The Plague

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werdnahman

n00b
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Messages
62
My computer has the plague. I bought the components for my computer from Newegg in January 2009. I started out with the following (which may still be my signature):
i7 920
P6T Deluxe v1
OCZ Gold ram (6 gb)
Sapphire Radeon 4850X2
Corsair TX850w PSU
Dell 3007 WFP
some SATA DVD burner that I cannot remember (gone now)
and a couple of WD Cavier Blue HDDs.

The problems I have had and steps I have taken are:

Can't do first install of Vista from SATA DVD drive: bought IDE drive locally, sent DVD drive back.
Random pixels on screen, especially during games: RMA'd the 4850X2
Random pixels on screen, especially during games (again): RMA'd and switched to EVGA GTX 285 FTW
Screen flash (every now and then my monitor flashes oddly) and other probs: RMA'd mobo

Switched to Windows 7
Bought Kingston 64gb SSD, reinstalled windows 7
minor problems including very rare random pixels and persisting screen flash
Got a blu-ray drive

Computer won't boot, freezes some - ordered new PSU Corsair AX850. (which did fix it)
SATA controller on P6T goes bad, starts randomly dropping HDs: switched to EVGA 131-GT-E767-TR

Today, with this setup, my computer just started shutting itself off. Right now it is running steady (using my laptop though), but it wouldn't even post sometimes. It quit in the middle of windows repair once.

I sent an email with similar content (but under 1000 characters) to Newegg and am waiting on a reply.

It seems impossible that I would get so many bad components, but every time I have had a big problem I have asked friends and sometimes HardForum, and followed that advice (steps taken above). I haven't replaced the RAM or the CPU, but every other component has been replaced at least one time (I've even had multiple wireless cards). So what do you guys think, am I just having bad luck ordering components or did I miss something that could be causing this? Assuming today's problem persists, I will RMA the motherboard I guess.
 
Oh and I only overclocked on the second motherboard. The EVGA is at stock everything, so clock speeds in my signature are inaccurate.
 
Did you do a Memtest? Did you verify that your heatsink is mounted correctly? What temp do you have? You should also try to mount everything out of your case with the bare minimum components and see if it's stable
 
Heatsink on the CPU has a good seal, and I haven't been running games even, this shutting down thing has been going on while checking email or browsing the web. Can't get it to post right now... if I get it running again, I'll do a memtest and get temperatures. Why set the comp up outside of the case, possibility of a short?
 
Id start by diagnosing the components that have remained constant across all your builds. Seems like a logical place to start.
 
Well, the computer will not post now. The motherboard has a little post LED on it, and that is showing nothing. Fans spin up and that is it. Power button won't turn the computer off any more, it did 10 minutes ago, but now that quit working too.
 
Temperatures are great (it booted), and I am on my third pass on memtest and no errors. Any of you happen to know an exorcist?
 
power is your problem I ahd a power supply check out good until I put load on it and thats what it started to do to me . The problem is it also destroys your componets one at a time and you chase your tale like a little dogggy.
 
werdnahman said:
Only the CPU and memory, how would I check the CPU?
Click to expand...

Have a friend with a spare CPU for the same socket?

Also, do you have spare cables for the monitor? I had severe problems with a previous build including pixelated screen and inability to boot the computer and it all went away when I switched out my DVI cable. It's a longshot, but assuming your memory tests out fine it's worth a shot.

Otherwise I'd start over and do the standard troubleshooting method of removing all unnecessary components, using known working components, etc. I agree it's weird to have so many potentially faulty parts, but I suppose it's also possible you just have had really, really bad luck :(
 
p3sty said:
power is your problem I ahd a power supply check out good until I put load on it and thats what it started to do to me . The problem is it also destroys your componets one at a time and you chase your tale like a little dogggy.
Click to expand...

This could also be the case, and even after the new PSU you are dealing with the aftereffects of a bad one.
 
krakerman said:
This could also be the case, and even after the new PSU you are dealing with the aftereffects of a bad one.
Click to expand...

I agree. Who knows what else is messed up by the bad psu. BTW, if you still have it, you can RMA it to Corsair, they should replace it with the new V2 of the same model.
 
I got the old on RMAd a while back, the one they sent is still in the plastic wrap. After running memtest, the comp is still running stable just sitting there. Ran fine for a week with the new motherboard and then this stuff today though. Once it starts presenting again I'll start swapping stuff out.

pretty much everything but the new board touched the old power supply, but maybe I just got a bad board from EVGA.
Thank you guys for your help, I really appreciate it. Lots of good ideas.
 
DO yo have a speaker connected to spkr header? does it beeps ? how?


you can try the following.
- put everything out of the case
- connect CPU+ his heatsink (ensure fam is connected to cpu fan header)
- connect just 2 dimm of ram on A1 and B1(apparently 1 dimm prohibits the board to boot)
- clear cmos
- ensure all overvoltage jumpers are on default (not enabled)
- connect vga card for the sake of having something on the screen.
- connect PSU (EATX PWR + EATX12V + VGA CARD only)
- do not connect anything else
- boot using the onboard switch

post the results. if this fails, take the spare CPU / spare PSU route.
 
EVGA said that if it was powering off as if I unplugged the PSU (which it is) that it could be the CPU or the PSU. So perhaps it is a CPU problem. I'll prime95 tomorrow and see what happens. Temps are fine though (and should have been the same the last time the problem presented).
 
@VeauX
It has since posted with most stuff still hooked up, last time it shut down it wouldn't turn back on for a while. When trying to turn it on, the fans would power up, but nothing would post, letting it sit like that for 30 minutes without touching it, it beeped and posted.

Also I did try a new cable for the monitor some time ago, I forgot to list that. It'll be late tomorrow before I can work on it again (and try suggestions). Thanks again everyone.
 
Sounds like the motherboard or power supply to me.. or maybe the RAM.

I guess it could be the CPU.. but they usually just die completely.. no intermittent problems like you seem to have.

I have seen a very strange issue once or twice where a shorted fan was causing the system to not post.

I have also seen where a faulty hard drive has caused a system to not post.
 
the problem is it's intermittent so without removing unknowns from the equation, it will be hard to pinpoint the troublemaker
 
It is also possible that the incoming power is messed up. Do you have a surge protector with battery backup. Back in the day I had so so power in an apartment and I always had little hardware problems. Eventually a moved and I have had almost no problems with at least 5 builds since and all of them are still running.

That is the first thing I would check cause you can easily pick up a UPS at a local place. You can get bad power from alot of things including those pesky CFL lights on the same circuit.

Others also mentioned the ram. But to me an incoming power problem would be wrecking everything.
 
IMHO, it sounds like a PSU or a RAM issue.

I've had bad RAM produce 3D artifacting in game before... It also causes instability, intermittent POSTing etc.
 
could it be a bad ground? Perhaps a short somewhere ?
you could take the internal sound and USB headers off the case, then try taking the board out of the case.
 
I don't think it is incoming power. Granted that the last motherboard failed at this location, I've been bouncing around houses (college student) for a long time now. Right now I am running Prime95 and speedfan to try to rule out the CPU. Temps seem to max around 65C. (after about 20 min).
 
@Ckryan - I think I am going to try that if it does it again. Since attempting to run memtest yesterday, it hasn't shut off on me.
 
Rudy mentioned CFL light bulbs causing glitches in the wall power on the same circuit, how much can those bulbs cause? That is the only thing I can think of that may be constant every place I have lived with this computer and it's problems. Most or all of my rooms have had CFL bulbs. EVGA support had me check voltages in the BIOS, specifically +12V, +5V, and +3.3V. 12 was 12.32, 3.3 was 3.36, and the closest thing to 5 was 4.53 (Listed as VCC in the BIOS, and was closest to +5V of all 15 or 20 voltages listed).
 
I do not know how common it is , but have seen analog items like my CRT monitors where you could notice a change in the voltage and sounds when you turned on CFL bulbs on the same circuit. I have heard of other problems. It also does not need to be a CFL any electronic device can mess up the current including another computer with a bad PSU. To me the only easiest thing to do is just shut off all the lights and try it for a week or so. But it will still be hard to diagnose given you probably still have at least 1 bad part.

Another thing is if you are lucky enough to have a friend on the same socket mobo maybe you could ask the person to allow you to swap parts. But this time you swap 1 part at a time into their system. This helps yo get around issues where you may have multiple bad parts.
 
werdnahman said:
Well, the computer will not post now. The motherboard has a little post LED on it, and that is showing nothing. Fans spin up and that is it. Power button won't turn the computer off any more, it did 10 minutes ago, but now that quit working too.
Click to expand...
What happens when you unplug the AC cord for a minute?

Someone else mentioned having problems with Corsair TX750 and TX850 PSUs, but could there be a short between the case and motherboard, either at one of the mounting holes or a corner (mobo & case flex, sometimes enough to touch; keep them separate with a stick-on rubber foot against the case there).

Until I read that your computer wouldn't even POST, I was going to blame the OCZ memory. Generally, I first look at the kinds of parts that tend to vary the most in quality, and that means power supply and no-name memory.
 
Memory can still cause a motherboard to not POST, oddly I had such problems when I put 4 sticks of ram in a P67 board. Any smaller amount of ram would work fine though. But I had very similar non posting systems with fans spinning and power buttons not working when I had 4 sticks of ram in a gigabyte mobo.
 
I would say to put a good UPS on it for the power fluxuations and change out some RAM. It's so cheap nowadays, why not?
 
Well, I left it on for the day with the lights out. Should have been the only thing running on this circuit (AC in the room is on a different circuit). Anyway, it was at system restore when I came back, so it must have crashed and restarted.
I also don't see any points of contact between the motherboard and the case other than those intended. I think I got a bad power supply first time around, and then just got unlucky on this motherboard...
 
@Gordo74 - I ran memtest, and this ram was fine in my previous motherboard from 2 weeks ago. Solid as a rock until it started dropping hard drives...

@larrymoencurly - first, cool username, second - my first power supply was a TX850, swapped it out. However, I did have an issue about a year back (shortly before replacing it) where it wouldn't post at all. Unplugging it from the wall for a minute temporarily cured it. Anyway, it is posting and booting now, but still turning itself off every now and then. Didn't change anything between it not posting and it posting again, just sorta.. waited it out... I guess.
 
EVGA got back to me and ... it is a bad motherboard. They put out a new bios on 8/31, and told me to flash that. I did, and the flash showed that it couldn't update 4 blocks of memory. They said they needed to RMA it.
 
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