Homebuilt Help (Trouble Shooting)

whitechaco

Honorable
Aug 12, 2012
6
0
10,510
Hey, so I don't know a lot about computers, but I've been trying to educate myself on some of it and ended up building a computer.

Right down to it, the system I've got is:

CPU: Intel i7 2700k
GPU: ASUS Radeon HD 7770 Ghz Edition
Mobo: ASUS Sabertooth Z77 LGA 1155
RAM: 2x 4GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800
700W PSU
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64

annnd a Rosewill Blackhawk case. I have 1 of the fans hooked up to the motherboard on one of the chassis fan slots, and the others that came with the case are just hooked to the power supply.

Now for the issue:

Something seems to be tripping the heat sensor and shutting off the system prematurely. Whenever I have the graphics card in it will only run for maybe 2-3 minutes doing basic tasks, i.e. browsing the internet or install programs. And on top of that what's being shown as 1080p looks a little too murky, I guess would be the word to describe it, to be 1080p.

If I rely completely on intel's integrated graphics it runs fine, but the 1080p still has that 'not quite 1080p' feel to it, but that seems less surprising. I'm not really sure if I'm properly describing this issue with I'm having but the system shutting down after a minute seems like the more pressing matter.


What I've tried: Basically nothing but there's some things that I feel are important to put down here.
In the motherboard's manual, and when you see the schematic of the motherboard for the first time, the PCIe slots are all mislabeled. So I first had the graphics card in an under powered slot for a while. I'm not sure if that would affect it but it seems like pertinent info.

Any help is much appreciated, and if any extra info is needed (I'm sure there will be) I should be able to provide it. Go easy on me though, I'm still pretty much fresh off the boat.

Edit: I forgot to mention, the drive I'm running everything on right now is a 256GB Crucial M4 SSD.
 
Does the whole computer just shut-down as if it lost power, or does it go through the proper windows shutdown?
A PC that powers off randomly can be a sign of a bad PSU, give some more info on it (Model, Brand, Age) and we can guess if that's the problem. Also make sure that any PCI-e cables are plugged into the GPU (Should be a 6-pin).
Another possibility is something is shorting out, most likely between the mobo and the case. Make sure that you mounted the board properly with standoffs (though this is unlikely, boards mounted incorrectly tend not to power up at all).

As for the murky visuals, couple reasons why that might be happening. Check that your screen resolution is 1920x1080 in Windows and you have the latest motherboard and graphics card drivers.
Maybe if your connected by VGA the cable has deteriorated or the screen itself is damaged. Try hooking a laptop or some other PC to it and see if there's the same problem.
Finally, check if the screen is actually 1080p, just Google its model and see what its native resolution comes up to.

As for which PCI-e slot to put the card in, put it in the top 16x slot (Should be a light brown colour).
 

whitechaco

Honorable
Aug 12, 2012
6
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10,510
Ok the computer will shut off but the screen will remain on and stuck on some color (mostly either black or light blue) and require me to power down. (No error messages on screen though).

Here's more info on the PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro Power Supply - 700-Watt, Modular, Dual +12V Rails, SATA, 80Plus. MPN: OCZ700MXSP

And I have checked that the system is supposedly outputting in 1080p, and the display is my Samsung LCD TV for right now which I know is 1080p and working as such through my PS3. It does the murky visuals both when its hooked up through the output on the graphics card and through the slot on the motherboard. I also do have the most recent drivers available from AMD. I've reinstalled them once now. Unfortunately I don't have a VGA cable at the moment, so I'm stuck using hdmi. I didn't really see that as a problem though, is it?

And the card has been in the right slot now for a while, I was just concerned that putting it in the wrong slot may have damaged it or something.

Edit: I've heard that this PSU is rated at 40 degrees Celsius and can run comfortably at 45, and from the bios it says the CPU is at around 39. Not sure if that's useful info or not though.
 
So the computer crashes, not a complete shutdown?

The dual 12v rails may be the problem on the PSU, generally there should only be one. One of them would be devoted to the 24pin ATX and 4/8pin CPU, while the other to the PCI-e connectors (should, cant verify this). Make sure that you arent overloading one rail with the CPU/mobo and the graphics card.

If the PSU is old (3+ years), its capacitors may have degraded and it cant output its advertised wattage. If its new this wont be a problem.

VGA is an old analog medium, so the quality of the cable can affect the image quality on the screen. Digital mediums (HDMI, DVI and Display-port) doesn't have that problem. Was just checking if that was the case.

The PSU's max temp will never really be exceeded unless you have bad case airflow, Which I dont think is the problem. Even if it was above 40C, the performance wouldn't degrade to this point anyway.

 
I have that mb. the two video card slots are the same on this mb. how there wired is the top slot is the 16x slot. with two video cards the two slots share bandwith so it 8x and 8x. have you used the usb flashback port and installed all the bios updates for the mb. go into the bios and on the first page of the efi bios is the bios rev. the shipping bios is 0801.
http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/SABERTOOTH_Z77/#download
for the power down issue it a bug with the mb bios. pull power off the mb and clear the mb cmos using the cmos jumper.
 

whitechaco

Honorable
Aug 12, 2012
6
0
10,510


Sorry, but how could I tell if I was overloading one rail? Is it just top or bottom? The info included with the power supply probably couldn't be anymore useless.



I believe I updated the bios, and I will try clearing the cmos next.

Edit: Yeah I just checked the BIOS Version is 1403
 
Quickly looked up the PSU, each 12V rail can provide 300W, so 600W total through the 12v rails. Considering that your CPU has a max draw of 85W, and 75W (at max) is going through the PCI-e slot, that's only a 133W draw from the motherboard rail. With a small draw (~70W) from the GPU through the other rail. Got plenty of headroom to work with,and that's worst case scenario.

So the PSU isnt being overloaded, only other option is if its defective. Considering its new, This probably isn't the issue.

It is probably another part of the computer, maybe the BIOS issue smorizio suggested. Other than that, all I can advise is to go through general troubleshooting. This guide will show you the steps to take.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems
 

whitechaco

Honorable
Aug 12, 2012
6
0
10,510
Well, thank you for the help so far. Clearing the cmos didn't help. I'm gonna go through that list you linked me next to see if anything went awry when I was originally installing everything.
 
make sure the cpu fan is plugged into the right fan port. also check that all the fans are working. if the power supply having issue on the 12v line your cpu fan may not be spinning up or not springing up to speed. also check that there no wires in any of the fans. also try using gpu-z and or hardware monitor to see if it the gpu that getting hot or the cpu. in the bios make sure with the gpu in you change the video boot order to gpu from the onboard video. the last thing could be an issue with the mvp chipset. try turning it off so just the gpu is on. if you have the onboard and gpu software running make sure you download from intel the newest cpu video drivers.