New computer problems.

Discussion in 'General Hardware' started by sapguar, Jan 12, 2008.

  1. sapguar

    sapguar Geek Trainee

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Hello, I recently purchased a new computer from CyberPowerPC and so far, it's pretty good except for some problems I have been having. Let's get right to the specs on this rig.

    AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core Processor 4600+
    2.41 GHz.
    1 Gig Ram
    Windows XP Professional (Computer came with Vista installed, reformatted
    with my own XP pro CDs)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS
    500 WATT Power Supply
    MOUSE : Razer Copperhead (Blue)
    KEYBOARD : Razer Lycosa

    And now for the problems.

    Problem #1

    Random freezes. It seems that about every 2 hours my screen will just "fuzz" up causing me to hardboot the computer. The picture will get disoriented and I have to reboot the computer to get back. If I'm playing music, the music will continue but the screen will be fuzzed. My guess is that it has something to do with my graphics card. I've tested it on games and on desktop and it does it on both.

    Problem #2

    Both my mouse and keyboard will randomly spaz out. Each do it at there own times and never simultaneously. My keyboard's backlights will randomly start to flicker and if I'm typing while I do this it will sometimes lock it so I can't type. After about 5 seconds of this it will settle down and if the flickering lands on a different light setting, I have to put it back to full light setting. (the three light settings are WASD only being lit, full keyboard light and nothing). The control system for the light switching is a touchpad in the corner of the keyboard. But it shouldn't be something interfering with the keyboard because the media control buttons don't spaz out like the lights so it's got to be a keyboard problem.

    For the mouse, while playing my game, it will randomly shut up and come back on. I will hear the sound as if someone was behind my computer unplugging it and plugging it back in. It can get quite annoying because when it does shut off, I have no use in it causing me to wait for it to plug itself back in. I'm sensing a power problem but whatever.

    Those are pretty much the big ones.
    I have money left over to buy upgrades if needed. I was thinking of actually purchasing another gig of ram to make it 2 gigs. But I would like to hear some of your responses and hopefully they can be fixed without paying anything. I'm open to all suggestions so anything is welcomed. Thanks for reading my post and hope to see some positive replies. If you need anymore information, please do not hesitate to ask. I will be watching this thread whenever I can to hopefully respond to anything you have to say as quick as I can. These problems are livable but it would be nice to eliminate them.


    ~Tyler
     
  2. Dave35k

    Dave35k H4ck3r

    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Hi Mate,

    in regards to problem one i would advise checking the fan on your CPU and graphics card are operating problem has it sounds like a overheating problem to me, some motherboards come with software so you can see the temperature of the components so this might be worth a shot. Failing this check all connections and mayb reseat your GFX card. Did you you thermal greese when installing the processor?

    hope this helps Dave. :cool:
     
  3. sapguar

    sapguar Geek Trainee

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Well, it came installed, I just took the computer out of the box, plugged it all in and went on. I do have a program that shows me my fan speed and fan noise. It's called I-Cool and came on the CD when installing the main motherboard. What would you suggest for checking my fan and graphics card. And sorry, I don't know what thermal greasing of a processor is or how to do it.

    EDIT : On the front of my computer is a little window that shows me CPU Temp and a little knob to control the fan speed.
     
  4. Tech

    Tech Padawan

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I pretty much agree with Dave35k, it does sound heat related but seeing as your sys is new and will still be in warranty I'd contact CyberPowerPC.

    I've never heard of "thermal greasing" before but I guess it refers to using thermal compound or heat dope to provide a more efficient heat transfer from your CPU to the heatsink, obviously providing better cooling.
     
  5. sapguar

    sapguar Geek Trainee

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    But I don't think I'm still in warranty being I took off Vista which came with it and put on XP Pro on my own.
     
  6. Tech

    Tech Padawan

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I see where you're coming from but I would still call them. They cant really expect you to never load a app onto the system that isn't supplied by them and they're taking the piss if they try to get out of their warranty because you stuck XP on there.
     
  7. sapguar

    sapguar Geek Trainee

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Okay, I guess I will give them a contact and see if they can do anything. I would hate to send it back in and wait for them to ship the same or another.
     
  8. Tech

    Tech Padawan

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I would in your position but If they're of no help you can still come back :)
     
  9. sapguar

    sapguar Geek Trainee

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    No help. =/
     
  10. gazaway

    gazaway Geek Trainee

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Is the keyboard and mouse USB? If so it sounds like you may have some USB Controller issues. It could be hardware or software, so I'd recommend doing a FULL (not quick) reformat of the hard drive and reinstalling your OS. Go into your device manager and make sure there are no error under the Universal Serial Bus Controllers. If there are then you probably need the correct software installed. If there isn't then you can almost bet it is an issue with the hardware itself. You can either buy a USB PCI card or try to figure it out yourself or take it to a repair shop.
     
  11. sapguar

    sapguar Geek Trainee

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Okay, well I fixed the mouse problem. It was the mouse... but the keyboard will keep flickering the lights. I checked the device manager for the usb things, and no error was found. Is there another way of checking this? I just double clicked each one and they all say "working properly"

    My keyboard doesn't bother me as much as the freezing does. But I just noticed that when I have music running on windows media player it froze. I will not run the program all this week and including this weekend to see if it is just that. That's an easy problem to fix.. I will just use my mp3 player when I want to listen to music. I hope this is the problem =) thanks all for your help, if you have any other suggestions please, don't hesitate to offer.
     
  12. Tech

    Tech Padawan

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Next time your display fuzzes up open your case and check your graphics card fan is still going, in fact check all your fans are operating. Also when you reboot after a lock up, go into your BIOS and try to find your CPU temp. If you can it would be a good idea to swap out your video card just to see if that prevents the problem.
    Also download the latest drivers for your Video card

    EDIT: Is the PCIe slot next to your graphics card vacant? If not it would be a good idea to leave it empty to aid the G-cards cooling
     
  13. rockaway

    rockaway Guest

     
  14. sapguar

    sapguar Geek Trainee

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    There is a CPU temp screen on my case which at the moment of 2:44 PM EST 01/30/08 reads 23 Degrees C and it also says 21 degrees C for HDD... no clue what that is. I'm pretty sure my drivers are up to date.. what's the best way to check? And not a clue what you mean if it's next to vacant, sorry =/

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    You haven't specified about your monitor configuration and even your graphic card is of mid-level so I even suggest that you go for high-end graphic card

    What would you like to know about my monitor? I don't know if it's high end or low but I can tell you what it is. A nVidia GeForce 8400 GS 512mb
     
  15. gazaway

    gazaway Geek Trainee

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Ya, unless you are running Liq cooling or phase cooling your sensors are definately off. The ambient being at 23 C is pretty much impossible without an extremely expensive cooling solution (unless you live in teh Arctic.)

    Anyways, those sensors aren't on your gpu, open up your nvidia contol panel and look at the temperature in there.
     
  16. sapguar

    sapguar Geek Trainee

    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Okay, how do I find out the real Temp. I can't find it anywhere in the control panel.
     

Share This Page