New computer keeps having random lockups

[DJSirMatthew]

I bought the computer beginning of December. First there were really a lot of lock-ups in the first 5-10 minutes of booting up. Upping the voltage on the ram solved the problem but only for a couple of days. Now the problem is that it usually freezes quite quickly when playing Dragon Age: Origins. After lowering texture detail & AA from 8 to 4, it freezes less but on occasion it still does. Now for the specs:

MB: Gigabyte GA-MA785GT-UD3H
RAM: Corsair 1333 DDR3 Value Ram
CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8Ghz
GPU: Powercolor ATI Radeon 4670 with 1Gb DDR3 memory
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500Gb

I set an event on Speedfan to beep whenever the +12V drops below 11V and it seems to do on random occasions (but defo quite quickly when running Dragon Age), dropping to 7.18V or even 4.16V. Does this mean my PSU (600W Halion which is local brand from Peru I guess) is faulty?

After playing like 30 min without hickups Temp3 (don't know which temperature that is) is up to 60C, Core close to 50C...

 

[DJSirMatthew]

Btw, as there is a sticker to the case for guarantee sakes, I can't open the case myself and have a look but I remember the +12V gave something like 26A.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

You mentioned Peru. Any chance this is your power supply:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://pcya.pe/tienda/case-halion-mercury-7330a-600w-conec-azul-p-318.html&ei=3boqS8r6EI6OswPWjPjXAw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCAQ7gEwBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DHalion%2B600w%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

This is the halion case with the power supply:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://pcya.pe/tienda/case-halion-mercury-7330a-600w-conec-azul-p-318.html&ei=3boqS8r6EI6OswPWjPjXAw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCAQ7gEwBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DHalion%2B600w%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

It appears to be a generic OEM psu. I checked several references. It's definitely a generic power supply that is typically installed in generic cases. The brand name seems to be limited to Peru. I could not identify the manufacturer but if testing was performed correctly that psu cannot deliver 600 watts or 26 amps on the +12 volt rail. it seems to be a 450 watt psu with low budget, low quality capacitors.

 

[DJSirMatthew]

Hey,

You gave twice the same link But I found the PSU on that site. It's a generic OEM PSU.

Since putting a AC stabilizer between the computer and the plug, the PSU hasn't dropped under 11V on the +12V single rail. Given the 26A max load, it means it's more like a 312W PSU. Which is just enough to run the computer doing "normal" stuff, but running high-end games on full GPU load will need a stronger PSU I guess. Same goes for overclocking.

I do wonder why it has a max load of 34A on the +5v ??

 

[JohnnyLucky]

If memory serves I think 30 to 35 amps on the +5 volt rail used to be fairly typical back in the good old days. Back then the +5 volt rails used to power more components, sometimes supplying almost as much power as the +12 volt rail. A lot has changed since then.

 

[DJSirMatthew]

I'm just wondering, if the graphics card has its own connector, what does it connect to? The +12V or the +5V or +3.3V? Would be nice to get the GPU off the +12V rail, that would give me a lot more wiggle room...

 

[DJSirMatthew]

Well, apparently the PCIe power connector consists only of +12 rail connections, so I guess that answers my question... If I ever want to make this computer run stable under high-end games, it will be with lower graphics setting to not fully load the GPU, or by buying a new PSU (thinking about the Corsair XT 650W or even the 400W (30A on +12V)...

So much I have learned the last few days, quite interesting stuff!