noob on a mission

[supavillain]

i really respect the effort and time the community at anandtech spends and that's why i'm posting this up. i thought i knew enough to put together a pc on my own but unfortunately that's not the case. i have had many issues come up in trying to get this setup to work. i recently had this barebones kit sent to me:

AMD Athlon 64 3800+ newcastle
DFI LanParty SLI-DR
X-Blade Case w/450W PSU [no name]

ordered:

1Gb (2x512mb) GeIL Ultra-X 2-5-2-2 @ DDR400 in DC

and went to my neighborhood frys to add:

300gb seagate barracuda SATA (model: ST3300831AS) in SATA1
1 x bfg 6600 gt oc 128mb in single VGA
1 x bfg 6600 gt oc 128mb (not installed yet)

the following reflects my most recent attempt to get this working:

i began by re-installing the RAM and graphics card (no drivers), reseting the cmos, and the running the HD drivers before installing Windows XP Pro. for installation, the setup only recognized 137gb of the HD, but the Seagate drivers explained that upon loading XP, Windows will automatically recognize the remained. so i partitioned 100gb for my OS and executables and finished installing Windows. i then proceeded to load in my mobo drivers from the CD included with the DFI (directx 9.0c, nforce, network [edit 5/5/05: network adapter is marvell gigabit pci]). after the mobo drivers loaded i set a system restore point after restart. at this point 3 issues were raised:

1. Windows did not recognize the remaining HD space (approx. 200gb),
2. nforce drivers activated one ethnernet port and the network drivers [edit 5/5/05: network adapter is marvell gigabit pci] activated the second ethernet port (which i am not sure whether or not is a problem, but sticks out in my head, regardless), and
3. the Safely Remove Hardware icon came up showing the Seagate as what i can only assume is removable media (which is rather irritating and i'm assuming it shouldn't be that way)

i could not acheive internet activity until after the network drivers had been installed. following that, i installed the lastest drivers for the video card from the nvidia website. i restarted and then installed norton anti-virus and performed a full scan that yielded no results. upon the next restart, i loaded a website and then the computer froze. at this point i gave up since it was about 3.ooa and i had to work in a few hours.

other problems that had occured in previous attempts included:
1. the system restarting itself inexplicably,
2. games crashing without any error message,
3. pop-ups from "Messenger Service" telling me i have registry errors and referring me to websites i didn't recognize, and
4. crashes relating to device drivers (in the explanation of the crash, the only thing that looked familiar was a reference to IP which i presume has something to do with the internet and why i included the ethernet mention above).

what i did to remedy these is restart the computer with the jumpers set to default the cmos and simply reinstall everything from the very beginning. however, after the system froze last nite, i haven't worked on it since and i don't know if any of those problems will recur. i wanted to post this in an effort to get some help.

HELP!!!!!!!

 

[boomerang]

1) You need to partition and format the remaining HD space from within Windows.

2) Don't see a problem here. Not familiar with your board, but they're working and OK in Device Manager. = OK

3) This is a "normal" condition with the chipset on your board.

1) What are the outputs on this no-name PS? Wattage doesn't mean much if the rails are not capable of putting out enough amps. Sounds like PS issues or RAM. +12V in the 2XA range is good. 12A, 16A are probably not adequate with that Processor and Vid Card when you start adding in HD, Optical Drives, etc. See if you can find specs for PS online or on sticker on side. Hopefully it's visible without having to pull it out. Resolve any PS issue before testing RAM.

2) See above.

3) First thing you should have done is installed NAV and then run Windows Update and updated NAV. You are infected with the latest trojan, spware etc. that is going around. I usually connect through a router on initial builds to help with this problem.

4) See #1. The second #1.

 

[imported_Kensai]

What he said.

 

[supavillain]

boomerang:
as soon as myself or my brother gets in, i'll post the PSU specs. i really hope the RAM i got isn't an issue because even tho i didn't spend a mint on them, i would really like to keep the set because i heard the ultra-x series is good for gaming. so please correct me if i'm wrong, but when i get home i should reinstall all the programs and drivers. is there a specific order i should be doing that in (for example: HD drivers, windows, mobo drivers, NAV, then video)? you mentioned Windows Update, as well. is that the windows update that supplies SP1 and SP2?
ps. that's so lame my HD shows up in the corner like that. boo.

 

[boomerang]

It more than likely is the Power Supply. It's quality RAM, but all manufacturers put out a bad stick from time to time. Deal with the PS first as I really believe that's the problem.

As far as the install order goes, that sounds fine. This is the time to download newer drivers if they are available and burn them to CD for the install. Or, you can install off the CD that came with the board.

Yes, that's the same Windows Update. You only need SP2 as SP1 is incorporated into it. You can download that from Microsoft as an executable file that will install the Service Pack. If you cannot connect behind a router, I STRONGLY recommend you do just that. Connecting an unprotected computer to the 'net is asking for trouble. Hopefully you have a broadband connection or have a friend that does as SP2 is a large file.

You can get the latest updates for NAV if you'd like also and install them before connecting.

These are good things to do. Almost required actually.

Do the video drivers last. After all your updates are done.

Here's a link to mechBgon's site with some useful links for SP2.

Link for NAV updates.

You may also want to check the DFI site to see if there is a newer BIOS. Just in case it would help with hardware compatibility issues.

BIOS updates.

 

[supavillain]

you the man. i will hopefully get to doing those tonite. if not i'll be back next week to try this again with a new PSU. i was looking at this one ... http://www.frozencpu.com/psu-58.html ... would this be more appropriate?

 

[supavillain]

here are the values for the PSU in my system when i posted this morning.

+3.3V at 28A, +5V at 50A, +12V at 18A, -12V at 1A, -5 at 0.8A, -5VBS8 at 2.5A

do i need to upgrade?

 

[daveybrat]

1) Those values on your power supply mean nothing.....never use the power supply that comes with a cheap case, they are almost always garbage, get a new high quality unit.

2) What version of Windows XP are you using, you definitely cannot be running without Service Pack 1 or 2. If you are using a Corporate version of XP Pro that doesn't allow Upgrading to SP1 or 2 then you need to buy a good copy.

 

[aGreenAgent]

Those values do mean something. The 18A on the +12V rail isn't enough for most high-end systems (it's the same as the ThermalTake PurePower 480watt, ick).

The one you listed has 25A on the +12v, which is just about the minimum acceptable these days.

 

[supavillain]

daveybrat:

yea i'm using a copy of XP Pro that i can open up to get me SP2, so hopefully that won't be a problem

general:

any PSU suggestions? i'm working on location in tahoe right now so i'll only be able to order something over the internet. something modular would be great so i don't have to worry about wiring as much. essentially i will be powering 2 6800GT OCs and 2 SATA drives on top of what i have. what's the word? i hear that only some PSUs will work with my 3800+. i'm just hoping not to buy a PSU that don't work with my comp that i can't find an adapter for (or worse yet, get an adapter and it ruins my rig). because i hear that my setup needs a 24-pin, but everything i see has 20-pins. wth?

 

[boomerang]

I've been using Rosewill PSU's in all the rigs I've been building lately.

They're very quiet, very inexpensive and have given me zero problems. This model has a 24 pin connector and 35A on 12V+. Black chrome case and an LED fan for the bling factor. One 120MM fan. They have dual fan models also.

I feel these are the best bang for the buck out there right now. I am going to continue using them until something better comes along.

There are plenty of 24 pin PSU's out there, but the manufacturers haven't caught on that they need to promote this. You have to dig around to find the information.

For modular, Antec and OCZ come to mind. There are probably others.

 

[supavillain]

Okay this is what I've done. I replaced the case PSU with an Ultra X-Connect 500W PSU and the gpu with a BFG 6800 GT oc. The 12V rail is at 35A and I have Ultra's 20-pin to 24-pin adapter. The only symptom from before that persisted was the hang time and freezing. However, with this configuration I started seeing BSDs for different reasons. I changed the RAM with some blue Mushkins from my brother's computer and all of a sudden, pages started loading correctly, more programs would load upon startup, and general speed was more constant. I then replaced the RAM with my own and it was working more efficiently than before. Then it started freezing again. I am starting to think maybe the RAM has something to do with it. Today I am going to put back the Mushkins and take it for a drive. Is there anything I can be doing/testing in the meantime or at least be investigating?

 

[supavillain]

I got this error on a BSD while doing the video stress test for Counter-Strike: Source:

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

and also at the bottom:

STOP 0x00000050

I had to restart and reload CS:S. Instead of trying the stress test, I attempted to load the online multiplayer game and it froze upon the first 3D screen.

Then I attemped to play the original CS and it was working fairly well until I disabled vsync and opened up the game to provide as much fps as possible. At this point it froze again.

I don't know if this has any bearing, but I'm looking at my PC Health Status screen and it shows CPU CORE at 46'c, PWM AREA 52'C, and CHIP SET at 61'C (what's the PWM AREA?).

I also tried using the RAM one stick at a time with mixed results. With one stick, I actually got into CS:S where it froze after a few moments. With the other, I couldn't even get into any of the valve programs. Are there any diagnostics I can run to determine what part it is?

This was conducted using the GeIL RAM. I will try the Muskins and edit this comment with my results.

 

[speed01]

See if this helps.

Speed

 

[mechBgon]

Ultra X-Connect PSU, huh? For dual 6800OC's? Uhhh... I wouldn't be using a ricer PSU for that, if it were me :Q How about a nice Antec TruePower 2.0 550W maybe, or one of Enermax's upper-end ATX12V 2.0 models.

Also, crank your memory voltage right on up to 2.8 volts if you didn't already.

 

[supavillain]

word. i am reading that article now speed.

mech, i'm only using one 6800gt right now, but you're making me think that maybe i need a better one for future purposes.

and i just got a pfn_list_corrupt message on the recurring BSD.

in trying to do random diagnostics, SiSandra found my mainboard temperature is too high. but i haven't overclocked at all, is that supposed to happen? and why did it happen?

 

[supavillain]

okay ... this is what happened.

i took out the geils and put in the mushkins and now everything seems to be working better. i still think the mobo is running too hot ( > 50'C) but apart from that it's going okay. should i assume the RAM isn't 100% and send it in for replacements or do you think the RAM is just bad? almost done guys, thank you for your help.