System troubles; input would be appreciated

aat7

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Apr 2, 2011
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Hey!

To start things off, I am fairly inexperienced with computers and such. I did build my own system, but my knowledge of a computer goes about that far. That's why I'm hoping these troubles I'm experiencing are simply something silly I have overlooked or something like that.

I built my machine a couple months ago; no major problems until now. I built it primarily for gaming; with a budget of around $1100~.

Anyway, to the problem. Recently, there has been a buzzing/beeping noise (I believe it is coming from my graphics card) that occurs when I have games open or when I am alt-tabbed. The noise will often change its frequency on different menu screens; or even when I minimize the game. Recently, my computer has been restarting in the middle of gaming whilst hearing these noises. I have checked motherboard and CPU temps, they are all in safe ranges; so I doubt its an overheating issue. Nothing is overclocked or anything like that, and I am just running with the standard case fans for cooling.

I have tried googling the issue and looking for feedback on various forums. The solutions offered have been to update drivers which I did when I first set up my PC, and the other is unclean power to the graphics card.

Here are the system specs:

OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600)
Processor: Intel Quad Core i5 CPU, 760 @ 2.70GHz
Memory: 4gig RAM
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth 55i
Power Supply: I can't quite find the name, I the brand name is EDIT: apower and its at 850W

Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460
Approx. Total Memory: 2780 MB

I am only assuming that this buzzing/beeping sound has to do with the problems with my machine restarting while gaming. I know the sound definitely isn't natural and didn't start occurring until recently.

I appreciate any advice you guys can give, and apologize if I seem like a noob or if this isn't appropriate for this forum or anything. If anyone thinks they may be able to help out and might require more info, let me know and I can obtain it.

Thank you!
 

Rusting In Peace

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I've never heard of that brand of PSU and I'm always suspicious of high wattage PSUs from unheard of companies because they are often unreliable.

Can you beg, borrow or steal another PSU from someone and connect it up to see if you get the same issues?
 

aat7

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Apr 2, 2011
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I actually was mistaken on the power supply brand name, my bad. I just ran up and got all of my manuals from when I was building it. The brand name is actually called 'apower'; a friend of mine from my old school recommended it to me in particular (he helped me pick out a lot of the parts). I don't have much more information on it than that I'm afraid. Not sure if I could obtain another one to test stuff out on, I don't know many people down where I am now that I could borrow from.
 

Rusting In Peace

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Humm a quick bit of Googling doesn't speak well of Apower or their PSUs I'm afraid ( http://www.amazon.com/Power-850W-4-pin-SATA-PCI-Express/product-reviews/B001LK195S/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1 )

But that being said it may not be your PSU it could very well be your graphics card. So I wouldn't rush out and pickup something else.

It is possible to test a PSU with a multimeter but if you aren't comfortable with the thought of that I'd avoid it. There are little power tester adapters you can buy like this ( http://www.ebuyer.com/product/179997 ) but again you might not want to spend cash where you don't have to if it's your graphics card at fault!

Unfortunately it can be tricky to put the PSU under load without involving graphics processing. You could try running prime95 for 24 hours to see if you can cause the system to crash in a similar way: http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=103

Is the graphics card / PSU under warranty?
 

aat7

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Apr 2, 2011
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Alright, well I appreciate the response.
The Power Supply most likely is the thing that is causing me problems from what I can tell. Figures it was the one thing I didn't verify for myself, relied 100% on a friends advice for that one.

I doubt the PSU is under warranty, if so I can't find any documents on it. The graphics card would be under warranty still if I'm not mistaken. From what I have described, does it sound like the PSU giving out is the most likely scenario?

Also, any recommendations for a good replacement? I was maybe thinking a CORSAIR 750w PSU I had found on Newegg for around $100, I'm not sure though.
 

Rusting In Peace

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I thought about providing a bunch of links but then I realised I'd just be giving you links to UK sites which are a bit useless for you.

The Corsair is a good option. There is a modular 750w version which you might want to consider.