An old TF guy in need of some help!

[HAVOC]

Ok. So just now, I press the power button. I hear clicking from the PSU believe it's the fan in the PSU going on and off. Click, click, click, click, click. I have to turn the PSU switch off for it to stop. So then I turn it on and try to start it again, same thing. So I decide to unplug from the wall, I bring the PC and cord to another wall sock on the the side of the room, plug it in, turn the PSU switch on, press the power button and it starts right up.

So then, I shut it down, bring it all back to the socket my PC is always plugged into, plug it in, turn the PSU switch on, press the power button and it starts right up again.

What's the deal with that? First it won't start, post anything, just clicking and flashing lights on components, then move to another outlet, starts right up, then move back and it starts right up again.

Anyone think of a reason why this happens?

Everything is seated properly. CPU, Vcard, memory. I can't find any place that's shorting out.

I have 4x4g sticks. AND 4x2g sticks.

I got a message to pass this along:

Completely Defragged already. Registry is ok. I'm using Cat 11.12 now. before it was 11.11.

 

[patonb]

I think its your wall power!

 

[HAVOC]

I think its your wall power!

Ah, I'm not so sure. I moved it to another wall and back to the original wall and it started right up.

 

[Trotter]

If the original socket is faulty then moving the computer to a different socket will have charged the capitors in the PSU. When you moved it back they retained that charge.

 

[GhOsT1321]

If the original socket is faulty then moving the computer to a different socket will have charged the capitors in the PSU. When you moved it back they retained that charge.

A good way to get rid of some of the charge in the PSUs caps is to unplug the PSU from the wall, then hit the case power button a few times.

 

[HAVOC]

So, last night I spent a few hours on this issue. And here's what I found.

The connector to the mobo from the front panel button, was very loose, almost falling off. I connected it properly, plugged it in to original wall... started right up. Shut down and repeated twice. Started up fine each time. SO I think THIS issues was something in addition to the first issues which happened AFTER I installed the new PSU. I must have knocked it loose when installing the new PSU. SO it was likely not making the right connection or something.

SO after I got that settled, with the old video card back in Radeon HD 4850X2, I fired up BF3 and played last night for 2.5 hrs. No crashes at all. So I've packed up the HD6970 and requested an RMA. I'm waiting for visiontek to send me the "next step" email.

Everything else checks out just fine. This game crashing issue only started when I installed the new video card. Now I"m back to the original set up (with new PSU) when it was working just fine. And in fact, it's not crashing during games every 20 minutes now.

I think it might actually be an overheating issue with the HD6970 because the sticker on the top of the card is all warped and coming up away from the heatsink and fan. Just a guess.

 

[eiflegend]

did you even try playing with the hd6970 after the psu issue was fixed, and before you packed it up for an rma? the reason im asking is because i've had a similar issue and it turned out to be bad ram. i ordered my pc online and the sticker on the ram said it was 1600 so i was running it at that, until i discovered it was actually 1333 ram with an incorrect sticker on it. it passed all memtests too before i rma'd it. if you havent entered the bios in a while, how were you making sure your ram ran at rated speeds this whole time? anyways i wouldn't be so sure it's just the video card

 

[HAVOC]

did you even try playing with the hd6970 after the psu issue was fixed, and before you packed it up for an rma? the reason im asking is because i've had a similar issue and it turned out to be bad ram. i ordered my pc online and the sticker on the ram said it was 1600 so i was running it at that, until i discovered it was actually 1333 ram with an incorrect sticker on it. it passed all memtests too before i rma'd it. if you havent entered the bios in a while, how were you making sure your ram ran at rated speeds this whole time? anyways i wouldn't be so sure it's just the video card

The Ram was installed about 3 months before I received and installed the new HD6970. Everything was working great until I installed the new card. At first I thought hmmm. perhaps my PSU isn't putting out enough wattage to power everything now with the new card. So I ordered a new PSU, installed it and still got the crashing. The other issue I described I fixed. "The front panel button connector was almost falling off from the motherboard. Probably happened during installation of the new PSU.

SO then I uninstalled new card, reinstalled old card HD4850X2 and I haven't had a crash in two days. I've play BF3 for roughly 6-8 hours since reinstalling old card and no crashing.

I've done memory test with old and new card installed and passed no problems. So I've asked for a card RMA from VisionTek. Haven't heard back from them yet.

Don't get me wrong the 4850X2 plays games fine, just not as smooth or in DX11 like the 6970. I'll just have to wait until I heard back. : (

my ram is DDR3 1600 - it's running at 1333 - mobo downclocks to 1333 - but supports OC up to 1666