I put together my rig just over a month ago with parts I bought from Newegg. Here's an image of the cart,
.
Except I actually ended up using an XFX 6850 instead of a Sapphire.
It worked fine on Day 1, and Day 2. By the end of Day 3, Crysis was occasionally crashing. By the end of Day 4, Crysis was always crashing. Around Day 5, every game crashed eventually. Starcraft II crashed whenever a game began (but it was fine in the menus).
I went crazy with frustration, and ended up thinking it was the memory sticks, since Memtest86 reported failures constantly. So I RMA'd my sticks and got them replaced, and they came in the mail just the other day. I thought they'd solve it, but nope. Still crashes whenever intensive gaming (or any intensive computing at all) is done.
So today I got fed up and brought it into a new TigerDirect store that had just opened up near me. Well, I kept the PC in my car, and brought in only my parts list. I didn't want to get charged anything yet.
So I showed this really smart, really nice guy there my list and he looked at it and became convinced my 500w power supply wasn't cutting it. Especially since it was the "green" version, which makes it kinda wimpy. I agreed, and decided replacing the power supply to a heftier wattage would help. It seemed to fit the symptoms: absolute PC hanging whenever I tried a game or intensive computing.
Next, just for kicks, I went into Best Buy. I wanted to see how what they said compared to the Tiger Direct guy; I didn't expect to be given good information or to fix the problem. Just out of curiosity, you see.
So I brought in my list and told they guy there my symptoms, and he said it was most likely the CPU, possibly the GPU, probably not the power supply, and also maybe the motherboard.
That didn't help much. And it conflicted with the guy from TigerDirect.
I haven't made any changes yet. I'm here to ask what you guys think. Here's my symptoms:
* When I turn my PC on, it first shows nothing. No BIOS, no OS, NOTHING. Screen displays nothing. The motherboard emits 2 short beeps, then a pause, then 5 short beeps, then it repeats. It was obvious this was a mobo code for something, and so I looked in my manual to see what it meant. THE MANUAL DIDN'T SAY. I STILL have no idea what those beeps mean; no matter where I looked or googled, I can NOT find 2 beeps, pause, 5 beeps. This is a NEW problem that began just today when my memory sticks came back; the beeping began the very first time I tried to start the PC with the brand new sticks.
* When I restart my PC from those beeps, it always boots perfectly. It's like turning it on is a 2 step process: I must turn it on once, listen to the beeps, then restart to make it work.
Here's a section on tests I've run:
* FurMark crashed 2 minutes in at 70 degrees celsius for the GPU. And when I say "crashed," I mean it hung the PC to the point that a restart was required. So I restarted, and...nothing. No beeps, no BIOS, no OS, nothing. It seems that now whenever the PC crashes, I need to wait about 10 minutes before I can turn it on again.
* Prime95 on the small FFT setting hung the PC instantly. Like, literally the instant I hit "go." Not even a second's delay.
* Memtest86 is running now, though I think it'll pass just fine. I'm not concerned with my brand new sticks, anyway. They seem fine.
* The PC works fine, generally, when I'm NOT doing intensive stuff. I can run Chrome all day long, along with iTunes, Word, etc, and be fine. It's only when I play Starcraft II or Just Cause 2 or Crysis or GTA that I inevitably hang.
* Here's an interesting fact: it's inconsistently bad. There was a point when I was crashing EVERY TIME I tried to play a game, or do anything. Then, out of the blue, it decided to start working. Battlefield Bad Company 2 would play just fine. Starcraft II would play just fine. This was about a week after having problems. I thought maybe they had gone away on their own by magic. Then, a couple of days later, it started again. Nothing would play; no games at all. That's where I am now; back in the time where I an navigate the SC2 menus, but not start a game.
Well, guys, what do you think? I have way too many options, and way too many things that can be wrong.
I think the TigerDirect guy was right about the power supply; yes, it should be stronger. In the end, I suppose I'll end up getting a better one. But can that be what's causing EVERY one of these problems? Does that fit? Or does it seem like there's more to it?
It could also be the CPU.....that would explain Furmark and Prime95 failing, yes? Or could those both be accounted for by the power supply not being strong enough?
I know what it's NOT; it's NOT software or drivers. This is all hardware; I'm almost positive. (I say "almost" because it's impossible to be positive about anything anymore with this issue)
So, amazing people in this forum, I ask of your incredibly generosity only two things:
1. What do you think about the above information I provided you with? I know it's hard to diagnose without being there in person, but from what I provided you, what do you think? How does it add up?
2. Since you probably can't help me a ton with just the information above, who do you suggest I go to? If it comes down to me saying "I give up. I don't know. I can no longer do this myself," and I have to take it in to some brick and mortar shop, where do you suggest I go?
Thanks so much, you guys. You're the reason I'm able to at least have the hardware put together, even if something's busted or I did something wrong.
EDIT 1:
Just dropped $65 on a 650watt PSU. Fixed absolutely nothing. I still get the 2 beeps pause 5 beeps, and Prime95 still hung the computer almost instantly.
I guess the next step is to try a new CPU....
EDIT 2:
I just remembered something incredibly stupid I did. When I first assembled the PC, the CPU fan wasn't attached 100%. It was still on pretty tight and making direct contact with the CPU, but it was able to slide around a little across the CPU (even though it was still making direct contact with the CPU). After it started crashing, I realized I had probably put it on wrong, so I reattached it but this time I put it on all the way. That didn't fix the crashing. But maybe the CPU blew out from when I had the fan on wrong? Does that seem very probable? Or do we still think the mobo is the most likely cause? I'm trying to figure out what part to RMA next, and it's between those two (even though people say RMA the GPU too, I still don't think that's what is causing the problems)
