Ongoing Upgraded machine now unstable (1 Viewer)

[NorthernJohn]

Hi

I've recently upgraded my machine by adding a 7600GS card (previously using on board gfx), a second SATA hard disk and a Hauppage Nova-T USB. For good measure, I reinstalled WinXP.

Since then, my previously rock solid, WAF high "silent" machine has the fans on constantly at an audible level (not full but higher than before) but to make matters worse, I blue screen or generally just reboot from time to time.

I'm no expert but I have a feeling that I now have either:

1. Too much inside my Silverstone 11m box and it is getting hot. Or
2. Not enough power from the 300W PSU.

Inside the box I have:

7600GS graphics card
Hauppage PVR150
2 x SATA drives
PS2 mouse
USB Keyboard
USB Nova-T
USB MCE Remote Receiver
USB VFD

Is that all too much for 300W?

Any advice gratefully received.

 

[SciDoctor]

Your PSU could be struggling with the increase in load.

I had a similar experience with a PC that seemed to have a PSU that was fine, after exhausting the obvious software problems the solution was actualy as simple as replacing the PSU for a better one.

 

[NickName]

It's very hard to quickly fix something when you have 3 possible things that could be causing the error.

The error message returned on the "blue screen" would handy to know as that can give you a hint as the whether it is driver related or not.

Note: I built a new PC that "blue screened" often but the errors changed everytime! It turned out that the data coming from the RAM was being corrupted by the motherboard. I replaced the motherboard and it's rock solid now.

You can try enabling only 1 of your 3 new devices and seeing if the bluescreens stop. If stopped, then disable it and enable another device and try again. Repeat until the culpirt shows itself.
My 'guess' is that of the three devices, it's either TV or Graphics related as harddrives 'usually' are the most dependable. Of course, I agree that the PSU is good choice to try first if you have a spare one about.

Good luck

Nick Name

 

[NorthernJohn]

Just looked at the event logs. There's a lot of System errors around the Telephony and Remote Access services. Just Disabled them to see what happens. I'll keep an eye on the event log now.

Would love to try another PSU but the case takes a smaller than normal size so not so straightforward.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[elconejito]

Just looked at the event logs. There's a lot of System errors around the Telephony and Remote Access services. Just Disabled them to see what happens. I'll keep an eye on the event log now.

Would love to try another PSU but the case takes a smaller than normal size so not so straightforward.

Thanks for the suggestions.

the random reboots would tend to point towards the PSU. 300W from a "good" PSU should be enough to run what you have. If you have a cheapo PSU, there might be your issue. Going with higher watts draws more power (bad for your electric bill) and makes more heat (bad for components).

Also, make sure you didn't bump your RAM while installing second HD. Mine are right next to each other with very little clearance and that could cause problems too.

Is your new 7600GS fan-cooled? If so, I bet that is the cause of your constant noise. If it is heat-sink only then you may have temp issues.

 

[NorthernJohn]

After a couple of days of looking ok, things have gotten bad again.

elconejito. Thanks for the input. I'm assured the PSU is pretty good by the original supplier of the system. But it is 18months old now. Would it be starting to show signs of age? I don't have a 24/7 system but it's not far off so has got quite a few hours on the clock.

I've run a memtest tonight. Got through 2 cycles without reporting an error so I guess the RAM is ok.

The 7600GS is heat sink cooled. A deliberate move to keep noise levels down. Oh the irony!!

My brother in law has an unfinished (and likely to remain so) htpc project in his garage. That's got a nice full ATX silverstone case. Might make him an offer. It'll certainly have much more airflow than mine. It's a bit tight in there now.

On a positive tangent, the changing channel on Nova-T is much much quicker and less liable to lock ups than the Freecom dongle I was using. So not all is bad

 

[elconejito]

the age of the PSU may or may not have an affect. i've had some PSU's go for years and years, and others die fairly quickly.

The way I see it, you've got 4 pretty likely possibilities in no particular order. PSU, RAM, heat, or one of the new components is bad.

To see if its heat related, can you check the temps somehow? At a minimum, the BIOS should show the system temps, and usually you can get software from mobo maufacturer that shows it while in Windows. I think there are freebie software you can download (search google) that show you this info as well. If the temps seem out of ordinary, maybe leave the case open for awhile and see if that helps. If so, you may need better/more fans. Actually, you may want to try leaving case open anyway and see if that helps.

I don't suppose you have any parts you can swap out like the PSU, or video, hard drives? Since the PSU isn't a standard size, maybe you can have it outside the case and just let the cables in if they are long enough.

You may have to try each new component one by one to see which one is the culprit. I assume all video drivers are up-to-date?