New Rig, same issues as with old rig

[Snowy]

Hi guys,

Hopefully you can help me with this issue.

Before my upgrade I had screen artifacts (popups) and freezes with vertical lines.
My Q6600 was clocked at 3Ghz and by running at default clock the issue went away.
Since the system was slow I decided to upgrade to i5 2500k and 4x4 Corsair Vengeance RAM.
To my surprise and with running the system at default speeds I had a freeze within a few minutes and now also the popups (sides of screen mostly)
I Disabled Intel Turbo because I thought this was causing it but no good.
I'm running the CL9 RAM at 1600 (XMP) and 9-9-9-24.
Should I relax timings to 10-10-10-27 because I'm running a quad kit?
Is my 5770 dying? if so then why did my old rig ran stable after running the CPU at default clock.

Thanks in advance

 

[thelostswede]

That sounds like it's the graphics card, it can't be much else if the graphics are playing up

 

[SG-]

is it the same graphics card as your old one? visual artifacts popping up is almost always the graphics card and possibly a PSU issue.

 

[Snowy]

Yeah same GPU and PSU:

- GIGABYTE HD5770 Silent Cell
- Seasonic S12-430W

It's weird though that with my previous rig the artifacting and freezes went away by running the Q6600 at default speed (2,4Ghz instead of 3Ghz)

Shouldn't my current gear should use less power then a Q6600 and DDR2?

Tried using the HD3000 chip yesterday but after adjusting available RAM to GFX in BIOS I got freezes when going into desktop. Worked the first time with 64M though but didn't test long enough, might try again later today.

Could it be the the 5770 overheating? I'm using it without a fan attached since I'm going for a silent rig but if needed I can probably attach a fan at 7V.

Temps seem fine but again, not stressing system too much, yet.

Update: today, so far, the system seems stable, like it should have been from the start. I don't know what happened here, did I change a setting in the BIOS, I have no idea.

 

[Snowy]

3rd day now the rig runs stable, besides some Safari crashes but I doubt it has anything to do with the HW.
This is how it should have ran from the start, I have still no idea what happened but the artifacting is gone.



Thanks Gordo and others for the help, much appreciated guys.

 

[Snowy]

Turns out my RAM was set back to 1333 instead of 1600.
When running at 1600 the artifacts/freezing appear again.

Odd though that specs state 1600Mhz 9-9-9-24 but the only way to run it stable is at 1333 with same timings.
I've tried 1600 at 10-10-10-27, adjusting voltage for RAM and VTT a few notches higher but no luck (I'm a noob at OC though)

Googling for some benchmarks it turns out it's not that big of deal in real life performance running 1600 vs 1333 and I prefer a stable rig for my work.

Going for a SSD to speed up the boot times for os and apps and hopefully enhancing the Photoshop scratch disk a bit.

Later and thanks for the help lads.

 

[the_gael]

Could it be the the 5770 overheating? I'm using it without a fan attached since I'm going for a silent rig but if needed I can probably attach a fan at 7V.

Given that the symtoms you have experienced are generally what you would expect from a Graphics Card issue I would very definitely have cooling on the 5770.

I have had a couple of 5770's and they ran hot even with the standard fan on them.

As you seem comfortable working with the hardware in your rig I would suggest that if you find there is still too much noise for you with a fan on the 5770 how about modifying it with a "Silent" fan.

EDITED to ADD
Looking back at when you had your Q6600 I seem to remember that when I clocked my Q6600 on a P35/P45 board that unless I specifically selected to keep the PCI-e bus at 100mhz it would get tweaked up as I clocked the CPU. (My memory on that may be wrong but that's how I remember it just now). Which might explain why changing your overclock affected your issue with the Q6600.

 

[Snowy]

Could it be the the 5770 overheating? I'm using it without a fan attached since I'm going for a silent rig but if needed I can probably attach a fan at 7V.

Given that the symtoms you have experienced are generally what you would expect from a Graphics Card issue I would very definitely have cooling on the 5770.

I have had a couple of 5770's and they ran hot even with the standard fan on them.

As you seem comfortable working with the hardware in your rig I would suggest that if you find there is still too much noise for you with a fan on the 5770 how about modifying it with a "Silent" fan.

I agree because artifacts should normally be related to GFX but then why is it that I have no issues when I run the RAM at 1333 (SPD) instead of 1600 (XMP) ?
I got some a 12mm silent fan laying around mate, one that I used for the Accellero S1 cooler.
The card felt very hot to the touch but that was in windows running a game.
Temps in mac however show 39° idle and barely go above 50's when working so I reckon a fan is not needed at this time (unless istats show wrong temps)

Later

 

[the_gael]

Could it be the the 5770 overheating? I'm using it without a fan attached since I'm going for a silent rig but if needed I can probably attach a fan at 7V.

Given that the symtoms you have experienced are generally what you would expect from a Graphics Card issue I would very definitely have cooling on the 5770.

I have had a couple of 5770's and they ran hot even with the standard fan on them.

As you seem comfortable working with the hardware in your rig I would suggest that if you find there is still too much noise for you with a fan on the 5770 how about modifying it with a "Silent" fan.

I agree because artifacts should normally be related to GFX but then why is it that I have no issues when I run the RAM at 1333 (SPD) instead of 1600 (XMP) ?
I got some a 12mm silent fan laying around mate, one that I used for the Accellero S1 cooler.
The card felt very hot to the touch but that was in windows running a game.
Temps in mac however show 39° idle and barely go above 50's when working so I reckon a fan is not needed at this time (unless istats show wrong temps)

Later

Been thinking about what you said regarding the issue appearing when you run the RAM at its rated speed. Assuming you are correct on the GPU temps and I think you have convinced me on that one (plus it is designed to run the way you have it).

To my mind ruling out the GPU would then point towards your PSU - these were the two items that you transferred from your previous rig to your current rig. The issue travelled with these two items to the new system.

I looked at the minimum system requirements for the Gigabyte HD5770 Silent Cell and discovered it asks for a minimum of 450W PSU. Bearing in mind that your PSU is 430W it raises a question.

As running the RAM at a higher speed or clocking the CPU will normally require more power I wonder if doing either of these things is just tipping the system over the edge in terms of where it has sufficient power.

Have you tried running it with a higher output PSU?

 

[Snowy]

Exactly my thoughts!
Odd thing is, it runs stable now but on a reboot when I get into the desktop I get some artifacts, after that, no more issues. In the past I had freezes (with vertical lines) just after going into the desktop.
It could be that this seasonic just can't hack it anymore, too bad though since these PSU's are great (performance/noise) and I will definitely buy another one with higher output.
Mind you that the S12-430 does not have a dedicated PCIe power connector so I had to use 2 molex to Pcie. On top of that I have 4 HD's and 3 12mm and 1 14mm fans running.
Now you're probably going well doh hahaha.

It's a bit frustrating not knowing exactly where the issue lies, i don't want to spend money on gear I don't need but like you've mentioned, this PSU is borderline anyway.

Thanks for the info my mate, and on your free sunday I might add