a tech

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