[JoshJones]

hello every one,
i have just built a new system, the first few times i booted my Asus motherboard told me there were power surges. i was a little worried, but after further research i discovered Asus support recommends to just shut it off. so no worrys there, installed xp and all drivers. Used the computer for a good 2 days, Played a decent amount of GTA4. it was running great. so i decided to try windows 7 out on it, after installing the VGA driver it would give me a BSOD at login every time. after more research, an apparent known problem (but not normally on boot) with that driver. after all this, i decided to ditch windows 7, stick with xp.
And this is where my problems started.it would just restart when i tryed booting xp, so i ended up just reinstalling windows xp on it. it worked fine untill, i try loading gta, it would restart... problem got worse after reinstalling windows again (thought maybe the drivers got messed up or something, cuz i couldnt get it out of 16bit mode, with dirvers) now it reboots when i go to the asus page to try to upgrade drivers, or when i try opening a picture... not wanting to deal with at the time being, i made it dual boot with Ubuntu. what also worked great at first. untill i installed the GPU driver for it.... after restarting, open the Nvida control panel thing, display goes all crazy, turns into patterns.. this is when i stiped using this computer. i dont want to break it.. its all brands new.
I'm worried it may be the PSU because of the MB telling me it was surging. when i check the volts in the bios, they seem to be pretty unsteady, but staying close to the +/- 5%. other times i checked it was stable as could be.
im worried it may be the GPU because of the restarting when opening GTA4, and having problems on 3 OS's after driver install. i just find it weird it worked fine before installing windows 7.
A friend told me to check the ram, i will be doing a memtest tonight.
a few more notes: i know its not over heating, good airflow, wire-management. A positive case pressure (3in:2out), good Cpu cooler, cold room temp. the power supply seems to be of low quality but,
heres a link to the PSU: http://www.xoxide.co...pcix-clear.html
GPU:http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=o7FrMH9W00nDL1Ml
MB:http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=ef0qgvMIwOUagAVl
And ram:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098

if u need any other stats/pics/whatever please ask.

Any and all help will be appreciated.

[Advertisements]

Do you have the same problem if you use onboard video? Take the video card completely out. Does this help or do you have the same problem?

If the problem still occurs, it wouldn't hurt to memtest it, but can you try another power supply? This sort of issue is trial and error really even when testing the RAM, try it with just one stick installed in DIMM 0, if the problem keeps occuring, try the other stick.

Always do these in steps, it will help you identify the problem better. See?

[Ferrari]

Do you have the same problem if you use onboard video? Take the video card completely out. Does this help or do you have the same problem?

If the problem still occurs, it wouldn't hurt to memtest it, but can you try another power supply? This sort of issue is trial and error really even when testing the RAM, try it with just one stick installed in DIMM 0, if the problem keeps occuring, try the other stick.

Always do these in steps, it will help you identify the problem better. See?

[JoshJones]

for some reason i have not tried on-board video, will do later tonight. I have thought about switching power supply's, but dont have another one. and i completely forgot, but the GPU software gives off errors at boot, even with latest versions installed. heres a pic: Moments after saving this pic onto the flashdrive, it visually glitched out, and reboot.

Here is an example of the glitching i took a yesterday:

Spoiler

and here is the computer we are talking about here:
http://tinypic.com/r/2cgfml4/6
and one of the whole case:
http://tinypic.com/r/fdg7cm/6

Edited by JoshJones, 23 February 2010 - 07:45 PM.

[JoshJones]

bump. i have been doing some testing.
i pulled out the video card. and everything works fine.. but i was doing some stress testing with OCCT, and witnessed my vcore surge to 3.0 volts! during the same tests i also witnessed my 12V rail dropping to below acceptable limits. along with the 5V rail.... so obviously i need a better power supply. i shouldn't have cheeped out. but overall i have had no crashing using the On-board video. so does this mean, that both are bad?

[Ferrari]

so does this mean, that both are bad?

I think the card could be over stressing the power supply. Cards require the PSU/entire system to work harder, thus causing the PSU to work harder. I would replace the power supply with a 80 Plus Certified PSU and then try the video card and gaming again. If the problem persists, possibly a bad video card as well.

Names I trust for power supplies are Corsair (the best), Antec, Seasonic, OCZ. I recommend always buying a 80 Plus certified PSU so look for that certification.

Edited by Ferrari, 24 February 2010 - 08:10 PM.

[JoshJones]

thanks much, this is the new PSU i will be getting
http://www.newegg.co...mory-_-17139012
and i will try to find a computer i can test this GPU in asap, to determine if i need to send it back. hopefully it is only the PSU. either way, next time i build a comp. i wont buy a PSU because its cheap, and looks cool.

Edited by JoshJones, 24 February 2010 - 08:54 PM.

[Ferrari]

That's an excellent choice. Good luck, I hope everything works out.