ANY help at all- most appreciated!!

thefattyman

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Ok. I have a new (and first time) build that was 'completed' roughly three weeks ago. I didn't mess up anything in the building process, thankfully. I have searched extensively, and the more I search the more confused I become. In following blind suggestions about things I dont know, I mess with BIOS and other stuff and now have a buggy system.

So here is the list of components I have, followed by some things I have tried to do and the bugs or deficiencies I now have:

CASE ROSEWILL|CHALLENGER
MB ASROCK M3A770DE 770+SB710
VGA MSI|R5850-PM2D1G OC HD5850
MSI 626 913 0828
ADD CARD ROSEWILL RC-501 1394A
PSU ROSEWILL| RG630-S12 630W
CPU AMD|PH II X4 955 3.2G AM3
MEM 2Gx2|ADATA AX3U1600GB2G9-AG
HD 640G|WD 32M SATA2 WD6400AADS
150GB SATA 10000 Rpm 16MB Cache Drive
BLU-COMBO SAMSUNG | SH-B083L/BSBP
WIN HOME PREM 7 64-BIT ENG 1PK DSP
Synchmaster 2233rz Monitor


!.) I have attempted to overclock the card and cpu- both of which I also have tried to roll back because of weird things happening and my general fear of not knowing what the hell I'm doing.

2.) I have attempted to get the right settings for the RAM- not sure if it is right- changed to 9-9-9-24 in one place, and set to ddr3 1600 instead of the 1333 the BIOS originally set at.

I have played with other things, but seems nothing is right.

Now the bugs:

1.) Sometimes gets hung in booting, or even just while running on the internet. Everything is stuck, only can shut off power completely to reboot.

2.) constant damned flickering- somehow related to 5850. I dont know what the hell it is- looked at a million postings and have found nothing helpful.

3.) I have basically reset bios to factory settings as of now, so I dont knnow what needs to be adjusted for even the performance I have paid for (appropriate stock settings vs. what mobo/bios tells me- like 1333 RAM)

ANY help at all- any advice for settings, adjusting up- ANYTHING will be helpful. I am discouraged from trying to tune up stuff just to get more bugs. I was even trying to bump up the 5850 yesterday, following directions I found (using furmarks and clocktools and afterburners and whatever).... only seems to make things worse.

I am a total noob that prob has no business trying to build.... but there is no better way to learn than diy!!!

ANy help most appreciated, and thanks for reading!!!!


 

thefattyman

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Thanks for the tip. I am embarrassed to say, but I dont know where the mobo battery is. Also, one of the probs I have with the bios is that the RAM is not correct when it is first set up. The bios has RAM set at 1333, when the gear I bought is 1600. Obviously I hardly know what that means even, but I believe I am not getting my moneys worth if it isnt tuned up to its full capacity.

Thanks again
 
You have to change more than just the RAM speed and timings to get them to run at their rated specs. The voltage is the most important RAM setting. It will not be stable if you change the speed and timings without also changing the voltage. Your RAM is rated up to 1.85v, so you should manually set the RAM voltage to that voltage in the BIOS. Your motherboard owners manual is invaluable. Read through the entire thing, paying special attention to the RAM section, and it will tell you how to change all the values.

It's also possible the RAM is faulty. Once you get ALL THREE values (speed, timings, and voltage) set correctly you should download Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. You burn the ISO image to a CD. You then boot from the CD and the memory test starts automatically. You should let the test run for at least 8 hours to fully test the RAM.
 

thefattyman

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Thanks for the reply.

I have actually done the mem test thing already. after playing with the settings, i was still able to get it without error. the only thing i didnt do was get the voltage up that high. i changed it to 1.65, as i had read someplace. I dont remember seing an option to raise it higher, but cant remember.

I also tried using the mobo manual, but it seems there is hardly any real info in it. there was virtually nothing about bios there at all- even the specs for building were lousy. I had to come here asking for help several times because there were things I could not figure out using the manuals.

Thanks again
 
I will bet the BIOS is reading the SPD chip (programmed on the assembly line) on the memory and correctly[/c]reporting that it is DDR3-1333. Then someone later tested it under some condition of high tide and new moon :) and rated it at DDR3-1600.

The key to that is the really high RAM voltage at the -1600 speed.

I read somewhere that you should not run DDR3 higher than 1.65 volts because you run the chance of damaging the onchip memory controller.

I have Intel CPU's, so all I have is this link for overclocking:
Overclocking Athlons
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-overclock-athlon,2161.html
 

thefattyman

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ok thanks, i will try this for sure. any recommendations on the 5850? that is the onther thing I have messed with that seems to be causing trouble. everywhere I read about it, saying the setting should be much higher than stock. i bumped things up, got weird reactions, and put back to stock. at stock, I now still have this ridiculous fluttering on the screen that makes me want to throw it out the window. =)
 
I don't know about the flickering problems, but overclocking the card certainly isn't going to do you any favors. The only time to even consider overclocking a component is if it's working properly at stock settings. I would say the problem has more to do with your POS Rosewill PSU than the GPU.
 

thefattyman

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Thanks. I really dont want to mess with anything, unless it is less than i paid for. Some places i read that the stock settings are less than the piece is rated for. Then it is like I wasted cash to buy an awesome card or cpu, and run it only half as good as it is supposed to be. I was also recommended this particular PSU as something that would at least carry the components I have... hopfully i dont already need a new one.

I also changed the voltage on my ram. Assuming that it is the 'DRAM voltage" that I am supposed to change, I bumped it up to 1.83... not sure what the hell that means, as the recommend was 1.85. The only options are 1.83 or 1.88. So Iassume going a little lighter is better than stronger. I am running the memtest right now and so far seems no errors.

Thanks again for any suggestions
 

thefattyman

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Right, so since last post, I am still having problems. Comp will freeze up and have to shut down power to reboot. The was just playing GTA 4 and thing froze completely and did an emergency shutdown/ reboot. I dont know what the heck is wrong- please help!!!
 

fastx21

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Agreed it could be temps. The comp will shut itself down when it gets too hot. Check to see what you're running. But I am assuming you're running a stock hsf in a new case so it should be fine. http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

Definately run the memtest86 as suggested above.
As for flickering on video, I don't know. It could be as simple as a bad video card to dust in the pci-e 16x slots that's causing the problem. Again it's probably a new board but who knows, double check.
 

thefattyman

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Thanks guys.

I have been monitoring my cpu temp, havent ever seen it past 45c. I guess that is good. The cpu settings are stock- havent overclocked or anything.

I reset the video card to stock/ factory settings as well, so I shouldnt be having any probs.

I have no clue...
 

ulysses35

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Two handy little free downloads

CPUz = will show you mobo / cpu and more importantly RAM info including SPD settings

GPUz = is pretty much the same as above but for use with video cards.

=======================================================
To monitor your CPU temps you can use either "coretemp" or "realtemp" and keep an eye on the CPU temeperatures.

ASRock are not the best name in motherboards and sadly the Rosewill PSU isnt great either.

 

thefattyman

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Thanks for the idea. I have downloaded these all now. Emabarrassing as it is, I have no idea what I am supposed to do with them. Most of the numbers mean very little as I dont know what they are for. Are there recommended settings someplace here?

Thanks again