I'm sorry, I missed the crashdumps you provided lately that were caused by DV kicking in. Apparently all 3 pointed to specifically one Gigabyte utility, the Easy Saver utility. If you've uninstalled all your Gigabyte utilities as recommended, this item should also be gone. You should still turn DV back on again to see if it comes up with anything else, but those three crashdumps may end up being obsolete in helping resolve this.
Not quite yet, yesterday I ordered an ESD wrist strap, a can of compressed air, some Arctic Silver ArctiClean (thermal remover and surface purifier) and a tube of Arctic Cooling MX-4 Thermal Paste.
So they should be here within the next 1 - 2 days.
I'm either going to use the current stock heatsink+fan or order an aftermarket one today if possible, although I've left hardly anything in my bank so I'd need to get a cheap one :/
I have some questions actually which I couldn't find a proper answer for, if you don't mind giving your input:
1) What CPU's run hotter?, Intel or AMD?, looking at heatsink reviews, every single review uses an Intel i7 to test the temperatures..., is that hotter or cooler than my AMD FX-6200 at stock speed idle+load?, nobody tests AMD's -_-
2) Do all/any aftermarket heatsinks work better than stock?, if it's a proper branded product?
3) ^If so, I have a short list of reasonably cheap CPU coolers I can afford now without needing to wait until I next get paid, what would you recommend?
Xigmatek Loki SD963 H.D.T
Xigmatek Gaia SD1283 H.D.T
Coolermaster TX3
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO
Or should I wait until next week then get something like:
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Pro
Gelid Solutions GX7
Coolermaster Hyper 612S
I want to get the best value for money, I don't mind waiting another week to do it all if I'll be getting something considerably better with one of the slightly more expensive ones.
Intel CPUs are able to handle temperatures a lot more than AMDs.
I personally have no knowledge of the aforementioned CPU coolers to make any recommendation or state any opinion. However, I've found that often you will go for those if you want to start overclocking your CPU. Even a stock cooler for the most part should suffice when running the CPU at base speed, though the aftermarket CPU coolers can make your CPU last longer and give you a more comfortable gap from the temperature threshold so you can run anything without concern.
However, do be aware that by far the most crucial element in keeping your CPU cool isn't so much the cooler, the thermal paste you use, or even the CPU, but your application of the thermal paste and placement of the CPU cooler. The difference between proper application and even slight misapplication can be several tens of the degrees, so you'll want to review guides so that you can understand best methods for approaching this.
Btw, skimming back through this, you mentioned you experienced a beep code previously but I don't believe I see any mention you've made that you've checked in your motherboard's manual as to what it was implying. Have you figured this out?
Good point Vir Gnarus. I looked it up, but unfortunately, the section for the Beep codes is missing online. BUT, if I am not mistaken, a succession of rapid beeps indicates that the BIOS detected a Power Error.Had to restart, but this time instead of starting up I got a beep code and the PC was turned on, but I got nothing on the monitor, restarted, same thing. Then turned the PC off completely then back on and managed to get to the loading windows screen where it never actually loaded windows... so had to restart, then went into safe mode, didn't really do anything, then just restarted again and windows acted as normal. :/
Never heard a beep code like it, just a strange variation of 5 - 7 beeps in about 1.5 seconds, very quick.
Do you have an extra PSU to stick in there? Just to try...
Again, it can very for any BIOS. Every BIOS has its own flavor of beep codes, and the same beep code can have different meanings depending on the BIOS. The motherboard the BIOS resides on can also alter it as some BIOS versions can be altered slightly to accommodate the mobo they're on (this is often true of OEM versions of the BIOS).
The online version of the manual should be an exact digital copy of the paper manual. I'm not sure why they would omit something as important as the beep codes from the BIOS. If you are looking for them, another name for them is POST codes.
If Freak suspects it was indeed a power issue, and if he checked your cables and all, then it's indicative of a failing PSU. While we did previously check voltage levels, those aren't the only indicator of a failing PSU. Sometimes bad PSUs may run fine then spontaneously go bonkers under specific conditions. If he were to decide on swapping hardware to remedy his BSOD/hanging problems, I'd start with the PSU.
Last edited by Vir Gnarus; 20 Mar 2012 at 14:26. Reason: Forgot who i was talking too, lol
I agree Vir, about everything you just said. The manual does omit the troubleshooting section online, everywhere. My Gigabyte Z68 manual states it as a Power Error. You are correct, it may be different. And yes, while we did look at the voltage, it could be falling off completely and not fluctuating.
Freak, are you able to replicate that Post Beep? Or was it a one time thing? Either way, your CPU was running on the hot side for that models specs. But, since the PSU you are using is from a previous build, it is possible that it is failing.
I have been reviewing different methods of applying thermal paste for the past week, so many methods... Most companies/experts suggest a simple pea sized dot in the middle to be spread by the heatsink pressure. The current thermal paste on there is what came with the CPU, pre-applied from AMD on the heatsink. I'd attempt the pea method or one of the line methods since they seem to cover more area.
As for the beep code, it was a one off after one of the crashes, never heard it since or any other beep codes, infact, just using that desk fan when stressing my pc has prevented a crash or any problems atall for the past 2 - 3 days, windows seems to be working flawlessly, and I only got the event log errors after my pc had crashed each time which is as expected.
To make sure it wasn't fixed and I was using a desk fan for no reason, yesterday I turned the desk fan off and played a game, and it crashed. Which for me, seems to point to a heat problem. Like I said earlier, the Northbridge heatsink is VERY hot to the touch, I can't keep my finger on there for more than 2 seconds, and that's just when my PC is idle.
I checked my user manual which is identical to the online version and like in both it says "Refer to chapter 5, "Troubleshooting", for information about beep codes" And the manual ends at chapter 4 for some reason but has a couple of pages of lines. No idea why they didn't include them.
My old PSU was giving me trouble, it was 3 - 4 years old, a non brand and cheap, it served me well though for the most part. My current one I bought brand new on the 7th of February this year, added it to my old system until I got the other components to make the PC I have now. So I threw my old PSU out. (not before opening it up to find about 3 inches of filth on everything inside)
In hindsight I probably should have got a higher wattage PSU, but through all of my research I seen some guys with better PC's than the one I have built with a 125w CPU, a Radeon 7 series GPU, talking about overclocking the CPU to 4GHz with only a 500w PSU in their system. And having success with it... so I figured a good 80+ 550w PSU would do me fine since I don't plan on overclocking anything and I have a 6 series radeon.
If you are "thermally stable" now, I think you will be doing good once you get the aftermarket cpu cooler seated. As.far as which one to go with, I use the CM 212+ with a second fan installed for push and pull. Look in my sig for specs. Also, have you priced another fan for the front of the case? And a fan controller to get your side fan running? I am on my phone now, I will check in later.
With my case I am very limited, one 120mm fan on the back, one 80mm (120mm possible) on the front, only problem being is the front fan blows air under my massive GPU, so none of it hits the northbridge or RAM or anything, and the back fan is pulling air from the other side of the GPU, the GPU pretty much acts like a wall on my motherboard. I can't imagine the airflow is great at the moment.
I've tried my hardest to get the 360mm side fan working, but only the LED's ever turn on, the fan itself never moves or even hints that it is going to do anything. It's powered by Molex, but I've tried every one in my case with the fan and none of them do anything other than turn the LED's on. The case itself has a button to turn the LED's and fan on or off, and also a dial to change the RPM of the fan.
Which you can see here:
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