Rant Your computer nightmares told here...

[jedidia]

it has next to no ventilation and as a result (I think ) bluescreens on average three or four times a week.

Overheating usually causes emergency shutdowns, not bluescreen. It's more likely your PSU isn't up to the new GPU (they drink looooots of power!)

Thats a respectable rig but you really needed an 800 watt psu to run that system? quite probably a 400 watt should have been able to handle it with no errors.

very similiar system here, runs without trouble on 480 W. And that's with three additional fans attached.

 

[Pyromaniac605]

Overheating usually causes emergency shutdowns, not bluescreen. It's more likely your PSU isn't up to the new GPU (they drink looooots of power!)

I don't think so, the same happened with my old GeForce 8600, which IIRC is only 256 MB or something...

 

[orb]

I don't think so, the same happened with my old GeForce 8600, which IIRC is only 256 MB or something...

This doesn't need to be related to the GPU or even PSU then.

A couple of years ago I replaced PSU from 480 to 750 W, because I thought the system instability, restarts, and BSoDs I used to have while running graphics extensive applications (games), were caused by too low power from PSU for GF8800 card, but changing the PSU didn't solve it. The culprit was voltage of CPU (not overclocked then), which was set automatically by MB. I changed it to manual and increased by 0.1 V over the standard and all the instability ceased.

 

[Pyromaniac605]

This doesn't need to be related to the GPU or even PSU then.

A couple of years ago I replaced PSU from 480 to 750 W, because I thought the system instability, restarts, and BSoDs I used to have while running graphics extensive applications (games), were caused by too low power from PSU for GF8800 card, but changing the PSU didn't solve it. The culprit was voltage of CPU (not overclocked then), which was set automatically by MB. I changed it to manual and increased by 0.1 V over the standard and all the instability ceased.

So, you think that will help in my case? If so is this safe to do? and is there a guide to doing so?

 

[orb]

So, you think that will help in my case? If so is this safe to do? and is there a guide to doing so?

I'm not sure if it can help in your case.

Depending on the motherboard it's done differently. My computer's motherboard for example displays the "safe" range of CPU voltage I can set in cyan color, then unsafe in magenta and red, and allows changing it in 0.05 V steps.

I'm not sure about the guides. I didn't use them. The best is first check the nominal voltage of your CPU in instruction manual or on Internet, and check if it isn't reported by sensors lower than it should be (I had ~1.130 V on "auto" setting, but nominal voltage is 1.200 V).

 

[PennyBlack]

were you advised to go and drain your wallet on a 800?

I got alot of advise including getting the 650 watt. My friend said something about "output ampage on the rail" or something like that which the old psu couldn't give. I had no idea, nor did I have any clue whether the 650 watt was defective, there was no real way for me to find out so I dicided out of my own advise to get the EZ-Cool 800 watt as I was takeing a chance anyway on the parts I'd got. As long as it worked, I was happy Coolhand. The most important thing was getting back up and running and as I don't know much about newer rigs, though that was the best thing to do.

 

[jedidia]

So, you think that will help in my case? If so is this safe to do? and is there a guide to doing so?

Note that overclocking and overvolting are not the same thing, although Usually you have to overvolt when you overclock to keep the system stable. Rudimentary guides are usually contained in the motherboards manual.

Note however that overvolting and overclocking both will produce more heat, which might get critical in your system since you mentioned that you have bad ventilation. My CPU usually runs on normal clock, slightly undervolted to keep the heat in check, and in summer I regularly have to underclock it to keep it from overheating. In any case, when running graphics-hungry games and expierience system instability, underclocking the CPU is generally a first good step for problem finding. The games will rely 90% on the GPU and if you have a decent processor you won't even notice that it doesn't run at full capacity while playing games, and you can't wreck anything by underclocking. If the system gets more stable by underclocking, you most probably either have a heat issue or a power issue. Since heat issues generally reveal themselfes by shutdowns and not bluescreens, the second seems more probable.

Orb is right in that an undervolted system can have the same symptoms as a weak PSU, so you could try tweaking that if you see that the system runs stable on a downclocked CPU. But first, you could post the power of your PSU just so we can tell you wheather that is clearly the problem, maybe the problem or most probably not the problem...

 

[TSPenguin]

Given the bad ventilation and bluescreens, lets not forget that it isn't necessarily the CPU or GPU that overheats and crashes the system. Could be RAM, Cards or any number of generally passively cooled components on the board.
I'd stress test the rig with the case open on preferably a big fan blowing in it to ensure no heatpockets survive. If that fixes it, it is heat. If not, it might very well be power.

P.S.: I've seen RAM units that melted some parts of them. A severe case of someone trying to overclock without using brain.

 

[Pyromaniac605]

Okay, so I've downloaded this program called Speedfan which reads fan speeds, temperatures, voltages etc. and the highest temperature I have is only around 32 degrees with the lowest being -128. (I think that's a misreading )

And my voltage readings are:

VCC3V: 3.34V
Vcore: 1.14V
VRAM: 1.90
VChipset: 1.07
+5V: 5.05V
+12V: 12.06V
VCC1.5V: 0.90V
VSB3V: 3.34V
Vbat: 3.25V

These numbers variate a little, but only but .01V or so.

My CPU is an Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz, so if anyone could tell me if I need more or less volts, I'd appreciate it. :thumbup:

 

[orb]

My CPU is an Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz, so if anyone could tell me if I need more or less volts, I'd appreciate it. :thumbup:

It's in range 1.1–1.372 V.

If you check stepping, it will additionally tell you whether it's SL9UM version - stepping B3 - 105 Watt - max. temp. 62.2 °C, or SLACR - stepping G0 - 95 Watt - max. temp. 71 °C.


(If you'd like to view more technical documentation for your processor: Intel® Core™2 Extreme Quad-Core Processor QX6000Δ Sequence and Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q6000Δ Sequence Datasheet (PDF) )

 

[Pyromaniac605]

It's in range 1.1–1.372 V.

If you check stepping, it will additionally tell you whether it's SL9UM version - stepping B3 - 105 Watt - max. temp. 62.2 °C, or SLACR - stepping G0 - 95 Watt - max. temp. 71 °C.


(If you'd like to view more technical documentation for your processor: Intel® Core™2 Extreme Quad-Core Processor QX6000Δ Sequence and Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q6000Δ Sequence Datasheet (PDF) )

Thanks, but how can I check whether it's the SL6UM or SLACR version? (Why do I read those as "Slum" and "Slacker"? :lol

 

[TSPenguin]

Get CPU-Z. It will tell you everything about your CPU.

 

[jedidia]

the highest temperature I have is only around 32 degrees with the lowest being -128. (I think that's a misreading )

I think both are misreadings. Motherboards aren't exactly standardized in how they output their data, it can be a pain to find a tool that reads your board correctly. Motherboard Monitor is pretty good in that it offers a very wide list of supported boards, but if your board isn't on that list you'll still have trouble.