knopflerbruce Posted October 17, 2006 Posted October 17, 2006 I built this comp two weeks ago, and it's working - except for one ANNOYING bug. Sometimes it just freezes. Sometimes when I play games on high settings, sometimes when I play solitaire... and so on. When it freezes, it either just "freezes" (nothing else happens), or it freezes - and at the same time there is a crackling-like noise in the speakers (the "real" speakers, not the one on the board). Sometimes it freezes and makes the "post"-beep, except that it's continuous. I woke up to that noise 4 in the morning today, and after 2 minutes my patience was gone, so I tried to get some response from the comp. Nothing. I rebootet, and it was working fine. Sometimes it won't boot the first time I push the reset-button, 2 leds are still on. This indicates a problem with the video cards, but I don't think they have the blame. I'm running SLI, and I've tried both cards (in single card mode),and I still have the same problems. Then I thought it was the PSU, but I checked the 12v and the 5v - both pretty stable (changed 0.01v every now and then), except when I tried 3dmark05. Then the voltage would drop by 0.07v (from 12.06-07 to 11.99-12.00), but remain stable during the various tests. I must say I kinda hope this is the PSU, as I'm not sure it's powerful enough when I install some more hdd's and start oc'ing - which means that I should get a new one anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharp Posted October 17, 2006 Posted October 17, 2006 Hello, Problems starting the PC = power related. Usually means the PSU cannot provide enough power. When you press the button everything gets a small charge, then eventually all gets warmed up and starts to work. But have you ever tested the PC with memtest and Prime95? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhoetuS Posted October 17, 2006 Posted October 17, 2006 Raidmax PSUs suck, that is most likely your problem. Get a PSU off of the Recommend List (link in my sig). I recommend the OCZ GameXstream 700w. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
knopflerbruce Posted October 17, 2006 Posted October 17, 2006 Raidmax PSUs suck, that is most likely your problem. Get a PSU off of the Recommend List (link in my sig). I recommend the OCZ GameXstream 700w. I'm planning to OC, but as I only have air cooling on cpu/gpu's/chipset I can't get too high voltages. I also expect to have 14 harddrives and 2 DVD-RW's in total one day, and a x-fi sound card. I've been looking at Fortron/Source's Epsilon series. Dunno if I'll go for the 600w or the 700w yet, what do you think? Is 600w enough power for my system, even in the future, with all those drives? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
knopflerbruce Posted October 17, 2006 Posted October 17, 2006 Hello, Problems starting the PC = power related. Usually means the PSU cannot provide enough power. When you press the button everything gets a small charge, then eventually all gets warmed up and starts to work. But have you ever tested the PC with memtest and Prime95? No, but I'll try those soon. Why memtest. btw? Not that I think it's a bad advice at all, I'm just curious. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
-_{MoW}_-Assasi Posted October 17, 2006 Posted October 17, 2006 Stress the memory to see if its stable i guess Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharp Posted October 17, 2006 Posted October 17, 2006 Just for stress testing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
knopflerbruce Posted October 17, 2006 Posted October 17, 2006 Ran memtest twice without errors. Will try prime95 now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
knopflerbruce Posted October 17, 2006 Posted October 17, 2006 I just remembered that the raidmax only has a 4-pin connection to the mobo (not 8), could that be the reason? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhoetuS Posted October 18, 2006 Posted October 18, 2006 I've been looking at Fortron/Source's Epsilon series. Dunno if I'll go for the 600w or the 700w yet, what do you think? Is 600w enough power for my system, even in the future, with all those drives? Those PSUs are a good choice & considering that you are planning on adding drives & upgrading in general, I would definately get the 700w. I wouldn't get anything less than that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted October 18, 2006 Posted October 18, 2006 An 8-pin EPS power connector on an Expert board should be filled with an 8-pin EPS power connector from a DFI recommended power supply. Anything else is asking for , yep you guessed it, instability. I have a 700w Epsilon, they are awesome. Power supply is more important than any other component on an Expert board. If you have to save money, do it on the other hardware. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefabe Posted October 19, 2006 Posted October 19, 2006 The expert board REQUIRES a native 24 pin 8 pin eps power supply. Also the freezing is an infinate loop error caused by either too high of an overclock on the graphics card or cpu, it can also be caused by IRQ shareing between the graphics card and a 2zs sound card. But you are definetly WAY under powered for everything you are running I'm suprised that you havn't experienced more drastic problems with 2 7900's and only powering your 8 pin with a 4 pin pwer connector. I would suggest an OcZ gameXtreme 700 watt but I also have seen they are now making 750 to 1000 watt power supplies. You are running a ton of stuff Power should be of the utmost importance other wise your going cause severe damage to your board or other peripherals. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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