PSU unstable?

Hi,

 

I recently built a new PC. All the parts are in this wishlist.

CORSAIR Gaming Series GS800 800W

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77

ASUS ENGTX560 DCII OC/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 2 of them

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 2 of them

Pioneer Black Internal BD/DVD/CD Writer SATA BDR-207DBKS

Windows 7 64 bi

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/ [...] D=24460327

 

When i first booted it up everything seem to run normally. However, when I played a game, the PC was shut down by the ASUS Sabertooth z77's anti power surge program. IT said it detected a power surge from the PSU, Corsair GS800. The next day i wasn't gaming at all and it did the same thing, but when it rebooted one of the 2 graphics cards was no longer detected by the PC. About an hour later it did the same thing and the 2nd graphics card stopped working. However, both card's fans and power lights were still on. Also, I noticed that the VGA Red LED is on.

 

Is my PSU unstable or insufficent? Are my cards now fried? I don't have another machine to actually test to see if they work or not. Is there anyway I can check if the other parts work without another PC to switch parts with?

 

Thanks!

you can test 1 card at a time but i dont know how much stock i put into the asus app, i would boot into the bios and see the voltages on the hardware monitor and report them back here. then remove the "good" card and see if the 2nd card works ok.

 

let us know!

I tried both cards one at a time, plus i tried different slots but i didn't receive any feed to the monitor.

Even with no cards plugged in the VGA Red LED light is still on

Well, the cards you could possibly try in another system. Maybe a friend.

 

I have to agree with Synthohol. Don't put much faith in the ASUS software. It's proven to be unreliable most of the time. Other than basic drivers for the board i never install them and monitor my system myself.

 

Does the PSU start when you use the paperclip test?

 

Could also be just a bad MB.

Well the PSU's fan does start spinning and its LED blue fan light does come on when i start up the PC.

I was researching my problem further and came accross this thread...

http://community.futuremark.com/forum/showthread.php?165544-ASUS-Sabertooth-Z77-new-1015-BIOS-WARNING-disables-PCIe-devices!

 

Is it possible that this whole problem is simply a faulty Bios? I've just order a HDMI to DVI cable from newegg so i can update the bios by using the onboard graphics... probably should have purchased one when i bought everything else.

Was the BIOS the software you didn't trust from ASUS?

 

I wonder why it was detecting power surges. Is anyone familiar with the anti surge program in ASUS Motherboards? I'm not sure if it thats part of the BIOS or not. Also, is it possible for BIOS to disable one of the cards and not the others because my cards stopped working one at a time.

 

Is it possible to update the BIOS without a monitor? Sorry, I'm a new builder, I'm used to buying my PC prebuilt and working. lol

aaah you MUST turn off the onboard VGA before testing your cards.

its the psu. i had the same problem while gaming the computer just shuts off and reboots itself, with one of the graphics card having no power or the led just blinks. i rma the ax1200 psu and got a new one back installed it and its been working fine for days now. hope that helps. i have the maximus z68 mb

? I've just order a HDMI to DVI cable from newegg so i can update the bios by using the onboard graphics

I'm not sure why you would need this cable to update the BIOS. Updating the BIOS requires NO graphics. All you need is a USB drive. Ypou download the file, and put it on a properly formated USB drive. You then boot the machine with the USB drive as your first boot device and let the BIOS update take care of itself.

 

BIOS updates should be covered in your owners manual.

 

Was the BIOS the software you didn't trust from ASUS?

No, it's their monitoring software. AISUITe or whatever they call it for ytour board. It's had a few different names over the years.

 

I would update the BIOS, and if that doesn't take care of things, RMA the PSU and go from there.

Just to be sure. Is 800W sufficient for this system?

I've updated or rather downgraded the bios to 0906.I received feed from one of the cards. I swapped cards and both of them work. However, when i put them in the 2nd graphics card slot, they were not detected by the PC. However, the fans and the lights do turn on in the 2nd slot... and when i discconect the power from card in the second slot, the lights on the card turn red... so the board is some what detecting but not on Device Manager

you can try rebooting in safe mode, go into device manager remove all video card(s) and reboot and see if they are detected again.

you can try rebooting in safe mode, go into device manager remove all video card(s) and reboot and see if they are detected again.

If not i would have to say there is something wrong with that board.

 

But in any case if you feel it's the PSU , you always have the option to RMA it.

Just to be sure. Is 800W sufficient for this system?

I ran your specs through the PSU finder and it lists the minimum PSu of 750w. So you should be okay.

What do you mean by Remove? Disable it or Uninstall?

uninstall.

It only detects one of the cards.

Man, I really think the MB is faulty, but as stated before you always have the option to RMA the PSU.

 

II would get a hold of a multi-meter if you can and make sure all your PCI cables are getting 12v while running off a paperclip... If they are then i would say the PSU is fine and again it would be the MB.

 

You can find cheap meters for around 10$.

swap slots with the cards, if it still only detects one then it looks like the MB is at fault.

Ok, I think I'll RMA the board and the PSU, just to be safe, back to Newegg. Now to solve the most difficult task..... what came in the boxes? I knew i shouldn't have mixed all the spare parts and Manuals in one box. lol

 

Do set backs like this always happen to new builders? That nagging voice in my head, that i should have bought a prebuilt gaming PC, is starting to say "I told you so."

swap slots with the cards, if it still only detects one then it looks like the MB is at fault.

I second this! I would save your self money on postage and just send the board back. But if you want to play it safe i understand. But i really think the PSU is fine.

 

 

Do set backs like this always happen to new builders? That nagging voice in my head, that i should have bought a prebuilt gaming PC, is starting to say "I told you so."

My friend, you are not alone in that club. It happens to first time builders and us veterans alike! Bad components happen all the time. ! If anything it makes you more prepared for your next build! :)

And once, you get things running the way they should you'll be glad you didn't buy a prebuilt!

finally got my RMA approved.... i was wondering.. could any of this be caused by the CPU?

I'm not sure why you would need this cable to update the BIOS. Updating the BIOS requires NO graphics. All you need is a USB drive. Ypou download the file, and put it on a properly formated USB drive. You then boot the machine with the USB drive as your first boot device and let the BIOS update take care of itself.

 

BIOS updates should be covered in your owners manual.

 

 

No, it's their monitoring software. AISUITe or whatever they call it for ytour board. It's had a few different names over the years.

 

I would update the BIOS, and if that doesn't take care of things, RMA the PSU and go from there.

 

Anti-surge in ASUS and other mother boards is simply a BIOS/UEFI setting. It has nothing to do with AI Suite or any software.

 

I frankly do not know what this setting really does, but I've never had any issues having it enabled. An ASRock board I recently bought has this feature too. It can be disabled in the UEFI/BIOS. Then again, if the PS is sending very high out of spec voltages to the board, and the anti-surge feature is disabled, is the board damaged?

 

Regarding the UEFI/BIOS update, since boards can boot from or install an OS from a USB flash drive, boards no longer assume a USB drive connected to them during a boot is for a UEFI/BIOS update. It takes a couple key strokes at least to start a UEFI update from a USB flash drive. So a monitor display is needed for that. How would you set a USB drive to be the boot device without a display? That would not work anyway with many current boards.

 

BTW, I used the HDMI output from the onboard graphics on an Ivy Bridge board, and it worked, so you may not need the adapter.