Problems with my gaming rig

[SkankingElf]

Hi all,

I recently built myself a gaming rig. These are the components:
- intel duo core E6700
- EVGA nforce 680i SLI
- BFG Geforce 8800 GTX (768MB GDDR3)
- OCZ 4x1GB dual channel SLI ready RAM
- Ultra 550 Watt power supply
- 1x Western Digital 160 GB SATA 16mb cache HDD
- 1x Seagate 400GB SATA 16mb cache HDD
- Creative Lab Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Gamer
- Ultra 550W SLI ready power supply
- windows vista 32-bit Home premium
- D-link wireless card (N-rangebooster)

I was able to assemble it with no problems. Vista was instaled with no difficulties. At the time I had not instaled the 400gb HDD. When i tried to install it, the computer started but crashed after the windows loading screen. I then removed all connections to it and restarted my computer it got to the desktop but I keep getting the following problems:

- Computer often locks-up (screen freezes and nothig responds) at random (either executing a task or when idle) forcing a manual restart. Often, it freezes just after the load screen before geting to the windows desktop. Whenever i get the freeze, the HDD light on the front of my PC tunrs off.
- Hardware managment (windows utility) does not detect any hardware malfunction.
- No problems seem to occur while in safe mode.
- SB sound card and motherboard built in sound card produce a choppy, poor quality sound.
- I cannot access the full fuctionality of windows vista home premium (no aero view, pretty much a classical view as a matter of fact)
- Can not connect to my home wireless network or to the internet. I was pnly able to gain access by physicaly connecting my router to the motherboard's built in LAN ports.
- Also I instaled rainbow 6 Vegas to see if the computer could run a game. The game instaled but for some reason it does not detect my processor when i try to launch it(might be that the game is not compatible with vista, who knows?). I instaled another game (Neverwinter nights 2) and it seems to work decently.

I downloaded the new drivers for my hardware via my laptop and instaled them, so that's not it. I also spent about 3 hours on the phone with a microsoft engineer thinking that vista might be the problem. So far, he is as stumped as me. He suggested I remove 2 plates of ram because of a known bug, so I did and yet it did not change anything.

If anybody can help this poor owner of a very expensive paper weight of a PC, please do!

[Staren]

First off, welcome to PCMech.

The first thing that comes to mind is try another power supply. 550 watts is pushing it with a GTX plus multiple hard drives, plus 4 sticks of ram. It might work IF you had a quality unit in there. Ultras look cool, but not really quality power supplies. If you have access to another one, I'd give it a shot before doing anything else.

[YukonMaster]

Agreed, that PSU is really pushing it, although it isnt the source of all your problems I would look at somthing a bit bigger like a 600+.

As for the sound issuse, this may or may not applie to you but, Vista is known to have sound issues and other driver issues. This won't be fixed until SP1 arrives.

For the windows aero, I dont know why they would disable it, you computer meets the minimum requirements for that.

And for Rainbow Six Vegas, Alot of games aren't compatible with Vista for now, like the sound card this most likely will be fixed in SP1.

YukonMaster

[SkankingElf]

Well thanks for the welcome and very timely response might I add.

I had a feeling it might have been the power supply causing the problem so I'll give that a shot. In that regards, what is a quality brand name in the PSU industry?

Thanks for the help.

[jer888]

Originally Posted by SkankingElf Well thanks for the welcome and very timely response might I add. I had a feeling it might have been the power supply causing the problem so I'll give that a shot. In that regards, what is a quality brand name in the PSU industry? Thanks for the help.

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

[SkankingElf]

Well, after reading the article about my ultra 550w power supply, no wonder I was having problems...

I inquired amongst my friends and none of them have an adequate power supply I can borrow so I'll take a chance and buy one. This is the one I'm leaning towards:

OCZ / GameXStream / 700-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA Ready / SLI Ready / EPS / Active PFC / Power Supply

2 questions remain.
is 700 watt ok or should I lean towards 850-w or even 1000-w? (price difference is about 100$ for 850w and 200 for 1000w)
Even though the OCZ PSU brand name is in the wish list for the high end builds, is there anyone that advises against this purchase or suggests another?

thanks again.

[chuck4456]

PC POWER & COOLING SILENCER 750 QUAD. Best warranty avilable right now. Quiet. It can push two of those cards without a voltage fluctuation. Four PCI e16 connectors for when you add on.

[Mr.Ferrari]

I would not suggest FSP/OCZ units at the moment. They still have a few issues that need to be worked out.

I would suggest a Etasis ET-750 for good bang/buck. If you feel like you need more power, which you dont, I would suggest the Silverstone ST85ZF.

[glc]

There are also tons of issues with that eVGA 680i board. I would have gotten a single slot Asus P5B board. SLI with Intel is something I just do not recommend.

[SkankingElf]

Originally Posted by glc There are also tons of issues with that eVGA 680i board. I would have gotten a single slot Asus P5B board. SLI with Intel is something I just do not recommend.

Wish I had known that before... what are those issues?

BTW I have an ATX case. Corect me if I'm wrong but the PC POWER & COOLING SILENCER 750 QUAD won't fit...

[flanzig1]

That PSU should fit a stanard ATX case unless the case has mounting brackets that fit smaller PSUs.. It is a bit longer than a lower wattage supply but should fit.

[SkankingElf]

Well I went for the PC POWER & COOLING SILENCER 750 QUAD.

Still the same problems occur. What could cause random lockups like the ones I am having?

[glc]

It could be anything - the eVGA 680i board has bugs and quality control issues, it may not like that ram, you could be a victim of Nvidia's lousy Vista drivers for the 8800.........

[Katreat]

Vista would be a prime suspect. It is new and there are several know driver issues and compatability probmems currently being worked on. I know from recent articles that both video card makers are having probems with the drivers they are releasing. But that is just a guess based on its newness. Any chance you have a copy of XP you could run for a few months?

[SkankingElf]

well I narrowed it down a bit.

Everything is compatible at the hardware level, I double checked it.
RAM is also ok, I did a memory check and it came up ok.
New power supply so that's not it.
If it was a graphics card, CPU or Mobo malfunction/defect, I shouldn't be able to operate in vista normal mode several minutes (hours at times), right?
If it's a driver problem, then others would be having the same issues as me (I was hopping they would have already come to you guys for help).
If it was a hardware malfunction, I shouldn't be able to operate in vista normal mode several minutes (hours at times), right?

So appart from a driver malfunction, what could it be?

[SkankingElf]

worst up can anyone recomend a good computer repair shop in Quebec city. I know it's a long shot but I am desperate here...