Got a thinker for ya'll...

[Nitrix77]

So, here's the dealio, bout a week ago:

My computer started black screening during full screen games: Not a hard lock up, just black screen, I could hear sounds still.
Whenever I attempted to change my resolution, the same issue happened - black screen until auto revert.
Max resolution was extremely skewed and half of my desktop was off the screen.


Here's what I've done:

Updated all drivers
System restored to a week earlier in windows
Reseated by GPU into the second PCI-E slot - After I did that, I was no longer getting a POST display at start up sooo:
I replaced my GPU
Replaced my CPU
Replaced my MOBO and Ram
Tried a different monitor
Tried a different hard drive

And STILL same *** is happening, I can't see POST - my monitor shows "No Signal" at start up until it reaches the windows log in screen. I can't change resolution, or load full screen games.

Interesting notes: With my hard drive unplugged I still do not see a Motherboard POST screen. I am unable to reinstall windows because during installation system restarts, the screen goes black.

The ONLY thing I have not replaced is my Power supply, and I have not tried a brand new Hard drive.

If you feel specifications will help, currently running the following:
GIGABYTE GV-R775OC-1GI Radeon HD 7750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP
AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
ASUS M5A88-V EVO AM3+ AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
8 Gig's Kingston ddr 3 Ram (2x4)
500g seagate harddrive
500w PSU
Windows 7 Ultimate

 

[nekulturny]

Heres what I can come up with for a start:

What brand and model power supply? He could be your culprit, especially if hes a cheap dollarstore brand (*cough* Rosewill)

While 500watts is *probably* sufficient, its bare minimum what I'd consider ideal for a modern gaming system.

I assume based on your post that you have been running this build for awhile symptom free. If I'm correct in assuming that, how old is the PSU?

The 500watt rating, is Peak output, it simply may be that the computer runs fine under idle load, but it could be the system is at the threshold of how much power its using, and when you get a good gaming going and puts the system under heavy load, it starts to overpower the 500 watt PSU, which can cause all sorts of crazy things to happen. This is why its always a good idea to go higher on the PSU wattage than your system actually needs, I'd say by a factor of 30 percent.

Another thing I'd do is get a program like HWmonitor and see what kind of temps your system is running on under load, just to rule out overheating.

 

[Nitrix77]

Heres what I can come up with for a start:

What brand and model power supply? He could be your culprit, especially if hes a cheap dollarstore brand (*cough* Rosewill)

While 500watts is *probably* sufficient, its bare minimum what I'd consider ideal for a modern gaming system.

I assume based on your post that you have been running this build for awhile symptom free. If I'm correct in assuming that, how old is the PSU?

The 500watt rating, is Peak output, it simply may be that the computer runs fine under idle load, but it could be the system is at the threshold of how much power its using, and when you get a good gaming going and puts the system under heavy load, it starts to overpower the 500 watt PSU, which can cause all sorts of crazy things to happen. This is why its always a good idea to go higher on the PSU wattage than your system actually needs, I'd say by a factor of 30 percent.

Another thing I'd do is get a program like HWmonitor and see what kind of temps your system is running on under load, just to rule out overheating.

Yikes, well it IS a rosewill LOL. And it's around 6 years old :/ And what you say makes sense - like as soon as I start to utilize my GPU the PSU goes *Errrr Just kidding*...

And yeah prior to this whole incident I've been running the same system since 2007. I'll pick up a new PSU tomorrow and try that out, Do you think a 600w would be sufficient? Thank you for your input Neku!

 

[buzznut]

Yikes, well it IS a rosewill LOL. And it's around 6 years old :/ And what you say makes sense - like as soon as I start to utilize my GPU the PSU goes *Errrr Just kidding*...

And yeah prior to this whole incident I've been running the same system since 2007. I'll pick up a new PSU tomorrow and try that out, Thank you for your input Neku!

+1 PSU. The video card is new so I imagine it simply won't handle that. At any rate, Rosewill is newegg's brand and they really don't have a great track record with power supplies but one should note they are getting significantly better and choosing reliable OEM suppliers now.

Even my 4 year old Antec PSU is now putting out some sketchy voltages, so it is being replaced soon.

For your next purchase, I'd still look in the 550=600 W range for a single graophics card setup. Look for a 5 year warranty, modular supplies are easier to work with but may be a few bucks more.

The Rosewill hive is an example of a much better unit and is well reviewed:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182131

Seasonic 5 year warrantee
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094

Corsair 5 year
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

XFX 5 year
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013

 

[Nitrix77]

+1 PSU. The video card is new so I imagine it simply won't handle that. At any rate, Rosewill is newegg's brand and they really don't have a great track record with power supplies but one should note they are getting significantly better and choosing reliable OEM suppliers now.

Even my 4 year old Antec PSU is now putting out some sketchy voltages, so it is being replaced soon.

For your next purchase, I'd still look in the 550=600 W range for a single graophics card setup. Look for a 5 year warranty, modular supplies are easier to work with but may be a few bucks more.

The Rosewill hive is an example of a much better unit and is well reviewed:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182131

Seasonic 5 year warrantee
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094

Corsair 5 year
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

XFX 5 year
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013

Thanks for the reply Buzz!

I just ordered all my new parts from Newegg, and I'm not really keen on waiting for new ones to ship - so I'll visit my local microcenter for the new PSU

What do you think of this one? :
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0365238

 

[angaddev]

It's not 80PLUS certified...

 

[Nitrix77]

It's not 80PLUS certified...

Apologies Angaddev - I'm not sure what this means?

 

[Onus]

The HD7750 uses an insignificant amount of power, but that doesn't mean the PSU isn't dying. Older Rosewill PSUs gave them quite a bad reputation, but their newer ones are indeed better (all have reviewed well).
Even if your CPU is overclocked, a quality 400W PSU would have no trouble with your current rig. Since you may want a stronger GPU at some point though, I'd still go for 500W-600W.

 

[angaddev]

80PLUS means the PSU will give u at least 80% efficiency, Bronze is 82%, Silver is 85, Gold is 88 (or 90?).

 

[Nitrix77]

The HD7750 uses an insignificant amount of power, but that doesn't mean the PSU isn't dying. Older Rosewill PSUs gave them quite a bad reputation, but their newer ones are indeed better (all have reviewed well).
Even if your CPU is overclocked, a quality 400W PSU would have no trouble with your current rig. Since you may want a stronger GPU at some point though, I'd still go for 500W-600W.

Yeah, I noticed it doesn't even have an external power source - so I didn't figure it could use that much. But it is definitely an old Rosewill, something like 6 years old :/.


@ Angaddev - I see, how crucials is that 80%+ Effeciency rating? the one I was looking at says >72% which I'm guessing means it will run at 72% effeciency or better?

 

[angaddev]

yup, but keep in mind that a bad PSU means a system more likely to blow up xD

 

[angaddev]

didn't answer ur question... It is pretty crucial, but 80PLUS Bronze is fine.

 

[Nitrix77]

didn't answer ur question... It is pretty crucial, but 80PLUS Bronze is fine.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0301547#tabs

How about that one?

 

[angaddev]

yup, OCZ PSUs are pretty reliable

gtg sleep now, PM me any questions ;D

 

[Nitrix77]

yup, OCZ PSUs are pretty reliable

gtg sleep now, PM me any questions ;D

I think you guys have managed to answer all my questions to this point. Much appreciated, thank you! I'll post if this was the fix for it.

 

[angaddev]

Ok, I'll check back here in a few days.

 

[Onus]

The little voltage switch gives that Thermaltake away as an older, inefficient design. The brand name gives away that it is most likely overrated. The new Antec VP-450 is the only PSU that isn't 80+ certified (and has a voltage switch) that I would consider; it is actually quite efficient and reviewed well at HardwareSecrets. Still, I'd probably go for an Earthwatts, if available. They tend to be inexpensive, but are solid, reliable PSUs. The 380W version would be sufficient.

 

[Onus]

Hmmm, long interruption (I'm at work!) between posts. The OCZ would be ok too.

 

[nekulturny]

Yikes, well it IS a rosewill LOL. And it's around 6 years old :/ And what you say makes sense - like as soon as I start to utilize my GPU the PSU goes *Errrr Just kidding*...

And yeah prior to this whole incident I've been running the same system since 2007. I'll pick up a new PSU tomorrow and try that out, Do you think a 600w would be sufficient? Thank you for your input Neku!

LOL, well I can assure you I'm not a clairvoyant. Rosewill is Newegg's "house brand", housebrands are fine for a breakfast cereal, personally the convenience store chain Sheetz has a great house brand energy drink I love called "Liquid-Z blue ice".. But I'm not prepared to trust a house brand with being the driving force between my several hundred dollar computer components.

 

[-Zombie-]

Corsair Professional series is the best PSU you can buy in my opinion. A little pricey though but well worth it.

A lot or if not most people buy all these expensive components for their builds but then buy a cheapo PSU -_- to me the PSU is the most important part to a build so I never cheap out on it.

 

[nekulturny]

Corsair Professional series is the best PSU you can buy in my opinion. A little pricey though but well worth it.

A lot or if not most people buy all these expensive components for their builds but then buy a cheapo PSU -_- to me the PSU is the most important part to a build so I never cheap out on it.

Or even the Enthusiast series. I wasn't gonna mention it, since I figured after mentioning brands to "trust" in my last post, my sig would cover what I trust with my components.

 

[buzznut]

Corsair Professional series is the best PSU you can buy in my opinion. A little pricey though but well worth it.

A lot or if not most people buy all these expensive components for their builds but then buy a cheapo PSU -_- to me the PSU is the most important part to a build so I never cheap out on it.

Yes, there are plenty of other ways to save money when building a system but don't skimp on the power supply. Especially in a gaming system that is power hungry. Maybe you're ok with your current video card, but most of us upgrade once every couple of years and need a solid power source. At any rate, the Thermaltake TR2 units are ok for modest rigs but not good for high current applications.

Also, as I mentioned previously a 5 year warranty is best. At the very least you should get a 3 year, many of the OCZ PSUs I looked at had 2 year warranties. And that's sad.

I agree that you should go with an 80% efficient unit or higher. I spent $140 on my gold certified 750 watt power supply and I am quite happy with my purchase.

 

[Nitrix77]

Update: i bought a corsair 600w 80plus certified psu and...same stuff still happening...

I reset my battery on my mobo last night, and that didn't help.

Thoughts?

 

[Nitrix77]

Re-Update: I fixed it lol. Using this new PSU, I started from the ground up again putting in parts one at a time - I got POST with just the Mobo/PSU then Added Ram, Hard drive, and then GPU. I'm happy to say I'm posting from my new PC

Appreciate ya'lls help!

 

[Nitrix77]

Best answer selected by Nitrix77.