Hmmm... got a problem with my new build..

[im_caius]

I have built my first computer yesterday (it worked 3rd time thanks to Tom's Hardware ) and it was working fine. But after about an hour of it running the screen just went black. It sounded the same, the fans were still running. But nothing on the screen. If i turned it off and on it would turn straight back on working. I'm thinking its the graphics card but cant be sure.

Specs:
ASUS M4A87TD
AMD PhII X4 965 3.4GHz
430W Thermaltake PSU (I was thinking it might have been lack of power?)
4GB OCZ Ram (should be 1333MHz dont think it is though, help with setting it up in BIOS would be good too)
Amaze Raedon HD5770
Using a HDMI connection to a 32" TV (it said it was 1080i on the TV, i had my resoultion at 1368x780 (i think))

These problems have now stopped, I dont know if its because I switched to VGA or if its a coincidence. But even if i switch to VGA from HDMI when the screen goes black I still have to restart it.

Its not overheating either from what I can see, I've got a good case the (NZXT Gamma, I love it) its good awesome ventilation, 1 big fan, plus the Power Supply fan, Heat sink, and the fan on the Graphics card itself.

So if I could have some help with this that would be great,
Thanks Heaps,
Caius

 

[dndhatcher]

From XFX's specs page on the 5770:
450 Watt or greater power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express® power connector recommended.

If this is the PSU, it only has a single 12V rail with only 18 amps. Thats horrible for a modern machine that uses 12V for almost everything. My bet would be insufficient power causing the graphics card to cut out.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Thermaltake-Purepower-430W-NP-Power-Supply-Review/332/9

The main problem with this power supply is that it can’t deliver its labeled power. It is, in fact, a 350 W power supply.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/thermaltake-psu-roundup_18.html#sect0

at a load of about 380W, the PSU’s switching transistor overheat and burned down in the power supply. It was so hot that the insulating plastic spacer under the screw the transistor was fastened with melted.

OUCH! Get it out of your computer before it damages something.

 

[im_caius]

okay, well I'm looking at getting a new 680 or 550W. But what can I do with my one ive got now? its Thermaltake. Will they take it back or will i have to eBay it or keep as spare. Need all the money or credit as i can get :/
Thanks
Caius

 

[cmcghee358]

Save it, might need it for a low watt HTPC or simple internet browsing build later on.

As long as it stays in a system that has little power demand it will probably function adequately.

 

[im_caius]

ummm ok then. is $32 for a PSU off ebay all right. I think its generic but whats bad about generic?

 

[im_caius]

will it be bad for me to overclock my 965BE now? will that use more Wattage? and whats a safe way to go. I'm only asking you cmc because you have a 955 so i thought u might have an idea? i had it at 3.8GHz but i turned it back down cuz i thought that it was what was turning it off.

 

[dndhatcher]

Generic power supplies can be anything from OK to fire hazards. It really depends on who manufactures them. I stick with quality brands so I know I am not going to have flakey lockups and such from fluctuating power or worse, destroy my other parts from bad overload protection. (Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, XfX, Silverstone, some OCZ, or anything I read a couple good professional reviews on).

 

[cmcghee358]

It will use more wattage, so I wouldn't do it until you get a quality PSU installed.

 

[im_caius]

Ok well i got my new PSU today.. It is a Ritmo 680. (680W)
I used my motherboards auto-overclock utility.. wouldnt post. (it went to 4.1GHz)
I overclocked it to 3.9GHz logged in graphics kept cutting out every 3 minutes for 2 seconds.

so now im back to defaults.
seems to be fine.
so reccommended solution to overclock?
is it my graphics (5770) stopping it or is there just not enough power?

 

[cmcghee358]

Getting a 965 to 3.8-4.0GHz takes manual manipulation of the voltage as well as the clock. Are you using an aftermarket Heatsink Fan or the Stock Cooler that came with the chip?

 

[im_caius]

stock. im cheap.
btw, youtube still crashes my computer. well the graphics cut out and dont come back on until a restart. what is it if not PSU? it seems to be when i hit the close tab button :/ i watched a one minute anime video that someone linked me and as soon as i hit close the screen went black.

 

[cmcghee358]

Whats your current CPU speed, vCore and temperature?

 

[im_caius]

was using the computer so i used programs instead of bios..
hope its enough..
thankyou so much for your help.

 

[cmcghee358]

I can't see the image at work, can you just tell me your vCore, CPU speed and temperature?

 

[im_caius]

VID - 1.3500v
Tj. Max - 90*C
CPU #0 - 48*C (low, 47*C - high, 39*C)
3411.34MHz (200.67 x 17.00)

all from Core Temp 64bit

is that all you need.
(btw i fixed my grpahics problem by underclocking the gpu)
still need help with safe overclock.

 

[cmcghee358]

So whats the question now? How to overclock the CPU or how to fix your GPU?

Sounds to me like it has at least resolved the stability problem to a degree.

 

[im_caius]

it has fixed the stability problem yes. so now what i want is how to overclock my cpu (i mean if you know how to fix my gpu without underclocking great, but dont worry otherwise)
thanks

 

[cmcghee358]

Well in your case with a stock cooler I would simply change the multiplier from 17x to 18x and call it a day and enjoy my 3.6GHz CPU.

When you get an aftermarket HSF then you can really look at overclocking.

If the computer begins crashing, go back to 17x as it lacks the voltage to operate at 18x.

 

[im_caius]

well it was running at x19 but i thought it was the OC ******* the gpu. it was stable at x19 (3.8GHz) so is that alright?

 

[cmcghee358]

Depends on what you consider stable. Besides it appearing to work, how to you validate the clock-rate as stable?

 

[im_caius]

huh? by stable i mean it doesnt crash at all.

 

[cmcghee358]

Most of the time people verify CPU overclock and voltage stability by running certain programs to stress their systems. Such as Prime95, 3dMark06 etc.

 

[cmcghee358]

Reference: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/258573-29-black-edition-overclock-guide

 

[im_caius]

dw, ive got it stable at 3.77GHz now. just changed the ratio up a bit and the multplier too.

 

[cmcghee358]

Whats your temps?