Weird problems - power supply related?

[Yzzim]

Just got a new proc + mobo + memory and installed it into my existing case/psu/video/drives.

Installed Vista and tried to play AoM with my brother last night and the game kept crashing. We were on Skype and one time the sound cut out. A few other times IE froze. Wrote it off as Vista being a POS.

Today I installed XP and updated with latest drivers for everything. Immediately after a reboot the sound cuts out. IE froze a couple times already. Just tried to install Skype and got an error saying "could not write to harddisk" but the comp keeps running.

I'm starting to think this might be a power supply issue because all the errors as so random.

Here's my rig:

Thermaltake Purepower 420W (12v @ 18A)
ASRock 775-VSTA
Intel E6400
2GB DDR2-667
7800GT
1 SATA Hitachi Deskstar 80gb hdd
1 IDE Segate 160gb hdd
2 - DVD burners


Another thing is that I haven't setup stuff in the BIOS yet. During POST I see the processor is running at 1.44 ghz

 

[Mucker]

One of the first things to do after a new build is to increase the voltage to the ram. Generally, the voltage defaults to around 1.8 v. Increasing it to 2.0v is completely safe and may give you instant stability. A notch or 2 on the cpu won't hurt a thing either.

 

[Yzzim]

Alright, I'll do that ASAP

what about the memory timings and such? Would that have any effect on stability?

 

[Mucker]

It can, but if the bios options for memory are left in auto, the timings should default to conservative values and stability should be in check. IMO, the default voltages are too low on most mb's today. 2.0v to 2.2v is pretty common for DDR2.

 

[Yzzim]

I don't see an option to increase voltage by a numeric value. It's just "Normal", "High", and "Low"

Also, I have the processor multiplier at 266 and now the processor is running at 2.13.

I booted into Windows once and got a blue scren

 

[Mucker]

Actually the 266 is the bus speed, 8 is the muliplier for 266 x 8 = 2.13 GHz which is the default speed of the E6400.

I'll see if I can dig up info on your board for voltage.......

Edit: I don't see options for voltage, but try to set the ram to high. I am sure it's completely safe or ASRock wouldn't include it.

 

[Yzzim]

bus speed - that's what I meant. Had to do the math as I couldn't change the multiplier.

When I increased the bus speed I also turned Dual Channel DRAM on. Once I got the blue screen I turned it off and rebooted. Now I'm in Single Channel DRAM mode and Windows seems to be a bit stable. Haven't stressed it yet though.

Going to do a bios update I think. Currently I'm in 2.4 and the latest is 3.0.

So you don't think this is a power supply problem?

I have a Cooler Master 650W psu but it has a 24 pin ATX connector. The Asrock 775-VSTA only has a 20-pin connector. Rather than buying an adapter I might just buy a new board altogether.

 

[Yzzim]

In case anyone cares, here's an update:

Reinstalled my old Gigabyte K8N-SLI with AMD 3500+. That mobo has a 24 pin ATX connector so I used my new CoolerMaster 650 PSU.

Took the HSF (Scythe Ninja) off the Intel 6400 on the ASRock motherboard. Found the Arctic Silver I had applied seemed to rub off a little, must have been when I was having trouble connecting the HSF to the board. Not sure if that was the cause of my problems or not....

Anyway, I'm running my old setup with a new PSU and it's working great. Plan on buying a new mobo (Possibly the P35 Abit? Or MSI's Neo2 P35?) for my E6400.

Thanks for the help Mucker, it's appreciated.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Yzzim
Plan on buying a new mobo (Possibly the P35 Abit? Or MSI's Neo2 P35?) for my E6400.

It's the Abit IP-35, which is a good board. Don't even consider the MSI, they don't seem to know much about making Intel boards. Stick with Gigabyte, Asus, and Abit.