Major problems with built PC

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Larhalt

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Mar 17, 2014
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Hi Everyone!

this is the first time I'm asking something here and I'm desperate.. I built my first gaming rig last november and at first everything seemed to work perfectly, then, after a few weeks I started to have sudden severe drops on the graphics performance (for example, even youtube videos would lag A LOT), playing games was absolutely out of the question, but it didn't happened all the time!, it was only on maybe 1/3 of every startup of the PC (but once it happened it stayed like that until I rebooted the system)

to make things short, first I tought it was the PSU (my full specs will be at the end of my post), I got a PSU tester and confirmed it was faulty, so I went to my retailer and got it repaired (not exchanged). I tested it again and it read ok on all voltages, but I kept having the fail! so I tought it was the graphics card then, again, took it back to guarantee and after a few weeks with Nvidia they gave me a brand new replacement (which confirmed my previous card was defective)

and NOW, after almost a month of having no issued, the past week I've been having severe slow downs on the whole PC! (now not just the graphics, but everything, some times I cant even minimize the programs or open the task manager!!, and just like all the past times, it happens only in about 1/3rd of every start up (and if it happens, stays like that until I reboot... this saturday I had to reboot the PC like 5 times until I get it to work!) and sometimes windows takes A LOT to boot up even when is installed on a SSD!

Also, ever since I build it I had to turn off the fans alarm on the bios because they always sound on the start up (even when the fans are working ok!) now I have all the fans connected directly to the PSU except the CPU one (seidon water cooling) but I have it with the alarm turned off

I'm extremely frustrated!! I don't know if its the motherboard (I supect it because of the fans alarm always going off) or maybe a failure on the SSD or HDD (because of the failures happening intermitently).

I have a 128 SSD where windows and a few other programs are installed and a 2tb HDD with all my games and data

what should I do?? all the parts were brand new and purchased at the same store!

My PC Specs:
Motherboard: GA-Z87MX-D3H %u2013 GIGABYTE
Processor: Intel Core I5 4670 3.4GHz
RAM: 16Gb (4x4Gb) ADATA 2400MHZ AX3U2400GC4G10-DG2 (working at 2400 MHz with XMP profile)
GPU: ASUS GTX 760 OC 2GB
SSD: Kingston HyperX 120Gb (SO Win 8.1 installed here)
HDD: Seagate ST2000DM001 2Tb 7200RMP
PSU: Coolermaster GX RS750-ACAAD3-US 750W
CPU Cooler: Coolermaster SEIDON 120M RL-S12M-24PK-R1
 
Solution
Major_Trouble
Re-installing the latest Nvidia drivers would be my first option. Make sure your check the clean install option.

I have know a bad adapter / monitor lead to cause the on / off symptoms you describe that might be worth checking. When it's up and running wiggle the lead a bit to see if it gives trouble.

If new drivers don't help I would suspect a Gfx card fault. Now why a second card has gone faulty is a bit alarming. PSU? Mobo? Just bad luck?

The drivers could be corrupted from bad SSD or SATA but if that were the case I would expect a failure every boot up.

You might want to try re-seating the Gfx card. i.e. pull it out and put it back in making sure it goes in correctly.
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vipboy28

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Jan 24, 2007
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your computer shutting off would be a heat issue. Try checking your CPU temps in your bios if you can. The fact that you had a bad PSU and then it burned your VCard out is bad news and in past experiences, my PSU was bad and burnt out all 3 major components, CPU, VC, PSU. After Rma'ing everything. My computer worked for like a month and then the Mobo went bad. So i think the PSU destroyed my systems piece by piece. If i was you, i would 2 things

1) Check CPU temps to see if your actually heating up way to much causing slow performance and random shut downs.

2) replaced Mobo is 1 isnt an issue.
 
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Major_Trouble

Major_Trouble

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Jun 25, 2007
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Personally I would yank everything I could to run the machine as basic as I could.

Go down to 1 x 4gb, pull the Gfx card and run on the CPU GPU, pull the HDD and just run the OS from your SSD. Pull anything else you can - DVD?

Test your ram and if it's good try another stick. Repeat that to find if one is faulty.

If your machine is fine you can add components one at a time to see if it goes back to faulty mode.

If your machine is still faulty in basic configuration it's got to be something out of what is left and I would strongly suspect the mobo. Strange as Gigabyte are pretty reliable. You could try disabling parts of the board (sound?) in the BIOS to see if it's a mobo component.
 
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Larhalt

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Mar 17, 2014
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4,510
Vipboy28 > Actually overheating is not an issue, even with the stock cooler the temps on the cpu have always been fairly low and with the seidon water cooling the temps are usually on high 30's low 40's (even with prime 95 the top I've had was 65 I think)... Do you think that maybe the first defective PSU could have damaged the Mobo?

Major_Trouble > I've been told to do that but I haven't because (to be absolutely honest) i'm really lazy! lol, since the failure happens only occasionally that means I would have to do that kind of test (unplug something, test, plug it back, test, unplug another thing etc etc on the span of a few days and as a full time office worker who has a wife and 2 little girls I have very little time to enjoy my hobby. but anyway I think there's no other option. Today I will run some tests on the HDD's and if they're ok then I'll start to disasemble the PC (If I can't find the failure then I'll have to RMA the motherboard :(

aaah! I have another question guys! do you have any idea on why my windows is taking way longer to start up? right after the install (on the ssd) the full boot up took about 12 to 15 secs, and now I'm up to a minute (still good time but far from an optimal performance) do you think it could have anything to do with my other failures? I already checked the programs that run on the start up and they're not that many
 
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Major_Trouble

Major_Trouble

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Jun 25, 2007
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As it used to boot up in 12/15 secs that would be normal for SSD. When it boots up and takes a minute it could be the BIOS or Windows initializing devices. If they're faulty that would lengthen the boot time. It might be your SSD or SATA ports or RAM or Mobo. The list goes on.....

Going back to basic configuration would help find the faulty part faster. I know it's a PITA to do but, hey, it's your hobby. You will feel great satisfaction when you eventually fix it.

Have you checked the Windows Event log?
 
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Larhalt

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Mar 17, 2014
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Major_Trouble > "Have you checked the Windows Event log?", Actually now that you mention it yes I have and I found a ton of warnings and events on a very specific code but I googled it and couldn't find anything (i know it's important, sorry i forgot about it.. right now I'm at work but as soon as I get back home i'll check it and post a transcript)... considering the kind of problem I've tought it could also be a conflict on one of the core services
 
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Larhalt

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Mar 17, 2014
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hi guys, I'm back, I just checked the event log and it had 294 errors in the few minutes after startup, from which 285 were error ID 14 nvlddmkm (it seems to be a video driver failure).. the same error happened 2356 times on the past 7 days! the odd thing is that the video input seems to go on and off from the monitor during the startup but once windows opens the picture seems to be stable :(
 
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Major_Trouble

Major_Trouble

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Jun 25, 2007
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Re-installing the latest Nvidia drivers would be my first option. Make sure your check the clean install option.

I have know a bad adapter / monitor lead to cause the on / off symptoms you describe that might be worth checking. When it's up and running wiggle the lead a bit to see if it gives trouble.

If new drivers don't help I would suspect a Gfx card fault. Now why a second card has gone faulty is a bit alarming. PSU? Mobo? Just bad luck?

The drivers could be corrupted from bad SSD or SATA but if that were the case I would expect a failure every boot up.

You might want to try re-seating the Gfx card. i.e. pull it out and put it back in making sure it goes in correctly.
 
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Larhalt

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Mar 17, 2014
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4,510
Major_Trouble > ok I'll try to make a clean install of nvidia drivers, but I've done it before (last time a couple weeks ago) and doesn't seem to solve the problem at all.. what really worries me is what are the odds of having a second defective gfx card on the row? I'm seriously thinking on either taking all the components apart and returning them all (leave to the guarantees guys to check them all and find the culprit) or even taking my whole PC to the service and have a technician diagnose it (but here I fear the "mechanic syndrome" aka when your car is broken but as soon as you get to the mechanic the damn thing starts to work perfectly!... I can clearly see myself waiting a couple weeks just to get a call from the technician saying everything's been working just fine :'(

P.S. I've also been thinking on doing a clean windows install, but since I don't know if the failure is caused by hardware or software I don't know how usefull it would be :(
 
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