help required / going insane!

[nate108]

hi all

 

doing a fresh install - all new stuff - but having some trouble.

 

2 major problems

 

- the display is all scattered and distorted and has random black squares.

it is not tearing but a jumbled screen? i can make out most of the characters but others are distorted and replaced with different characters - like all my 0 (zeros) are replaced with a greek symnbol? i think its alpha. weird

 

- the other problem is the system shutting off after approx. 5mins.

 

i am sure this second problem has something to do with heat.

as after i let it cool down it powers back up.

when it shuts down i am unable to power it on again using the onboard switch - untill it cools down. way down

 

 

i have followed Angry_Games initial build post:

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20832

 

and

 

then i started to follow the 'Step-by-step procedure for DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra-D'

by ed jacobson:

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/sho...04&postcount=49

(which really should get stickyed)

 

i got as far as step:

18. Second boot. Enter BIOS. Set Update ESCD/will update DMI pool.

 

i dont know what 'Set Update ESCD' is? so i skipped this and then got as far as

 

23. forth boot

 

before the system shut down again.

 

after Angrys BIOS changes the display got better but was still jumbled and i had a bunch of red and green lines thru the display aswell as black squares.

 

 

i am using a CRT Dell VGA monitor and a DVI adaptor.

 

i have changed outputs on the card and DVI adapters and also monitors but still i get the crazy display.

 

iam getting a IDE drive tomorrow for the initial OS install - to eliminate any sata driver / xp issues. but at the moment all i want is a clear display, a system that stays on longer than 5mins and to run memory test.

 

all this sounds heat and power related - so i double checked all the power cables -cpu fan etc etc. i also reseated the cpu and reapplied thermal paste etc

(i didnt use too much - followed artic silvers guide on application and removal of paste)

 

any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

let me know if you need anymore info.

[Austhor]

Your XFX card requires 26A minimum per 12V rail. The Antec TPII delivers 19A maximum:

 

XFX 7800 GT:

400W minimum system power supply

(with 12V current rating of 26A)

 

TP II:

+3.3V +5V +12V1 +12V2 +5V SB -12V

Max. Load 32.0A* 40A* 19A* 19A 2.0A 1.0A

 

So, me thinks it's your Power Supply. I could be wrong.

 

Good luck.

[nate108]

its a 550w sli power supply

 

is this not enough ?? im only running 1 card

 

the card has a 4 pin molex power input - that im not happy about - but any1 i am powering it on a direct 4 pin molex output from the psu - nothing else attached to this

 

what PSU should i get/try instead ??

[KimTjik]

Your PSU should be fine. Your system isn't that extremely demanding. Have you tryed to have just one module of memory in the orange slot futherest from the CPU?

 

Edit: The miminum of 26A doesn't refer to "per rail", but it should be met by either one 12V single rail or as you in your case the sum of two 12V rails (your Antec probably gives you more than 35A anyway).

[nate108]

i have tried 1 stick of ram - same problems with power and funky display.

 

this sux!!!!!!!!!!!

 

i have done 3 other builds no dramas like this ever.

 

any1 got any ideas???

[KimTjik]

I'm don't know enough when it comes to graphic cards (or I've been lucky never experienced any real issue; problems give experience I suppose).

 

Would it be possible for you to try another card, maybe a friend's, just to in a quick way make sure - before we call the funny farm - your graphic card works?

 

(But you're using right slot for the card; jumpers correctly set?)

[nate108]

card is in pcie1

the pcie slot 2nd closest to the cpu - and big enough to hold the card

 

i have the dfi pcie card jumpers set in default - which is correct for single vga use.

(all the lower pins are uncovered - top 2 rows covered with jumpers)

 

would a faulty card shut down the pc aswell

 

the power of seems heat related - as it powers off and wont power on again untill its totally cooled down.

 

i dont have any friends with a pcie graphics card

 

might have to buy another card and test.- great more cash$$$ why dont i just burn my paycheck and save some time!

[nate108]

help!

[lowboy]

ESCD go into bios>PnP/pci>reset config data>enable

Sata will work fine just make sure to enable sata ports in bios at genie bios>internal sata.enable the ones you using.

Try reseating the GFX card make sure all four power connectors from psu are pluged into board and power for the GFX is plugged in also.

[nate108]

ill try the above when i get home

 

any other ideas - i have previously checked all power cables and reseated video card

 

but ill give it another go after work

 

any other ideas on what the cause might be??

 

should i buy a cheap butt pcie card like a 6200 and try it out just to see if it is the video card that is faulty??

 

1 other question on the 4 power inputs.

my power supply has all 3 of the 4 inputs on the 1 lead out of the power supply unit. ie they are all chained together - 4 pin square, molex and floppy. the main power input is on a seperate lead.

 

is this ok?

should i try and plug a seperate molex into the pwer slot on the board??

 

would this make any difference?

[nate108]

ok i have triple checked everything

 

and also installed a 80gb ide drive - for the os (if i ever get that far)

 

the display is still all distorted and has black squares (see pic below)

 

but the power offs have stopped

 

i am running memory test as i type - and it has come up with some errors thus far - not that i can read it correctly - due to the funky display

 

my plan is to get windows installed and install the monitor and graphics card drivers and see if the display improves.

 

any better ordifferent ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

also where did angry_games post that had the bios screenshots go???

i need this back up - please!!!

[Thorgal]

Have you tried your memory in a different system ?

 

You get memtest errors so you're memory could be corrupt. You have tried to boot with 1 ram stick as mentioned before, but did you try both sticks ?

 

The reason I'm writing all this is because I've had a simular screen with black "dots" when my memory was accidentaly running above spec.

 

Also : you might want to try to run the memory at cas 2 instead of 2.5 (sometimes cas 2.5 doesn't work for me either, this seems to be cpu/motherboard related)

 

I hope you'll find your solution