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Instability with a new build

Last response: in Overclocking
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Hi

I am having some problems with a new build and I'm out of ideas. It's my first build and I think I may have aimed a little too high. The specs are:
Intel I7 3770k
Dual Nvidia GTX 580 in SLI (1 EVGA the other PNY)
24GB Ram (ddr3)
256GB Samsung SSD
2 TB hard drive
Antec kuhler h20 620
3 viewsonic 23" 3D monitors
LG Blu Ray
1050W PSU
MSI Z77A GD65 motherboard

The system seems to work ok in the most part except for a couple of annoying issues.
It crashes or won't boot whenever I try and over-clock to anything more than 4.2GHZ (I see other people achieving much more with the same specs). It never gets above 55c
The Internet freezes almost every time I use it. I'l reach a website and not be able to navigate away. This is especially annoying when I type an email and loose it all before I can send it. It's not the service because my Macbook Pro works fine and is much faster on the Internet.
I bought a PCI E wireless card with 3 antennas sticking out the back. How do other people get wireless without that?
The power button on the case doesn't work (phantom 410). I have to open it up and use the motherboard power button every time.

Nothing works when Norton is installed. Every time I make a change it tells me I have o close some file that I can't find.

It can only use 16GB of the 24GB installed but the motherboard claims to work with up to 32GB

I know this is a random list of issues...The main problem is the crashing and freezing. I have never built a gaming machine before. Is it normal for them to be so unstable or is there a key rooky mistake I could be making. Crysis 2 crashes every time I play it.
My Mac is stable and never crashes is Windows just less stable than Mac OS? I feel like I must have done something wrong but I can't think where to look. Any idea for me to try?
BTW, I understand now why you guys love building PCs now. It was so satisfying and fun.

More about : instability build

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Graphics card Authority

1. Overclocks are luck, you might not be able to hit those clocks.
2. I don't know about your internet freezing issues, might be your Hard Drive screwing up, can we get a model number?
3. I have no idea about Wireless cards, hopefully someone who does will come along.
4. Norton isn't the most helpful Antivirus, I personally believe Security Essentials (For free) and Malwarebytes (For free) are the best combination.
5. The amount of ram your system uses, is relative to your OS. If you have like Home Premium, it will only take up to like 16 GB of ram or something, while Ultimate will take crazy amounts like 192 GB.
6. Just pressing the computer button when the cables aren't plugged into the motherboard itself won't work. You have to do something like this :



Also, make sure you install your drivers, I'm not actually sure if you ever did that :) 
Graphics card Authority

The green cable is the cable from my case button to plug into my motherboard, which allows me to use the button. Check your motherboard manual on where to plug it in.
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anti-painkilla said:
How is your ram configured? 3 x 8GB sticks?


The Ram is configured two 8's and two 4's. I took the suggestion above and looked into the OS and found that Home Premium does support more than 16GB. I just upgraded it to Pro which says it will accept up to 192GB. I replaced the 4's with 2 new 8's to bring it up to 32gb. Now it says 32GB instaled (23.3gb usable) which caused several minutes of rage...

Is there something I'm meant to do when I add more Ram other than inserting it and pressing the power button?

JJ1217 said:
1. Overclocks are luck, you might not be able to hit those clocks.
2. I don't know about your internet freezing issues, might be your Hard Drive screwing up, can we get a model number?
3. I have no idea about Wireless cards, hopefully someone who does will come along.
4. Norton isn't the most helpful Antivirus, I personally believe Security Essentials (For free) and Malwarebytes (For free) are the best combination.
5. The amount of ram your system uses, is relative to your OS. If you have like Home Premium, it will only take up to like 16 GB of ram or something, while Ultimate will take crazy amounts like 192 GB.
6. Just pressing the computer button when the cables aren't plugged into the motherboard itself won't work. You have to do something like this :

http://i.imgur.com/dTYex.jpg

Also, make sure you install your drivers, I'm not actually sure if you ever did that :) 



Thanks for the pic. That is what I was looking for but couldn't find. Am I right in thinking that the wire that connects the power button on the case should plug into the motherboard and not the PSU directly?

All I have left over from the case is 3 small, black, 2 pin, male wires. They fit the 2 pin connecter from the PSU and when I connect them, the power button brings the system to life but it won't turn on. The purple lights on the case comes on as well as the light on the OC Genie button but no attempt to boot. When I pull the wires out, It boots up again but the power button no longer works (have to use the power button on the motherboard again).

For no specific reason, my computer runs 10 degrees hotter today than yesterday (now at 45-50 when idle instead of 35-40.



JJ1217 said:
The green cable is the cable from my case button to plug into my motherboard, which allows me to use the button. Check your motherboard manual on where to plug it in.



The manual that came with my case was perhaps the least useful document ever written by a man. I'm having a really frustrating time finding anything that provides a useful level of detail on where each wire should go and which wires and slots on the motherboard should be left unused. I have watched so many of those Youtube videos and they all seem to cover the obvious parts and then skip over that bit by saying "then just connect the case wires to the motherboard and you're ready to play". I'm starting to think that nobody knows and everyone just inserts wires according to their best guess and then hopes that when they press the power button they see Windows instead of a mushroom cloud... I get confused further by conflicting info - e.g. some says the fan on the PSU should face up, some down and again, nothing in the instructions.

If I upload a pic of my setup, would you be able to point out the slot or are all motherboards so different that you'd only know if you had the same one?

your right.. the button should be connected to the motherboard. Check your motherboards manual and see if everything is plugged in correctly. I'd be pissed if I were you... having issues with a $1500-2000 build. The only thing that I would change in your system is the video card. Their is more stability in a single card system. I'd get the GTX 690 if I were you.

I have a GTX 680, I only have the 580's because I read that they were better for 3D rendering which I do a lot of. I design gaming and home theater setups in one of my businesses and I have another that design retail displays.

I have to say that people were right, the 580's are like magic in comparison for Maya.

How do you upload pics? I can't see an option and it won't let me paste..

Graphics card Authority

Normally, as you can see in my picture, the front case button normally connects to the two or three pins above the motherboard turning on button (In my motherboard, I have three pins above my turn on motherboard button, all I did was plug it into there, and it should work, depending on your motherboard.)

I checked again based on what you said and I found the problem for the power button issue. It's in different place on mine but the issue wasn't a case of not plugging in the right lead. On my MSI board, there is an adapter where you plug all the pins into before inserting into the motherboard. The socket is almost underneath one of my graphics cards. When I installed the GPU, I knocked out and bent 3 of the pins. The adapter is very badly made, if you sneeze, it will fall to pieces. Any, I now how a working power button and some strange additional neon lights given the appearance of an Amsterdam sex shop in my living room. Of all the stages in my build, never thought the power on button would give me so much satisfaction! Thanks for your help on that.

Now just the minor issues of crashing and freezing internet explorer to deal with. Oh, and only being able to use 23.2 GB of my 32GB RAM. Any ideas?
This thread posted twice and someone asked, on the other one, what the gpu temp was with a game on. I check with GPU Z using Need for Speed 'Hot Persuit", the GPU temp hovered around 70 degrees from a standing start of 60 degrees. The CPU cores ran at 80, 70, 65, 52 from a standing start of 52, 51, 46, 45. This was with 2 screens running and Maya on in the background. That Intel turbo boost thing was also on at 4.4GHZ.
Does it sound like heat is part of my problem? If so, what could I do about that given I already have water cooling?


On a related note, have any of you experienced some of these crashing problems because of the games themselves? Crysis 2 crashes at the same point every time I play it. I thought that maybe I had the settings on too high but I had the same problem at lower resolutions. I tought I'd invested enough to run any current game. Am I wrong and there is another hyper-dingulator that I need and haven't bought yet?
Graphics card Authority

Your CPU is on the hot side, you never want to push past 80 on a CPU.

I've heard about that exact number 23.2 with 32 GB ram, and I remember something about some of the ram not being used at the same frequency. Are all your ram sticks the same? Different ram types of different speeds should stick to their own individual channels.
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