Serious problem, please help!

[GIBSON]

Well, yesterday evening I built my cousin a new core 2 duo rig.
everything ran fine all night and this morning, but all of a sudden this afternoon (while watching a web video) the screen turned black and gave a 'no signal' error.
I tried to reboot, but that brought no avail. I waited a while and then it booted again, I went into the bios immediately to check the temps, on the P5B-Deluxe motherboard we are using however it takes a while to detect the fan rpms etc. However at that moment it didn't came up with anything after a minute or 2. It seemed to block in the bios (never heard about that before!). Rebooted again. Wouldn't boot anymore. The strange thing is that everything seems to work, the screen however just gives a 'no signal'. After a while of waiting it went on again. I hit delete to enter the bios, but the system just halted while displaying the AMI bios page (the one before you actually enter the bios).
This problem really beats me and is turning me crazy. I'd suspect the gfxcard, but I really can't be sure. After all it has been working fine since yesterday. Anyone have an idea?
BTW here are the specs
Seasonic S12 600 watt
Core 2 Duo E6300
Asus P5B-Deluxe
XFX Geforce 7900GT
Kingston HyperX pc2-6000 2Gb kit (KHX6000D2K2/2G to be exact)
Seagate S-ATA perpendicular hdd (320G)
NEC DVD-ROM

[darkorb]

so can u get into bios without it freezing?

[werty316]

Get another video card and see if the problem exists.

Do you hear any beeps during POST?

Clear the CMOS and see if that helps.

[Das Capitolin]

I would first confirm that the PSU is working as it should. Test it in another system just to make sure. Even good brand names can have issues.

Second, make certain that the CPU cooler is mounted correctly to the motherboard and that all four drop pins have fully collapsed.

Reset the BIOS, using the jumper near the battery; usually JP1.

Double-check the motherboard for damaged electronics. Inspect closely.

[GIBSON]

Get another video card and see if the problem exists.

Do you hear any beeps during POST?

Clear the CMOS and see if that helps.

That's the problem, there's no speaker on the case so I can't tell if there are errors while posting.
It just booted again and it managed to stay into windows for a few mins. really strange. I did notice a lot of Vcore fluctuation (lowest was 1.18, highest (the moment it blocked) was 1.27)

darkorb: I sometimes can, not always.

Das: How do you mean, collapsed pins?

[werty316]

I think he means the pins on the CPU cooler since that is what the stock cooler uses but then I don't know what cooler is being used.

[GIBSON]

Oh, no, we're using a thermaltake Big Typhoon. I don't think the cpu temp is a problem here, it's running in the low 30's

[markkleb]

I think what Das was refering to is making sure the CPU is firmly seated and the cooler is flat on top of it. (overheating CPU will shut it down)

than I would also do like Das suggested and reset the bios.

I would try the easiest stuff first, move memory to different slots (try different memory)

Re seat the Video Card (and try a different card)

Everyone should get one of these if they build comps,
http://www.xoxide.com/hspc-atx-control-kit.html

I made a set and they are really handy.

[liqnit]

I think if you can get the bios - BOOT into test CD like hirens boot cd (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/hiren.thanki/bootcd.html)
and test mem & HD .
Testing Tools
System Speed Test 4.78 it tests CPU, harddrive, ect.

PC-Check 6.0 Easy to use hardware tests

Ontrack Data Advisor 5.0 Powerful diagnostic tool for assessing the condition of your computer

The Troubleshooter 7.02 all kind of hardware testing tool

PC Doctor 3.0 a benchmarking and information tool

Test Cpu/Video/Disk 5.6 a tool to test cpu, video, and disk

Test Hard Disk Drive 1.0



if it passes all this tests then try windows install again
ofcourse if not...

[Kougar]

Gibson, please clarify what you are saying with:

It seemed to block in the bios (never heard about that before!).

I'd also suggest clearing your BIOS as Das suggested and also re-seating all of the hardware components to ensure nothing slipped loose or out of place. Plugging the thing into a completely different wall socket is worth a try.

[Das Capitolin]

Gibson, by now it sounds like everyone is in agreement that you should start by resetting the BIOS. Then use a tool like MemTest86+ or similar to test RAM. Let us know how these steps work out.

[GIBSON]

I cleared the cmos, but it still wasn't stable. Switched the ram from slots and seems to work fine now.
to answer your question Kougar, the computer just hanged in the bios and sometimes when loading the bios. Last time it hanged while i tried to save some adjustments in the bios. Really strange, it's like when it would hang in windows, it just doesn't respond to anything. Reset is the only way out at that moment.

[Das Capitolin]

If you are certain it worked perfectly stable with RAM in one slot and not another, I would consider replacing/exchanging that motherboard.

[GIBSON]

To be honest I'm a bit puzzled with the build. I'm back home now and I don't know what to think about it. I'm having second thoughts about the psu. Asus pc probe was giving an alarm about the psu fan spinning at about 700 rpm which I thought probably was normal as to keep the psu silent under idle conditions. However when I let S&M stress test run it seemed to keep up pretty well. Went to the living room to watch a movie and when I returned S&M had stopped and had popped up a message saying that it had stopped because the 12V rail had reached a whopping 14.95V! So that was just really strange. Didn't know what to think about it. What also got me a bit puzzled was the fact that there is a huge Vcore change between idle and load. I remember the E6300 in the system getting 1.14Vcore when idle and 1.29Vcore at load. Is that normal? To be honest I'm not that much into conroe so I didn't know if this was some kind of built in regulator or not (Vcore in bios is at auto so...). Unfortunately I had to leave a few minutes after I saw the S&M result so I was having a bit mixed feelings. The rig seemed to be holding up fine, but on the other hand there was the weird S&M result. I think I'm going to have a check at what rate the psu fan should be spinning.

[Kougar]

That is normal with the E6300. It drops the voltages down when it lowers it's own clockspeeds.

If you can confirm 14.95v on the 12v rail with a multimeter then you should not use that PSU... call up Antec and they should be able to give you some advice to figure out if it's the PSU or not... if it is then it should be under warranty, all you need is a invoice/receipt from when you got the thing.

[GIBSON]

That is normal with the E6300. It drops the voltages down when it lowers it's own clockspeeds.

If you can confirm 14.95v on the 12v rail with a multimeter then you should not use that PSU... call up Antec and they should be able to give you some advice to figure out if it's the PSU or not... if it is then it should be under warranty, all you need is a invoice/receipt from when you got the thing.
Problem is I can't do that as I'm not there anymore and it's quite the drive to my cousin. I asked him yesterday and he said he hasn't had any problems with his rig so far. Is it possible the mobo gave a false reading on the voltage?
BTW does this mean conroes throttle themselves down at idle?

[Kougar]

Unless disabled or changed, by default Intel's Enhanced Speedstep will lower the clockspeed to about 1.6ghz, and drop the Vcore down to help conserve power when the CPU usage drops to idle. CPU-Z and any other voltage monitoring system will pick this up.

Additionally Intel added the C1E state that lets the CPU itself shut down sections of itself, so it can really take a chunk out of it's power requirements more so than previous processors. Google can give you more detailed info if ya want it. ;)

It's always possible software can give false readings... for a number that high I'd think the system would have failed or crashed first, so likely it was a erroneous reading. Even so it needs to be checked, since from what you indicate all of the other rails will go UP when put under load... that sounds pretty uncommon to me. It's not uncommon for one rail to go up when the PSU ramps into full gear, but not all three of them.

[GIBSON]

Unless disabled or changed, by default Intel's Enhanced Speedstep will lower the clockspeed to about 1.6ghz, and drop the Vcore down to help conserve power when the CPU usage drops to idle. CPU-Z and any other voltage monitoring system will pick this up.

Additionally Intel added the C1E state that lets the CPU itself shut down sections of itself, so it can really take a chunk out of it's power requirements more so than previous processors. Google can give you more detailed info if ya want it. ;)

It's always possible software can give false readings... for a number that high I'd think the system would have failed or crashed first, so likely it was a erroneous reading. Even so it needs to be checked, since from what you indicate all of the other rails will go UP when put under load... that sounds pretty uncommon to me. It's not uncommon for one rail to go up when the PSU ramps into full gear, but not all three of them.

I duno about the other rails, I don't think I mentioned them. But indeed, at the moment I also thought "this can't be possible" I don't think any hardware can survive 14.95 volt can it? I mean, that would be like 1/4=25% out of spec...