pimpys

Hi there,

Thanks for the complete site I just discovered, and the reviews done here.

I have a problem with my new PC, bought last saturday.
All is new except the Power which is a TT toughpower 750w from June 07, which is sometimes making electric and strange noises. I suspect my powersupply could be the root of the problem as well... but I have few knownledge here.

Problem is the following, when I am playing COD BlackOps, the official game bought from Steam and yesterday I did played nicely 1h but today I could'nt play more than 15 minutes, before my PC reboot, having no bluescreen but the invite to start in safe mode (which I never choose).

I am on Windows 7 Ultimate x64.

Here is my hardware :

- Quadcore I7 @ 2.8ghz (stock no OC)
- Graphic Nvidia Zotac Amp 460 GTX
- MB Asus Rampage III Gene
- 2 x WD Velociraptors on a RAIDO
- RAM 6 GB Corsair DDR3
- Power Supply TT Thoughpower 750w
- Case Midi Tower Centurion Coolermaster 690

I did changed the Bus voltage from auto, 1.5 to manual 1.65 but I could only game yesterday 1h, stable and today no way to play more thant 15-20 before a hard reboot.

Thanks for your feedback, any thoughts such as Voltage, stuff to check are more than welcome, as I don't know what could be the issue.

Let me know any other information you could find useful,

Hi from Switzerland.

Tipstaff

First up, welcome to the forums!

From what you've described leads me to the same conclusion: bad PSU. At the very least I would try another one.

Before you do that, though, I do have a question and a suggestion: is this the non-modular or modular version of the TT Toughpower?

More than likely (due to its age) it's the non-modular one, so you should have 2 cables each with a 6 pin PCIe power connector on the end. Not much you can do here other than to bypass using the supplied cables from your PSU, and using the molex to PCIe method (should have a couple in the box from Zotac). That, or use 1 of those 6pin connectors from the PSU, and use the molex to PCIe connector for the other. If, however, this is the modular version, you will be using 2 of the 6pin cables connected to 2 of the 4 RED sockets on the PSU. What you might want to try is switching to the other sockets to see if things stabilize.

However, something you might want to look into would be an outside source, like the power coming into the computer. If you can, try a different power outlet, especially if you have other things that use a lot of power running off that outlet. If you are running off a power bar, say a cheap surge protector, try running your PC right off the socket itself. The reason I mention this is that PSUs tend to go bad as you've described by being damaged by something, usually brown outs, or power surges. So, even if you do replace your PSU you could end up right in the same situation within a year or 2 if you don't correct the incoming power. Best suggestion: get yourself a UPS that has line conditioning.

One last suggestion: check Event Viewer. Go into Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Event Viewer, and look under Windows Logs | Application and Windows Logs | System. See if there are any events relating directly to your game, sound card, network card, or video card. If so, it might lead you to another reason for the crashing, such as a driver conflict.

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Sihastru

The strange electric noise might be coil noise and could come from other sources, not necessarily the PSU, like the videocard or motherboard. If it's coil noise, then, with the exception of the auditory discomfort, it should not really pose any other problems.

I suspect the RAM, do a memtest run. Return all settings to AUTO first. I don't know what you mean by bus voltage.

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Tipstaff

I think he means RAM voltage. Either the chips are 1.5v, and he upped it to 1.65, or they are 1.65, board detected them as 1.5, and he upped it to 1.65.

Another thing to look for, pimpys, is what speed the board has the RAM set to. By default the board will "usually" set the speed to 1066, no matter how fast the RAM is. You might find that the system runs more stable by manually setting the speed in the bios to your RAMs rated speed.

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pimpys

Hello,

Thanks for your comments.

I have the modular TT PSU as I can switch power cables as well. But I didn't tried yet.
So to be safe my friend is bringing me a brand new PSU Coolermaster 800w tomorrow as mine is maybe about to die, so I prefer to be safe. The power coming into the PC is only for the screen LCD, Sound kit 2.1 and a light.

However, I am checking how to use Memtest as well, but my DRAM freq is changed to 1366mhz

By the voltage I mean the Bus Voltage of the MB at 1.65

PS : Yesterday I did played 1h nicely, and I stopped it to eat. Then 2hours later I could only play 15minutes, before the PC reboot. I will try again tonight.

Later,

Sihastru

I'm still confused about the 'MB Bus Voltage' thing... A motherboard has multiple voltage settings, please look into the BIOS and write down exactly how that setting is called, because some voltages are dangerous to set above certain thresholds and can cause electrical and thermal instability.

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Intel Core i7 3820 | Corsair H80 | Asus P9X79 | Kingston HyperX T1 Black 32GB DDR3 | Gigabyte 8800 GTS 512 | 2xIntel X25-M 160GB RAID0 + 2xWD 1TB Green RAID1 | Asus Xonar DX | Asus ES2-750 | Sony OptiArc DVD+/-RW | Corsair AX850 Gold | Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium | Dell 3007WFP-HC2 30" 2560x1600 | Corsair SP2500 | Logitech UltraX Premium | CM Storm Advance | Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64bit

pimpys

My RAM is at 1333mhz Sorry my mistake, this is the DRAM Bus Voltage, setup @ 1.65 so you were right.

I tried to play, and could only 25minutes before the PC rebooted, asking me to start windows on safe mode or normal.

I am trying to lower a bit the voltage and retry to play.

pimpys

I changed voltage dram to 1.64 but my pc made a reboot after 25min of playing cod, so tomorrow will be some testings with the new psu.

Tipstaff

Can you post the exact model of the RAM you have? Should say on the side of one of the sticks of RAM. That way we can give you possible settings options to try in the bios.

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iPlayer

Probably just got to adjust the memory timings manually. Just go with the manufacturer's advertised speeds first.

Sihastru

At this point I think it would be best if you'd use the 'Load Optimal Defaults" in BIOS, and run memtest86 from a bootable CD.

Here is the direct link to memtest86.com's zipped ISO image: http://www.memtest86.com/memtest86-3.5a.iso.zip

We have to start eliminating components from the 'could be causing problems' list.

A BSOD can be caused by many situations: bad RAM, bad PSU, bad drivers, wrong BIOS settings, overheating components, HDD errors and so on... Since I am now talking about BSOD's, disable the automatic restart so you can see the BSOD message next time one occurs.

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There are more things in heaven and earth then are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Intel Core i7 3820 | Corsair H80 | Asus P9X79 | Kingston HyperX T1 Black 32GB DDR3 | Gigabyte 8800 GTS 512 | 2xIntel X25-M 160GB RAID0 + 2xWD 1TB Green RAID1 | Asus Xonar DX | Asus ES2-750 | Sony OptiArc DVD+/-RW | Corsair AX850 Gold | Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium | Dell 3007WFP-HC2 30" 2560x1600 | Corsair SP2500 | Logitech UltraX Premium | CM Storm Advance | Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64bit

pimpys

Hi all,

So we changed the PSU, as this was the plan and we ran several test in the same time.

My friend told me that electric noises coming from the PSU is always bad.

Tests done yesterday during 1.5h-2h with CPU usage @ 100% and RAM usage 2.9GB :

- Prime
- 3D Mark Vantage
- Extract and install gaming from DVD
- Gaming/Switching between COD Blackops full details almost and Prince of Persia 2 full

Several memtest were made from Dos (via Bootcd) on each 2GB and on the pack of 6GB, without any errors since 1.5H so the RAM is fine.

So I will try again Call of Duty tonight, hoping my PC will not reboot.

I will keep you posted and maybe close the thread.

pimpys

Hi again,
Just a line to say that with changing the PSU I have played without any crashes.
I was suspecting it since the beginning from the electric noises.
Topic is closed, thanks for your help.

Neshi

glad you got it sorted!

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