New System Woes [Help Please]

MarkJD

Hey All,

Recently picked up a PC on adverts. Its a very nice machine and just from using it, its running very well and fast, or so it seems.

Case - Antec P180

MOBO - EVGA X58 SLI LE

CPU - Intel Core i7-920 - 2.66 GHz - 8 MB L3 Cache - LGA 1366 Socket

GFX - SAPPHIRE TECHNOLOGY Radeon Toxic HD 5850 - 1 GB GDDR5

PSU - Cooler Master Silent Pro M700 700W PC Power Supply

RAM - 6GB DDR3 triple channel - OCZ Gold Low-Voltage Triple Channel 3 x 2 GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 CL8 PC Memory

HDD1 - Intel X25-M MLC 2.5 Solid State Disk (SSD) - 80 GB - SATA-300

HDD2 - Samsung SpinPoint F3 Desktop Class HD103SJ Hard Drive - 3.5"- 1 TB - 32 MB - 7200 rpm - SATA-300

Cooling (Case) - 1 x Noctua 120mm Silent fans

Cooling (CPU) - Noctua CPU Cooler


Anyways i did a complete reformat of the machine reinstalled windows everything all is fine and up to date. The main reason i got this machine was for FFXIV so i downloaded the benchmark and ran it. Not having a full HD monitor i ran the test on low. Going from other peoples scores i was expecting in the 5000~ range for a score. I was met with a very poor 2900~ score.

I immediately went to a forum where alot of benchmarkers and testers are posting on and a huge list of results can be found. I was told straight away something was definately up with my machine to be getting a score like that. I was asked to run the test with the likes of CPU-Z,GPU-Z,Speedfan. I did all this and the results can be seen in the screenshot below.

Im not familiar with overclocking etc and have no experience doing so. The first thing that was said to me is that my RAM is completely off and the second was that the CPU was overclocked.

The responces to my troubles have run dry really and i dont know where i stand. The seller has been sparingly replying to my texts but not admitting that he did any altering or overclocking and just stating to stay out of the BIOS if i dont know what im doing. I specifically asked was it running as standard and no changes made before buying.

Anyways i decided to run 3dmark06 and 3dmark vantage benchmarks to see what sort of scores i got and to rule out it being the FFXIV benchmark only. Iv no idea if hte scores are good or bad or what. All screenshots are below i appreciate any help that can be offered. Im really at a stump with this. Is the system fine is it bad will it crash soon? ugh head is wrecked.

On the other forums iv been advised to go to the bios and reset it to factory defaults, i mean if this will solve the problem great but iv no idea if it will and i dont want to be to blame for the system crashing a day after getting it. I might not have any recourse with the buyer then

FFXIV + CPU-Z/GPU-Z/Speedfan



3dmark06



3dmarkvantage



Prime 95 (was reccomdened this blend test to see if problems with hardware)

I ran a blend test with 8 testers (no idea what this means) Testers 3&5 came back with these errors.

3



5

Deano12345

Run memtest86+ to check the health of the ram. I doubt theres any problem there though, it just looks like an unstable OC to me (who did it BTW ?).

If memtest comes back clean then just take out your CMOS battery and leave it out for a few mins. Put it back in and boot, you should be completly back to standard and your problems should be solved completly.

Let us know how you get on

Edit : Whoa Whoa Whoa ! Your 5v and 12v rails on the PSU dont look right at all...oh dear

Solitaire

Either SpeedFan has had an aneurysm or that ****ty Coolermaster PSU is about to detonate like a RaidMax on crack :eek:

Deano12345

Solitaire wrote: »

Either SpeedFan has had an aneurysm or that ****ty Coolermaster PSU is about to detonate like a RaidMax on crack :eek:

I actually lol'd And those CM PSU's are horrible units so I really wouldnt be surprised to to have a fireworks show soon with voltage regulation like that :eek:

MarkJD

I havnt had a chance to run the memtest86+ yet but have it downloaded and burned to a CD, just watching some of the football so i will run it after its over.

Those voltages and numbers mean nothing to me but i presume they are bad? Majority of the reviews i seen say that PSU is good? Its infact a bad one?

MarkJD

Will taking the CMOS battery out fix the PSU issue? Or is that the way its made or a bad PSU?

Deano12345

MarkJD wrote: »

Will taking the CMOS battery out fix the PSU issue? Or is that the way its made or a bad PSU?

Nope, it wont. And to explain the numbers, simply. A good PSU should keep the rails (3v,5v,12v) in and around those numbers. Your PSU is alright (not great though) on the 5v, but whats very worrying is that your 12v rail is way out of spec (its at 10,while it should be at 12). Even more so, the 12v is what powers your GPU among other things so you'll know all about it when it goes.

Solitaire

Yeah, those figures are so worrying I'd check what voltages are coming up in the BIOS ("PC Health Check") then actually clip in a DVM on a 12V line (more accurately, between a 12V line and the ground line) and see what it says once you start stressing the CPU and/or GPU :eek:

It could be that SpeedFan has gone pear-shaped but from my experience SpeedFan is far more accurate than most things (e.g. HWMonitor) when it comes to what your PSU is up to...

MarkJD

Ugh not sounding good then :-(

this memtest86+ is taking so long been running over 2hrs found 78 errors. Should I leave this be to run on it's own?

SouperComputer

MarkJD wrote: »

Ugh not sounding good then :-(

this memtest86+ is taking so long been running over 2hrs found 78 errors. Should I leave this be to run on it's own?

1 error is enough TBH. Put a better PSU in there and try again. You'll probably find the problems will dissappear with a strong 12v line. Speedfan is reporting that you are getting 10v on a 12v line. This is not good. It might not be that the PSU is bad perse, but just overworked with your system.

Looks like the speedfan screenie was taken when the PC wasnt under load correct? If thats the case, check the voltage in BIOS. If its 10v too. PSU time, no two ways about it.

Solitaire

Yup, and you'll want to do it as a matter of urgency. That PSU should be capable of keeping that rig in check easily, so something's going and if the 12V rail is dropping so low as a result you've probably got insane voltage ripple as well, which will slowly kill your components if the whole PSU doesn't suddenly flash-bang on you and fry some components! :eek:

MarkJD

Ok guys,

This is a screenshot of the memory errors from memtest86+ it ran for a while you can see and decided to stop it to reset the bios. Havnt run it after doing this yet.




Did the BIOS reset. Posted below are the screenshots. First of the PC Health Check in the bios, is that the 12v PSU Rail that it is saying is 12.3v? Because speedfan is still saying the same. Please see all screenshots they have all info on CPU/RAM etc.

Whats more reliable BIOS on the PSU reading or speedfan?





Is that GFX card running kind of hot for being idle or is this normal?

MarkJD

Also that previous Speedfan test was done while it was under some load? It was doing the benchmark for FFXIV so id imagine it put the system under some load?

Solitaire

Quite hot, but that may be normal given its idling at a fairly high 400MHz.

As for voltage, the PSU is under virtually no load in the BIOS so the system may be behaving itself in there. Only way to know for sure is to go in there fiddling with a DVM though

MarkJD

Whats that?

Deano12345

MarkJD wrote: »

Whats that?

If my electronics dont let me down now, then it is a direct voltage meter.. I think, again not 100% on that *runs to google*

Edit : Digital Voltage meter, close enough !

MarkJD

I see,

Dont have one of them. . . .

Is there any other monitors that i could use? I mean if its close to Speefan then it cant be a coincidence.

Would a bad PSU like this though cause me to get such a low score in a benchmark?

Chuck Finlay

Hm, this really looked like an unstable oc at first, but 2 things I find a bit odd:
1) isn't the 920 supposed to be running at a stock 2,66GHz with a multi of 20?
2) the mem errors are concerning, however they were at CL6 before and at CL7 after CMOS reset. Is it possible that this has something to do with the BIOS not detecting the mem auto settings properly?

Solitaire

It could be causing the CPU and GPU to glitch or throttle back. I'm surprised the rig isn't crashing though...

MarkJD

Iv played a game on full settings with no lag or crashing for 30 mins?

Im so concerned about all of this now

One hand it runs fine yet on the other all the testing is showing up negatives...

What should i do?

Solitaire

I thought you were wrong about the low scores so I did a bit of research and indeed the Vantage scores look dead-on considering the HD5850 is OCd just a little and the i7-920 is running close to i7-975 speeds! The Vantage scores are fine

I'm just worried about the PSU but it could be an issue with SpeedFan...

And as for the memory I noticed in your MemTest bench it was running on very tight latencies, tighter than what it said in Windows (6-6-6-18 vs. 7-7-7-18), which could have easily caused the instability!

MarkJD

Played FFXIV Beta today for over 2 hours, everything maxed out in the config and in game all options on high, shadows etc. I also played Battlefield Bad Company 2 on max aswell....

This was my GFX while playing FFXIV Beta today...



Im just perplexed. People saying RAM seems to be at fault bad over clocks etc yet games are playing flawlesly. I guess thats what really matters? but i dont want it to just randomly explode one day.

I did the BIOS reset and the CPU seems to be still overclocking, itself maybe? Its supposed to be 2.67 GHz as clock but its showing up as 2785 MHz (21 x 133) What would cause this? Does anyone have any idea why CPU-Z, Everest and other monitors are picking up my CPU at running this overclocked speed yet when i boot up the machine the initial loading window picks it up as 2.67 GHz?

According to the RAM (http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...triple_channel) it is supposed to be CL 8-8-8-24 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS) yet the monitors show it up as 7-7-7-18 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS) DRAM 530.6~ MHz NB Frequency 2122.6~ MHz

This doesnt make sense as i did the Bios reset so why are the timings off still?

MarkJD

Ok i also just got EVGA Eleet aswell (Had to register the MOBO)



So its pretty much on par with CPU-Z in alot of the readings except the PSU voltages. This one reads the same as the BIOS.

Which one is correct? This is a real brain f*ck... Im about to leave it and just enjoy playing because i guess thats all that matters.

If the PSU was to fail and short any other components would the PSU company be responcible then?

Solitaire

MarkJD wrote: »

Im just perplexed. People saying RAM seems to be at fault bad over clocks etc yet games are playing flawlesly. I guess thats what really matters? but i dont want it to just randomly explode one day.

I was only concerned over that weird voltage reading, and as your rig is actually working then short of measuring the PSU with a DVM I'd jut put it down to a software glitch/Speedfan having an aneurysm. I already said the Vantage scores were fine and the MemTest fail was due to Memtest deciding to run the modules at incorrect settings

I did the BIOS reset and the CPU seems to be still overclocking, itself maybe? Its supposed to be 2.67 GHz as clock but its showing up as 2785 MHz (21 x 133) What would cause this? Does anyone have any idea why CPU-Z, Everest and other monitors are picking up my CPU at running this overclocked speed yet when i boot up the machine the initial loading window picks it up as 2.67 GHz?

I'm guessing this is your first i7?

i5 and i7 CPUs have a limited ability to OC themselves on the fly, called Turbo Mode Previously the CPU was manually OCd but the CMOS reset dumped the settings

According to the RAM (http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...triple_channel) it is supposed to be CL 8-8-8-24 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS) yet the monitors show it up as 7-7-7-18 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS) DRAM 530.6~ MHz NB Frequency 2122.6~ MHz

Your mobo doesn't have out-of-the-box compatibility with those modules and is underclocking them by mistake. You'd have to set them manually in the BIOS to run at their rated timings.

Overheal

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365

Arent those ram modules unspecified at the timings you have them set to? IF these are the same as yours you should have your timings at 8-8-8-24 not 7-7-7-18; and 1.65V, which is already a bump up from JEDEC's 1.5V for ddr3.

So instead you have tighter timings at a lower voltage than what OCZ has them spec'd to run at. Its a wonder you're getting errors on it.

Solitaire

They're also clocked lower

The issue was that MemTest threw one of its wobblies (done it to me too a few times...) and set them to 1333MHz with 6-6-6-18 timings at stock volts Not clever MemTest! :rolleyes::p

They should still be taken off Auto and set manually in the BIOS though

game4it70

I have the same mobo with a BeQuiet psu and speedfan shows around 10 for me too so i wouldn't painc.

Solitaire

SpeedFan SMBus compatibility issue then. Nothing to do with the PSU

game4it70

Solitaire wrote: »

SpeedFan SMBus compatibility issue then. Nothing to do with the PSU

I hope so or i wont be a happy man :P

Solitaire

Well its the same glitch yet the only commonality is the mobo and guess where the system monitoring hardware hails from?

game4it70

Solitaire wrote: »

Well its the same glitch yet the only commonality is the mobo and guess where the system monitoring hardware hails from?

So what are you saying is.....
The mobo monitoring is a bit S***:P

Again i hope thats the case as HWmonitor has show some alarming volts on my Vcore and Vtt at random intervals.
Both in around 2.40v area so i know the have to be wrong or i wouldnt be using this rig:eek:

Solitaire

HWMonitor is a bit mad anyway. The voltages it gives me for my PSU are all way high, and not only SpeedFan and the hardware DVM built into my PSU but also the mobo's monitoring chip shown in HWM itself disagree strongly...