my new build is a piece of junk..

[EvoKyle]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a393/stpete33/My%20Computer/error.jpg

thats the screen i keep getting after a few minutes of turning on my computer...specs are in my sig.

this computer is really starting to frustrate me because it has been giving me problems ever since i first booted it up. it was supposed to be for games (CS:S, DOD:S, ect..) but right now its a giant paper weight.

any help would be appreciated. im about ready to just erase the hard drive and start over...

[EvoKyle]

ill also add...the computer will run fine at times, and act as if nothing is wrong...but then it just goes back to being a pos

[Cricket]

Please give full system specs...we need to know the brand and model of each component in this build, especially the brand of the power supply and the RAM.

:) Cricket

[glc]

1. What brand and speed is the ram?
2. What brand is the PSU?
3. 512mb ram is way too light for a gaming machine.
4. Why did you buy a low end Via-based motherboard?
5. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315266
6. Test your ram with memtest86+ (www.memtest.org).
7. Download SeaTools from www.seagate.com and test the hard drive.
8. Go to the Asus website, download the latest bios, and also see if there are updated drivers.
9. Go to www.nvidia.com and download the latest video drivers.

[EvoKyle]

Power supply is XION
RAM is Ultra DDR2 PC2-4200 533MHz
CPU Fan is Thermaltake TR2-M17 SE

it was a barebones kit from tigerdirect, its my first build so im still trying to learn. i also have another 512MB RAM on its way

[Cricket]

That power supply is rubbish. You should replace it with a better brand.

The RAM is the wrong speed, you should be using DDR2 800 RAM (PC2 6400). Ultra brand products aren't very good quality too.

Just so you know, TigerDirect is not a recommended vendor on this forum. They have awful customer service and their bare bone kits just combine overstocked parts that may or may not be good quality components and may or may not build into a stable system. We recommend Newegg as the on-line vendor to order your parts from.

:) Cricket

[EvoKyle]

so to make my current setup usable, i should:

replace the RAM with DDR2 800 RAM
replace power supply

correct?

what power supply would you recommend?

And yea I figured out that tiger isnt very good..but it was too late...i will be ordering from newegg from now on

[Cricket]

so to make my current setup usable, i should:

replace the RAM with DDR2 800 RAM
replace power supply

correct?We can't say for sure at this point. You may have a defective motherboard too.what power supply would you recommend?Depends on your budget. How much are you willing to spend on the power supply?

:) Cricket

[EvoKyle]

will this work?

RAM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134009)

Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159044) <-Not sure about this one...what would you recommend?


edit..just saw your post..

for the power supply i dont want to spend a lot, but i want something that you would recommend

since it might be the motherboard, should I buy new memory or wait on that?

[EvoKyle]

1. What brand and speed is the ram?
2. What brand is the PSU?
3. 512mb ram is way too light for a gaming machine.
4. Why did you buy a low end Via-based motherboard?
5. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315266
6. Test your ram with memtest86+ (www.memtest.org).
7. Download SeaTools from www.seagate.com and test the hard drive.
8. Go to the Asus website, download the latest bios, and also see if there are updated drivers.
9. Go to www.nvidia.com and download the latest video drivers.


1. Ultra DDR2 533MHz 512MB PC2-4200
2. XION
3. I have 512MB more on the way
4. Im still learning so what does that mean (Via-Based mobo?)
5. Looking into it (EDIT: looks like its pointing the finger at defective RAM)
6. Looking into it
7. Done, Ran a test, it passed
8. Done
9. Done

[Alaron]

CoolMax PSUs aren't great either. Use this one instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104954

For the AMD systems, you need DDR2-800 memory. Use Crucial instead. Send back the Ultra, its a generic brand that usually isn't great quality.

Via is who makes your chipset. Unfortunately they aren't the best quality either. We can work with it for now, but it may need changing. Boards that use an Nforce chipset work best for AMD systems.

[EvoKyle]

will a 450 psu be enough for my graphics card? someone had said to me that the psu wasnt enough to handle the card.

[Cricket]

A good quality 450 watt power supply could handle your computer with that particular video card in it...but not a low quality one. And Xion power supplies are not good quality power supplies.

:) Cricket

[EvoKyle]

well i just finished reformatting and reinstalling windows...hopefully that works.

I also ordered 1GB of Crucial DDR2 800MHz PC2-6400 RAM

Next to be replaced is the psu

will the one that Alaron linked me to be good? (I only ask because I dont want to replace a 450W with a 450W unless its truely a better psu than the one I currently have.)

[Alaron]

Yes, Fotron is very high quality, while Xion units are frequently problematic. We have some information on power supplies here if you're interested: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

[EvoKyle]

ok i will look into that...thank you for the link

[Cricket]

will the one that Alaron linked me to be good? (I only ask because I dont want to replace a 450W with a 450W unless its truely a better psu than the one I currently have.)As Alaron stated, Fortron Source power supplies are very good...in fact, I only use Fortron Source power supplies in my own computers. The only other brands I would trust in my computers are Seasonic, Corsair and PC Power & Cooling but they cost a lot more.

:) Cricket

[The_YongGrand]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a393/stpete33/My%20Computer/error.jpg

thats the screen i keep getting after a few minutes of turning on my computer...specs are in my sig.

this computer is really starting to frustrate me because it has been giving me problems ever since i first booted it up. it was supposed to be for games (CS:S, DOD:S, ect..) but right now its a giant paper weight.

any help would be appreciated. im about ready to just erase the hard drive and start over...

Oh my goodness... you can't play games well enough with a 512MB RAM. :eek:

It is best to have at least 2GB RAM - that'll be very handy. Furthermore, your processor is very sufficient for these games too.

Also, the 7600GT might be slightly old technology, but you can mainly do well with the CS:S and the other HL2 games with 2x AA and 4x AF. If you need to play newer games, you gotta see the 8800GT or find a second hand 7900/x1950 cards. :cool:

[Ahura]

65 dollars for a gigabyte of Ram is expensive.

[Cricket]

65 dollars for a gigabyte of Ram is expensive.I can tell you haven't been playing around with computers for very long. RAM prices fluctuate a great deal and there have been times when RAM prices were absolutely outrageous. When I upgraded one of my very first computers from 16MB of RAM to 32MB, the 16MB (two 8MB sticks of 72 pin 60NS FPM RAM) cost me about $130 back in 1994 or 1995. A few years before that my friend installed 1MB of RAM into his Apple Macintosh and that cost him $1,000. So for me, being about to get 1GB of RAM for under $100 is amazing.

:) Cricket

[Katreat]

Actually, with sales and rebates you can get 2 gb now for significantly less than $100 right now. I also agree that unless you are playing very old games you need 1 gb minimum. 2 gb will pretty much handle anything out there with easy. 3+ gb if you want to play the benchmark game. :)

Kat

[EvoKyle]

well i finished reformatting and reinstalling windows xp yesterday...and so far no error messages/freezing/random issues have occurred. (knock on wood)

so if it turns out that it was just a bad windows xp install or improperly formatted hard drive, if i wanted to keep the Ultra RAM in the computer and add the GB of Crucial RAM in as well, is that ok..or can you not use various brands/speeds together?

still planning on buying a new psu next week as well.

[flanzig1]

You pretty much need to run an AMD AM2 system with DDR2 800 speed ram. Mixed speeds of ram sticks will run at the slowest stick speed.

[EvoKyle]

so basicly the RAM im using now (533MHz) is holding the potential of my computer back since it should be 800MHz?

or is it not that much of a difference

[Cricket]

so basicly the RAM im using now (533MHz) is holding the potential of my computer back since it should be 800MHz?Yes.or is it not that much of a differenceNo, your seeing a big performance hit by not running DDR2 800 RAM.

:) Cricket

[Ahura]

I'm new to computer and stuffs that is true :(

[glc]

Pulling 512mb is no great financial loss. You *should* have ordered a dual channel kit of DDR2-800 though.

[EvoKyle]

well i just put in the 1GB of crucial ddr2 RAM...jumped into a DOD:S game, and had everything freeze up on me within 5 minutes..

so i rebooted and it wouldnt load windows, so i rebooted again and went into BIOS (Took forever to get into it, usually it goes imeadiatly to it when i press DEL), and realized it wasnt recognizing the hard drive

im assuming that means either its a bad sata cable or a bad hard drive, so im going to buy a sata cable right now and see if that fixes the problem.

am i going the correct troubleshooting path?

is there a special way im supposed to remove the Ultra Ram and install the Crucial other than literally pulling it out then replacing it?

any other suggestions as to what could be causing this?

[Ahura]

I do not know about pulling it out, but installing it should take a lot moar force than the recommended "firm." I think yu just unlock the two locks on the side and the Ram would be partially pushed up and out.

[EvoKyle]

I do not know about pulling it out, but installing it should take a lot moar force than the recommended "firm." I think yu just unlock the two locks on the side and the Ram would be partially pushed up and out.


yea i know how to physicaly get it in the computer..i was just making sure there wasnt a setting or something in BIO's that I maybe missed

[EvoKyle]

well i just got back from all the local radioshacks/best buy/circuit citys and theyre all out of sata cables (well best buy had some but were charging $20 for them)

so im going back to newegg.com to order one..

TRIPP LITE 19" SATA Cable Model P941-19I

will that be a decent cable?

[glc]

Have you already used all the SATA cables that came with your motherboard?

Tripplite cables are fine.

[EvoKyle]

yea the cable that came with the mobo is the one currently plugged in

so im assuming the error i saw is bc i either have a bad sata cable or a bad hard drive?

[glc]

If the hard drive is not recognized, it's one of 3 things - bad hard drive, bad cable, or bad motherboard.

[EvoKyle]

any way to test if its a bad motherboard?

[glc]

By using a tested cable and hard drive.

[EvoKyle]

well i replaced the SATA cable, and so far so good. no crashing or freezing (knock on wood)

[EvoKyle]

so my comp has been working great since i swapped out the SATA cable..

just curious though...i have the chance to get a 520w atx apevia psu for $30..

now i read the link someone provided for me earlier on good/bad psu's and apevia is listed as "bad"...

but my thought is...since my cash is tight right now, and i currently only have a 450w xion psu...i figure for $30 an extra 200w isnt bad for the time being?

buy it or pass?

[Alaron]

Pass. You need to upgrade your power supply. But that is the wrong way to do it. Save up a bit more for a quality unit like a Corsair.

Give this a look: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

[EvoKyle]

yea that was the link i was looking at...i was just curious if maybe for $30 i should get the 520w over my current 450w

but yea...it only makes sense for me to save up the extra cash to buy 1 good psu that will last me a while rather than wasting cash on a psu only to upgrade it again later on down the road

[The_YongGrand]

yea that was the link i was looking at...i was just curious if maybe for $30 i should get the 520w over my current 450w

but yea...it only makes sense for me to save up the extra cash to buy 1 good psu that will last me a while rather than wasting cash on a psu only to upgrade it again later on down the road

Get that Corsair PSU that the guys recommend! You will actually saving money in the long run - a PSU is very important and you do not want it to destroy other components too. :)

As for the wattages, a 450W is already enough, unless you have a high end card.

[EvoKyle]

another question...

when i try and play a dvd movie, i get picture, but no sound...

back when i first built the computer someone had linked me to a free download site that fixed the problem..but since i reinstalled windows i obviously no longer have that download and cannot remember the link...

can anyone link me to a free site so that i can have sound when i play dvd's?

***Note, all other sounds work fine (Music, Games, Windows, Internet)

[liambl]

You are missing a DVD playback codec. I have used K-lite codec pack before and found it to be alright, no spyware or crap. Try using that.