Problem with First Build

A New Guy

A New Guy

New Member
I upgraded my computer about a month and a half ago from an eMachines T6212 http://www.emachines.com/support/pro...es&model=T6212 These are my upgrades:
Motherboard to MSI 760GM-E51 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130254
Processor to AMD Athlon X4 635 Propus 2.9 GHz Quad-Core http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-882-_-Product
Power Supply to Ultra 750 Watt http://www.compusa.com/applications/...106_ULT-LSP750
Graphics card to nVidia GeForce GT 240 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...3&Tpk=GT 240 (close to one in link, only mine has DDR3 instead of GDDR5
RAM to G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB DDR3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231277

Graphics card upgrade occurred last January; processor, motherboard, and RAM upgrade occurred mid-August; and power supply upgrade occurred yesterday. My problem is that my computer cannot withstand certain applications. One of them is watching YouTube. Within watching two videos that are about 10 min. each in length, my computer would always freeze up and make a huge beep directly from the computer either in the first or second episode. My second problem is that whenever playing a video game, it runs flawlessly for about 30 seconds. After that, the frame rate drops incredibly to the point where the game is not playable. This has occurred in CoD 4 demo and Red Faction: Guerrilla. This even happened with Halo 1, although it took a longer time for the frame rate to drop. I originally thought that I had a bad power supply, so I bought this new 750 Watt, upgrade from a 400 Watt that has been running for about 3 years now. My problems still persist. Some additional info is that I have never reformatted my XP 32 bit before or after I made the motherboard/processor/RAM upgrade until today. I reformatted XP 32 bit and installed Windows 7 64 bit. After doing so, I installed my graphics card drivers, chipset drivers, audio drivers, and updated my bios to the latest version. I'm not sure what to do next, or what the sources of my problems are. I greatly appreciate any help you can give.
 
The beep could be a temperature alarm. Try downloading a temperature monitoring software and then run your game or you-tube videos while watching the temperature.
Here are 2 monitoring programs I use:
> Hmonitor
> speedfan
 
Twinbird24, I think you are correct. I downloaded speedfan and ran it. It says that, with only my internet browser running, my GPU is at 60 degrees Celsius. I also noticed the last time I opened my computer case (yesterday) that my graphics card was very hot when touching it. I remember that I had tried to overclock my GPU right before I had upgraded my machine. I used an overclocking software that I currently cannot remember the name of. This was my first time overclocking. I had noticed that there was a "test" button, which I assumed just tested if the set values I put in would work and not actually change them. After bringing up my core clock a bit, I had brought my shader clock to maximum settings JUST TO TEST IT. I never thought it would actually change my settings. After hitting the test button, my computer was almost frozen. It extremely laggy, similar to 1 fps when playing a game. I turned off my computer and rebooted. Everything seemed fine. However, I didn't try running a game normally afterwards until I upgraded my system. Could that be the reason of the high GPU temperature?
 
Over-clocking can increase the GPU temperature. Make sure the fan is working properly on the GPU (it probably is, but it doesn't hurt to check) and also on the case. Check your clock speeds and see if they are over-clocked, if they are, put the speeds back to default and see if the temp still increases.
 
I have downloaded EVGA Precision, an overclocking tool, to try and underclock my GPU and set the fan to max settings. After underclocking it to the lowest possible settings available and setting the fan to max, I tried playing Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. In comparison to lasting a little less than a minute, it now lasts about 5 minutes without fps dropping. I also noticed that while playing, my GPU temperature rises to 106 degrees Celsius. My games only start lagging once 106 degrees Celsius is reached. After using "Alt-Tab" to minimize the game, I waited until my GPU temperature went down to 103 degrees Celsius and then went back into the game. It lasted for another 30 seconds. I then exited it and noticed that my GPU temperature was once again 106 degrees, which I now assume is as high as it needs to go to affect my games. I will check to see if the case fan and GPU fan are working tomorrow. I have a feeling I may have forgotten to plug in the case fan. However, if it is plugged in and they both work, what could be the cause of my increase in temperature and how can I bring the temperature down?
 
It could be that your case wasn't designed for the heat generated by the components you've added. It looks that it has a single 80mm exhaust fan and no real vents to let air in. Try running it with the side panel off and setup a fan to blow air into the open side. If that brings temps way down then you might want to consider a new case with better airflow like the Antec 300.
 
$70 is a bit high to spend on just a case... is there a cheaper solution, such as a cheaper case or just purchasing another fan? Also, is it detrimental to just leave the side panel off and have an ordinary fan to blow into it from now on to keep the temperatures down, instead of purchasing something new?
 
Sure, if you're OK with it, you could certainly run it without the panel and a fan blowing in...No harm. It'd drive me nuts, but I'm kind of anal retentive about my computer. I only suggested the case as an example of a relatively inexpensive case with good airflow. Two 120s intake and a 140 plus a 120 exhaust would probably move ten times the air through a case as a single 80. I mean you can buy cheaper cases, but it'll probably have a single exhaust fan and that's not enough for the higher performance components such as you've added.
 
106 degrees Celsius is really high, the nVidia website says the max temp is 105 for that card. I have my PC with it's side panel off and there is nothing wrong with it (it's so I can easily access the inside without always taking the side panel off). However, the exposed side of the case is facing a close by wall, so you can't even tell the side panel is off.

If you fix the airflow and are not over-clocking, and the temp is still high, then it might be that the GPU heat sink is not making proper contact with the chip, or there might be a problem with the amount of power the GPU is getting.

The Antec 300 is a nice case though.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top