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Random Hangs from my PC
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8. January 2008 @ 06:10 |
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Right guys this is gonna be a long one :)
My system is as follows:-
Pentium D925 ? 2 x 3 Ghz Intel CPU (Stock heatsink)
2 x 1GB DDR667 RAM (not sure of make)
1 x SATA II 250GB HDD
1 x SATA II 500GB HDD
1 x 500GB Maxtor External USB HDD
Inno3D 8500GT 512MB GPU
2 x 18 Speed Optiarc DVD/RW Drives (I think it?s a 5170A model)
Win Power 450w PSU (with 20A on the 12V Rail)
USB Cordless Keyboard and Mouse (Docking station powered by USB)
I am running air-cooling with one 8cm fan on front drawing air in, one 8cm fan on side drawing air in and one 8cm fan on the rear pulling air out. The GPU also has a stock fan on it (but its not the most powerful GC so should be alright), then the PSU has one 8cm fan blowing air out the back of the case.
I bought the comp of Ebay (Im in the UK) and all came with it apart from the 500GB HDD?s and one of the DVD rewriters, which I added myself. The system is running WinXP SP2 and all drivers are correct and uptodate.
The PC is connected via VGA to my 26? Polaroid HD TV (could use dvi to hdmi but that gives me lots of static noise but thats not the issue I want help with:)) running at 1366x768, however I usually use my laptop to VNC onto this computer to control it, and only really turn the telly to the PC to watch movies etc.
Last night I got home from work, turned my laptop on and tried to VNC onto the desktop PC, however I was getting no response, so I turned my telly to the PC and it said no signal. The weird thing was the PC was still powered on. I tried to move the mouse and it showed on the docking station as moving ? I could also open and close the DVD drives. I tried to Alt+F4 then U to try and turn the PC off but couldn?t, so I pressed the reset button, the PC powered off and back on but then hung after displaying info about the drives installed. I then hard powered it off and left it for 15 mins. When I turned it back on it said Windows hadn?t started properly and asked me how to proceed. I booted into Safe mode and had a look at the event viewer, there was nothing there to explain anything.
Everything seemed okay so I did a reset using windows not the power button and the PC rebooted without a problem. I thought it might have just been a one off issue, however after about 30 mins of being on (only thing running was Utorrent, plus I burnt 3 DVDs) I turned the TV to the PC and again it was displaying no signal and couldn?t be VNC?d onto. This time I just did a hard power down and decided to open up the PC to have a look inside. As the 500GB SATA II was only installed at Christmas I decided the first thing to do was to unplug that (my thinking was the PSU couldn?t handle it) so I did that and checked all my fans for dust whilst it was open. When I connected it back up ? the PC booted perfectly okay, but with no display (I got a series of beeps from the motherboard), however I could VNC onto it ? I therefore turned it off again, and reopened the PC to reseat the graphics card. Once Id done this and turned the PC off it hung after just 5 secs (the only thing it did was display the info about the graphics card, which is the first thing it does). I also thought I noticed a whining/crackling sound coming from the PSU (couldn?t be certain due to the location of the PC, Im gonna recheck this tonight) so decided to just turn it off and leave it (this was 10 o?clock last night and I had to get to bed).
A couple of things to note ? The PSU has always run hot to the touch (Im beginning to think this isn?t normal) and makes the top outside of the case very hot (was still warm to the touch after being off half hour), but it does blow warm air out of its one fan and the CPU usually runs at about 50-60 celcius but everything has always been stable until the last week or so.
My thinking is either the PSU is faulty and needs replacing or the Graphics card is faulty. I can understand the PSU could cause these issues if it was not powerful enough or dying, but not sure how the graphics card could.
If any one has any advise it would be much appreciated before I spend 50 squid on a new PSU.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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8. January 2008 @ 07:40 |
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I'd start by replacing the PSU, it's crap if I'm honest. Even if that doesn't solve the problem, a PC that uses that much power really needs a better PSU.
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8. January 2008 @ 08:04 |
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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8. January 2008 @ 08:58 |
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You could do, but sell the 8500GT if you do, it's a faster card than the HD2400 Pro, even though as you know, it lacks HDMI.
As for the PSU, that unit is good, but I prefer these units:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131052
Don't be fooled, 450W is plenty for your system, but you just need a properly made unit rather than some cheap knockoff like the WinPower.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 8. January 2008 @ 08:59
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8. January 2008 @ 11:14 |
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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8. January 2008 @ 11:27 |
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Because that PSU won't be able to produce anywhere near 700W. Just because they've put that on the label doesn't mean it's capable. Most cheap 600W units can only put out a max of about 120-150W. Corsair ones will do what they say on the label.
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8. January 2008 @ 15:49 |
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Okay I have an update for you.
I came home and did some tests - firstly I just turned it on to see what happened and it powered up but gave me no picture or control. Therefore I had to manually turn it off again.
I then took the side off (so I could get a better listen to the sound I was hearing) and removed the graphics card then connected the PC via the onboard graphics to the TV and turned it on. It worked and the sound I was hearing appeared to have gone. At this point only my keyboard, mouse and TV are connected. I then plugged in my network cable and the sound returned - it was from the PSU and it sounded like a fire crackling/spitting , very worrying. When I then removed the network cable the sound from the PSU subsided. This therefore led me to the conclusion that the PSU was definitely fragged and the powering up of the network port caused too much strain on the PSU thus causing this sound. It also made sense to me as to why I got no picture - the graphics card was simply too powerful for the PSU in its current state.
Ive been thinking and I think the transcoding of 3 .mkv files to .mp4 might have caused the PSU to start failing as the encoding had the PC running at almost full power for 12 hours, then 8 hours then 10 hours in a 2 and a half day period. It would also tie in with the timing of the issue.
One other thing to note is that the PSU was warm when I opened the PC when I got home, it had only been operating for 30 seconds :lol: I then noticed when I turned the PC on that the PSU went cold as the fan started up. However when I then turned the PC off the PSU started to get warm and kept that warm feeling until I pulled the power cable 20 mins later. The PC had been on for less than 2 minutes in total.
So now its on to finding that replacement.
Ive looked at the corsair and its currently my first choice however Ive also found this one
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/109552 - which after free posting is only a quid more.
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AfterDawn Addict
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8. January 2008 @ 17:34 |
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Yeah the PSU's knackered. You can't overload it running the system for full pelt 12 hours, or heck even 12 days. Your PC will only draw around 160W when gaming, well under half the PSU's rating, it's just a crap power supply as I suspected. What you have to be careful of is that cheap-ass PSUs often damage internal components.
Although the rating of the Hiper is higher, it's not as good a unit, and you'll never use the extra watts. I use a Hiper unit, but would prefer a Corsair, mainly from the reliability perspective. Mine's been fine, but two of the cables that came with it were faulty, and a lot of people have reported issues with them, especially in the US.
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9. January 2008 @ 19:00 |
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Thanks for the advise Sam after much consideration I have decided to go for a corsair but a different one (I found out about modular PSU's).
Corsair HX520W
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AfterDawn Addict
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9. January 2008 @ 19:03 |
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The HX is an even better unit. The only reason I didn't recommend it at first was its higher price tag.
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10. January 2008 @ 17:43 |
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Right HX520 ordered, just need to wait 3-5 days for delivery, luckily im a 4 computer household so can still do most things I need to daily. This will be my first PSU installation anything I should be wary of?
Also im thinking of changing my CPU heatsink - is it easy - as Im dubious about fiddling around near CPU's (its the only bit of a comp Im scared of :))
Edit - thought Id mention Ive just recommended the 450 Corsair model to someone on another forums as it fitted their budget and requirements perfectly. So they thank you as well.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 10. January 2008 @ 17:45
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AfterDawn Addict
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10. January 2008 @ 18:51 |
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Haha, no problem.
As for the PSU, no major problems you need to be aware of, other than to make sure all the cables fit securely, and that you don't unseat anything else in the process.
As for the CPU, just make sure you remove the old thermal compound cleanly, and apply the new stuff correctly. other than that it's a simple case of making sure it's securely attached.
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14. January 2008 @ 16:04 |
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Quick Update time. Took the old PSU out of the PC tonight (new one being delivered tomorrow), god its light, only 0.6kg (new one is closer to 3kg lol), and the main transformer has burn/scorch marks on it, as do all the heatsink connectors (well I call them heatsinks but they are not really lol). It truly is a piece of rubbish.
Ill let you know how the PC is after Ive installed the new PSU.
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Member
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16. January 2008 @ 15:23 |
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Final Update
New PSU installed - love the packaging and design (can see the quality). Only needed to use 2 of the modular cables which was nice so not many cables in the case (if you dont count all the fan cables lol). As I had the comp open I decided to replace the SATA and IDE cables from the bog standard ones to some nice short ones (the sata cabels are 6inches and still longer than needed, and the ide one is a round cable rather than the usual flat ones). Plus I got blue ones to go with the blue light that the case has.
Well it was easy to install and everything has now been running for about 4 hours with no hiccups. One thing Ive noticed though is that the case is still very warm at the top where the PSU is.
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AfterDawn Addict
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16. January 2008 @ 17:18 |
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The top where the PSU is will always be warm as PSUs run relatively warm, but it should not be hot.
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