biult my first system ... and there are issues

[PoofWizard]

OK. I am not a computer expert. I can install upgrades or hard ware and software and got arrogant enough to think I could build my own computer however. So when people started asking me what I wanted for Christmas I asked for computer components.

Started with what I think was a good motherboard. MSI 990fxa_GD80. Got a Cooler Master HAF 912 case with an XG-P700 700 watt power supply. Then I added an AMD FX 8350 CPU with a CoolerMaster V8 CPU cooler. Got 4x4GB Ballistix sport ddr3 Ram Sticks, a XFX Radeon HD6870 video card. Then a Asus Blue Ray burner, and a WD caviar Black 1GB hdd. finally added a Netgear WNDA3100 USB Network adapter. And couple of cool fans with purty lights,

Put it all together. and it worked!!!

I was so excited until it didn't work any more.

Here are my issues.
1. The USB network adapter keeps losing connectivity any time I use it to download or stream video (surfs the web fine). I can unplug and plug network adapter back in and it reconnects ... until it drops again. Windows 8x64 OS drivers are not available for this unit. May be the issue, but not sure.
2. Every now and again the video card crashes. Got the latest drivers and such but everything on screen freezes. Audio still works and you can tell stuff is still running, just no video. Reboot and everything is fine.

So, like I said, never build a system for the ground up. If I was adding a piece of hardware, I would know where to troubleshoot, but since I added everything, where does one begin?

CPU is not overclocked. I d/l Temp gauge. Never gets above 30C. Don't think that is the issue.
Power supply? I would hope that 700W would be enough. Maybe it's not. Any thoughts?
Video Card? Put VC in old PC and it works fine.
That leaves MB maybe? Could that be an issue?

Just wanting to know from the PC experts out t here, where should I start troubleshooting?

Thanks.

=w=

 

[Frick]

1. A wireless network adapter i assume? What make and model? It could definitely be a compatibility issue.

2. What PSU is it?

 

[stinger608]

Radeon 8600 video card

???????? A what?

And yes, what brand of power supply.

 

[Dent1]

a Radeon 8600 video card.

That video card is about 7 years old. It will cause you nothing but touble, finding maintained drivers, let alone Windows 8 drivers will be a nightmare. If you are gaming it won't play anything. I'm not exaggerating none.

For multimedia use it probably isnt the best for general HD movie playback either. It's what needs to be replaced ASAP.

For your main issue, it seems like a router fault. When the connection drops does your router reboot at all? If it isn't rebooting it's probably the USB wireless card caused by a hardware or software glitch.

 

[Crap Daddy]

???????? A what?

And yes, what brand of power supply.

AMD launched the 8000 series after all this year.

Jokes aside we have to know what card you have.

 

[Iceni]

I would imagine it's a wireless router issue, It's more than likely you have a limited range of IP addresses available on the router and multiple people are connecting.

Or you have poor signal strength and it's constantly connecting and reconnecting and you just don't notice it when your browsing.


In order to test the router theory you can log onto the router and see how many times that day you have connected. Unfortunately this information will probably be listed as an IP address. So you will have to work out what IP address your machine is using, and then work out how many times you have connected!

The other 100% test is to try a cable. Or move the PC closer to the router. The closer you are the better the signal strength with wireless, I think you will find your connection is a hell of a lot better and you no longer have any connection issues.

You could also consider moving the router if you find this to be the case. The router should be located as centrally as possible in your home so everyone gets even coverage. If this is not possible you can add a repeater, Or use a cable.

You need to give us more information about your GPU, I'm assuming it is a radeon 8500. It could equally be a 9600. You must have made a typo as the 8600 was never made. Or you have got the manufacturer wrong and is it an Nvidia 8600.

Also the 8500 will have problems on windows 7/8 64 bit. It was never designed to run is a 64 bit environment, or on either of those operating systems. I would advise grabbing a cheap replacement. Even a $20 card is going to be faster and have less compatibility problems. If you have a bit more of a budget for a gpu then just say and people here will give you a good idea for your price range.

here is a link to the GPU hierarchy. Note that your GPU is very close to the bottom. The card you have is not listed But it sits between the 9200SE and the 7500 ATI cards.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

 

[Hood]

I've installed the same WNDA3100 wireless adapter on several friend's systems, using both XP and 7, and always had issues with it dropping connections and weak signal even 10 feet from the router. It's what you call a piece of junk - Netgear does make decent ones, starting at about $50, but I don't know why they tarnish their already shaky reputation selling this junk for $30, because it just barely works when it works at all.
As for the freezing video problem, the last MSI board I had (10 months ago) had almost the same problem - whenever stressing the system by gaming or benchmarking, the north bridge would get very hot, and would freeze up the video just like yours (this was on a Pentium 4/socket 775). I could watch the temp get to 64c and it would freeze every time, so I rigged up a 210 cfm Delta 92mm fan pointed straight at the north bridge heat sink. When I flipped the switch, that thing would howl like a shop-vac, but it kept the temp below 55c, and I could game for hours as long as I kept the fan howling. I now have a sweet Asus Z77/i5-3570K system, and I will never buy another MSI board. Their prices and features make them sound tempting, but their engineering evidently sucks, and their customer service is non-existent (they wouldn't even respond to my RMA request). No, it wouldn't surprise me if the board and it's cooling "solution" was at fault. You should monitor your temps with a program like HWiNFO64, because it will show all available sensors and parameters, and may show you where the problem lies. run a stress test such as IBT and watch all your temps, esp. motherboard and chipset. You could also try the fan trick and see if it stops freezing. Good luck...

 

[Frag_Maniac]

The lesson here is that having some success adding upgrade parts does not automatically make for good PC building skill. It takes a bit of research beforehand to know what parts work together well. You definitely don't want your first build to be a time warp franken build that's cobbled together without checking on reliability, support and compatibility of parts.

 

[lemonadesoda]

The lesson to all TPUers here is to say politely, "welcome to the forum, but we don't answer questions until you fill out your system specs". I think you are all talking with a rogue bot.

 

[PoofWizard]

700 watt power supply

The power supply is made by Exreme Gear. An XG-P700. It actually came with the case. Really have not found any info on it.

a Radeon 8600 video card

Ok, got started drinking a little early yesterday. That is the only excuse I have because I have no idea where that came from. My VC is a Radeon DH 6870 by XFX. Not top of the line, but a decent mid-range card, right?

 

[PoofWizard]

The lesson to all TPUers here is to say politely, "welcome to the forum, but we don't answer questions until you fill out your system specs". I think you are all talking with a rogue bot.

Sorry, is there a template that should be used to make sure that I give all information?

 

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

Have you loaded the latest Chipset drivers for your MB?

 

[Frick]

The lesson here is that having some success adding upgrade parts does not automatically make for good PC building skill. It takes a bit of research beforehand to know what parts work together well. You definitely don't want your first build to be a time warp franken build that's cobbled together without checking on reliability, support and compatibility of parts.

But that is rarely a problem. His system, and most systems for that matter, should work together out of the box. It's why we have standards. If not, there is a problem that has nothing to do with "building skills".

And system specs is found if you click on User CP -> Edit System specs.

Also, what are the specs of the PSU? The best thing would be to take a shot of the side with all the specs on it and post it here. Is it bad enough it can cause the problems actually. At least the crashing problem, the network problem is more difficult to say.

 

[Iceni]

Yup i couldn't actually find anything on the PSU with a google search, Tells me it's probably a cheap OEM re brand. Newegg have some good deals on PSU's atm, I think i saw a Thermaltake TR2 700W for $70 with a rebate earlier.

 

[PoofWizard]

Do I really need a name brand PSU? Ebough to drop another $70 anyway? U/L photo of PSU with specs.

 

[Crap Daddy]

I really don't think it's the PSU. The CPU power connector is 8 pin right?
I would try different drivers for the card, no overclocking. The 6870 is a decent card, no question.
Then run some loops of Unigine Heaven benchmark. All games crash like you say?

 

[Frag_Maniac]

But that is rarely a problem. His system, and most systems for that matter, should work together out of the box. It's why we have standards. If not, there is a problem that has nothing to do with "building skills".

At the time I made that post, there was no way of telling, because he'd incorrectly listed his GPU, which, for all we knew at that time could have been too old for the rest of the spec and not well supported by W8.

There WAS however mention of how poorly the cheap wireless adapter he chose works, which gets back to researching parts first, so my post wasn't really wrong. I also fail to see how his system or any system should automatically work well out of the box given his lack of experience compounded by the mention of his having been drinking too much at the time.

Clearly with beginners there often ARE issues with building skills, which go far beyond merely knowing how to plug things together as you imply. You make it sound as if these "standards" you speak of make beginner PC building 100% fool proof. No, they don't.

I've often seen marathon support threads for beginner PC builders whom try to glean as much as they can before building, and STILL wind up with lots of problems. Not everyone picks up on PCs so well, even in this auto detection, plug and play day and age.

 

[PoofWizard]

I really don't think it's the PSU. The CPU power connector is 8 pin right?
I would try different drivers for the card, no overclocking. The 6870 is a decent card, no question.
Then run some loops of Unigine Heaven benchmark. All games crash like you say?

Both Power connectors are plugged in well.

The crashes are not constant. It crashed twice yesterday and so far it's been perfect today. No particular reason/program correlation has been detected.

Went ahead and ordered a new network adapter. The "TP-LINK TL-WN822N Wireless N300" seemed to get good review working with Windows 8 x64 (Only negatives I read were on units that were DOA). I just picked up the Netgear at Best Buy cause I needed one and didn't do any research on it. Live and learn on that. I'll just take it to work and see if I can get some use out of there to bypass corp Internet blocks.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Went ahead and ordered a new network adapter. The "TP-LINK TL-WN822N Wireless N300" seemed to get good review working with Windows 8 x64 (Only negatives I read were on units that were DOA). I just picked up the Netgear at Best Buy cause I needed one and didn't do any research on it. Live and learn on that. I'll just take it to work and see if I can get some use out of there to bypass corp Internet blocks.

To your defense, there's not a whole lot of info available yet on what wireless adapters work well with W8. Then again, many argue there's not much point in bothering with W8 for desktop use.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I really don't think it's the PSU. The CPU power connector is 8 pin right?
I would try different drivers for the card, no overclocking. The 6870 is a decent card, no question.
Then run some loops of Unigine Heaven benchmark. All games crash like you say?

I don't know. Looks like its pretty beat up, and very weak 12v rails. I highly doubt with only putting out about 46 combined amps on the 12v that it capable of putting out its rated power of 700w.

 

[PoofWizard]

Well, want to thank everyone for their help. The video freeze and crash has just stopped. Didn't DO anything, it just quit, so I have no idea what the problem was unless sometype of auto update fixed it.

Still waiting on the new wireless adapter to see if that fixes that issue... Looking forward to getting rid of this NetGear piece of crap.

Happy New Year to all!