Hi all! Please forgive my "newb-ness", but I'm in the process of building my first rig and I've run into a snag. First, my specs: ============================== CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.40 GHz GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti Mobo: Gigabyte Intel Z77 (GA-Z77X-UD5H) RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green 2 TB PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series TX850 Optial: Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel Montior: ASUS ML228H OS: Windows 7 Professional (64 bit) ============================== Now, in first putting it together, I had no problems installing Windows 7. After installing all drivers and updates and in the spirit of being thorough, I used Gigabyte's @BIOS utility to flash to the newest bios version (F7) from the factory default (F4). Bad idea! Almost immediately, the OS went wonky. This is probably where my inexperience really hit hard. I thought maybe OS files corrupted somehow, so I just needed to reinstall the OS. No luck. Currently, I can't even install Windows 7 on the hard disk. I can get to "Unpacking Windows files..." when the installation freezes and (eventually) the system reboots on its own. I'm at the end of my obviously feeble skills, and I humbly ask: "what the heck did I do?!!?" Thank you all, in advance!
Well, I forgot that my mobo has Dual BIOS. So, I used the backup (version F4) to get everything up and running again. Anyone have any idea why an older version of a mobo's BIOS would work better than a newer version?
If new features are introduced, they might cause new issues. Therefore it's never a good idea to upgrade your BIOS firmware unless a newer version fixes any issues you are having. Anyway, great to have your system back up and running
That was kinda what I figured. I was hoping that the new BIOS would fix the original problem (that I'm now back to having, d'oh!). That problem is that the system randomly shuts down. I haven't been able to find a trend (i.e. only when I'm playing a game, etc.), and I've run memtest86+ for two passes with no errors. It seems to happen less when I only have 2 sticks of 4GB memory installed, but that's just a guesstimate. Anyone have any ideas about that? (p.s.- if this isn't the right place for this question, I'll be happy to relocate it elsewhere.)
So is this an error that can be diagnosed and fixed, or is it an instant RMA? I'm at a loss because I can't force it to happen, so I can't figure out what causes it.
That depends on the manufacturer of the power supply, I would suggest contacting them. It might be possible they'll replace it immediately.