Hardware conflicts?

H

HeroIgnored

Geek Trainee
Alright, I'm posting in the general hardware area because I'm not exactly sure what my problem is. I just upgraded my system (motherboard, cpu, video card, RAM, PSU) and have since been having some pretty nasty issues. I did install windows (XP Professional) over when I put my new hardware in.

It all started with some bios quirks. My cpu would reboot in the middle of the bios hardware detection. Or sometimes it would just hang and not load completely. I flahsed a new bios version, and those problems dissapeared. I've had some random reboots here and there, but they've usually occurred when another problem has been in progress.

My biggest problem is that whenever I start up a game my computer hangs and the display bugs out. Oblivion I can start the game up and usually get past the company logo screens, and sometimes load a game, but the game runs REALLY slow for a couple seconds, and then the system hangs. I tried company of heroes, and had similar results, only with that game I can't even get past the black screen before the company logos load.

My current hardware:
Gigabyte M55SLI-S4 (nforce4) - motherboard
AMD 64 FX 5600+ - CPU
nVidia 8800GTS (MSI, 320meg vram) - video
G-Skill 2 gig (2x 1gig dual channel) - RAM
Rosewill 550w dual 12v rail - PSU
 
HeroIgnored said:
My biggest problem is that whenever I start up a game my computer hangs and the display bugs out. Oblivion I can start the game up and usually get past the company logo screens, and sometimes load a game, but the game runs REALLY slow for a couple seconds, and then the system hangs.
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try updating the grfx drivers to the latest version, or do you think your CPU or GPU is overheating (unlikely, but possible)
 
I don't believe it's a heat issue, but what is the best way to tell? I've been messing with drivers for a while with no improvement. Any chance it could be an issue with the mobo?
 
Thanks so much for the help. I checked the cpu heat and was idling in the 40s! When I was running apps the processor would actually peak at 58 C... Overheating is definetely the issue.

I took a look at the cpu and noticed the surface isn't exactly flat. I think my processor is bad and wasn't making full contact with my heatsink. I'm getting a new one :)

Also, I ram memtest86+ and got some errors on my memory. Could this be effected by a bad cpu? If not, how do I know if the RAM is so bad it needs to be replaced?
 
HeroIgnored said:
peak at 58 C...
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it's no dangerously hot, but it is too close to 60*C (max temp)
HeroIgnored said:
I took a look at the cpu it wasn't making full contact with my heatsink.
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also apply a paper thin layer of thermal compound to the CPU (where it contact the heatsinik
HeroIgnored said:
I'm getting a new one
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well a new heatsink usually comes with thermal compound already applied (usually has a small plastic tab, which you pull to remove)

HeroIgnored said:
Also, I ram memtest86+ and got some errors on my memory. Could this be effected by a bad cpu?
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some weird and wonderful thing can happen if you have faulty RAM, it's more likely you have faulty RAM than a bad CPU
HeroIgnored said:
how do I know if the RAM is so bad it needs to be replaced?
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test your RAM in another similar system & run memtest on that system[ot]do you like bowling ?[/ot]
 
Thanks a lot for the help, donkey. I was able to test the RAM with memtest86+, switching chips out and seeing if it was RAM or the slots. It turns out one of the sticks was bad, so I pulled out the bad stick and only ran the other one. The other stick didn't get any errors at all in the memtest.

Even with the good RAM I got the same problem. I did try running 3dMark06 this time, and was able to get through most of the first test before my system crashed. While the test ran my framerate was very good and the video was crisp and beautiful :) So, I'm guessing it's not driver/video card/nvidia chipset related.

I pulled my CPU out and the surface wasn't completely flat. I don't think it was getting good contact with my heatsink, so I called my provider and they are sending me a new one. Hopefully that will fix it.

I'll definetely put some thermal paste on there. I do have a tube of it here, just in case :)

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Off Topic:
 I do enjoy bowling, even though I'm not very good ><
 
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