PLEASE HELP! New build MAJOR overheat and blackout problem!

[svaric2]

Greetings tomshardware community! I'm new here and I have a bit of a problem with a new build of mine. Keep in mind I'm a computer newbie.

So here goes....

System:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 (with CoolerMaster fan cooler)
Mobo: Biostar TA890GXB (integrated graphics: Radeon HD4290)
RAM: G.Skill 4GB DDR3 1600MHz
PSU: Antec Earthwatts EA-380D
HDD: WD 160 GB


The story...

So I put together my very first computer, being careful with everything and taking my time. I proceed to turn it on with a Windows 7 64 bit cd. It installs pretty quick, but during the install I notice the drop down menu is laggy. I touch the GPU's ....(at least I think it is, it's the 880 chip according to the manual, no other place on the board that looks like it harbors a video card).... cooling fins and it is HOT. Almost singed by it!

The screen soon blacks out except for the sides, where I see a distorted image of a pointer moving about when I move my mouse. So I figure it must be the vid card. I restart multiple times without it booting correctly, just freezing on the windows logo at startup.

So I decide to enter the BIOS and disable the GPU phase control (varies the power supplied according to demand. I got the idea after googling). So now it starts up fine, and I configure my windows display settings (it is originally at low resolution). As soon as I turn it to the highest resolution, the screen blacks out like before, and revets back to low resolution after a few seconds.

Can anyone offer some insight as to what could be wrong? The vid card is really hot, and im not sure about the CPU, its cooling fins seem cool at all times, but I dunno. Could it be the power supply?

Thanks a lot for reading all that guys. Please help out this noob in despair!

 

[alyoshka]

The highest resolution you can move that slider to is the Highest resolution supported by your monitor.
What you need to do is get a standalone driver for your IGP. Install it after uninstalling the present GPU Drivers.
Then, find out what is the maximum resolution your Monitor supports, start the computer and move the slider one step at a time till you reach the Monitor Supported Max Resolution.
Anything higher than that is going to crash. Also try to increase the shared video memory in the Bios to maximum.....or atleast a minimum 512MB.

 

[svaric2]

Thanks for your suggestions alyoshka, I REALLY appreciate them!!!

I know the monitor can handle the resolution (1400x1200) because I've had it at that setting with my previous computer.

So you say it could be the driver? I didn't install the drivers CD that came with the mobo, Just popped in the Win7 cd.

So the wrong divers can really make an IGP overheat like that?

On a side note, does my PSU have enough grunt to handle my current components?
What if I overclocked the cpu to 4 cores and 4GHz?
And what if I put another GPU in there to supplement my current one?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm hungry for computer knowledge right now.

 

[alyoshka]

A wrong driver might not have that sort of a heat output but can cause the graphics to go black, it's more like corrupt driver files then a wrong driver..... .
Your current PSU will handle the OCing on that board without much a do.
Yes, that would be a good option to disable the IGP and put another GPU in install the drivers for it.
Actually that would be the right way as a matter of fact, since the IGP is actually not the best graphics output device and uses resources of the board , so disabling it saves a lot of resources and also lets an Independent GPU handle all the graphics work....

 

[svaric2]

woo. I got around to updating the drivers and that seemed to solve the overheating and blackout issues. Thanks alyoshka!!!

 

[svaric2]

Best answer selected by svaric2.

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar