My new Computer - is it faulty?

**Astarael** · 2009-06-29 04:36

I suspect I know the answer, but like any good forum-goer, I'm hoping BG Tech can either convince me or dissuade me from a phone call I don't want to make.

Recently received my new pc, (spec at the bottom of post so it doesn't clutter), and I'm having so many problems, but they're all little problems, the kind of problem where if you went to someone with just one of them, they'd laugh at you. I'm gonna copy most of them from a draft email I've been typing up to send to the company who made it for me, so bear with any context errors. I'll stick it in a spoiler to save massive wall of text:

Spoiler: show

It has now been just under 2 weeks since I received my new PC, order number in subject. So far there have been numerous small issues, that are slowly building into a big problem. I sent an email earlier with some of the bigger issues, here is the full list, in chronological order:

1. Upon receipt of PC, it would not boot, not even into BIOS. I had to open the case, and plug two connectors into the motherboard that looked like they had either not been secured properly before delivery, or not been plugged in at all. System booted after these were connected.

2. No Keyboard or Mouse included in box.

3. PC refuses to use DVI > DVI cables as a single monitor display. I have to use a DVI > VGA adaptor to get pcture from the PC. I can get picture from DVI > DVI on a second monitor if I set it up for dual screen and force it to those resolutions after it has already booted using the DVI > VGA adaptor.

4. The System blue screened after 4 days of setup. It did this twice within 30 minutes, and has not done it since. This did worry me. My previous PC did not blue screen in over 4 years of constant use. This especially worried me because my delivery was delayed, and when i spoke to a member of your staff on the phone, I was told the delay was because the system "was blue screening, and we aren't sure why". The system was despatched the next day, so I'm not sure if the issue has been fixed.

5. It is extremely loud. too loud for realistic home use. For some examples of this, with my previous PC, I was able to sleep with it turned on. With this one, not only can I not sleep, other members of my family have struggled, in different rooms. We live in a decent sized, brick built house. It should not be making a sound loud enough to penetrate these walls and travel through 2 doors. Some research I have done suggests this is the graphics card (Nvidia GT295), although I do remember that the previous silent heatsink I had chosen on your website was replaced with one that did not specifically say it was a quiet heatsink, due to the original option not fitting (the site did not tell me this, and the 'upgrade' was done free of charge). The sound could be either of these parts, but i'm leaning towards the graphics card.
Also, while I'm still on the subject of the sound, when i switch to say a full screen application, such as a videogame, the sound gets louder. sounds almost exactly like the sound a grasshopper makes at night. Right from the back of the system. This particular sound cannot be right, it's just too loud.

6. The temperature - I asked some of my friends to get the temperature of their systems, and most reported somewhere between 30-40 degrees C. The 4 cores and motherboard on the system I received are alwyas between 50-55 degrees C, and the graphics card runs ad 74 degrees C. This makes it essentially a radiator in my room. If this is where it's supposed to be, it's not a problem, but based on my other problems, I thought it was worth mentioning (temperatures recorded using RealTemp)

The PC Specification is in the spoiler below this. It's a powerful system, which is what I was aiming for, but if the only way to get a system like this leaves me having to put up with what acts like a steam train in both sound and heat generation in my bedroom, it's just not acceptable. Spec below:

Spoiler: show

So, as for the subject, is something wrong with it? Anyone else with a similar system noticed the same things? Ultimatly, it appears that the problem lies with the GT295 from the googling I have done, it seems reportedly loud. If it's supposed to be this way, I'm just disappointed they didn't mention this on their site - it's too loud to have as a household system.

**Minions** · 2009-06-29 05:15

Sounds like your card is having problems, I assume you have looked at other peoples problems regarding the card. Worst case might have to get it swapped out for a replacement.

I7-920 runs hot, hotter than any other processor I've seen tbh, comes with the hyper threading technology. Using Core Temp x64 (on win7) it says my idle temps are around 50~55 just browsing the web. That's with a non-stock heat-sync. (Which would be amazing if you lived somewhere cold, free heater)

**Astarael** · 2009-06-29 05:42

yep, that's the same temperature I'm getting doing basic stuff like web browsing/ffxi and whatever. Same non-stock heat-sink too. Glad to know that's ruled out as an issue with it. Thanks for putting that bit of my mind at ease Minions, least i can be sure it's not gonna explode on me.

As for the card, I've tried browsing for similar problems, but everyone just seems to report it as being loud with no definition of what 'loud' is. I mean, even if they could give me a decibel reading of what their loud is, I have no instrument to measure it at my end. I just don't see how anyone could accept it being as loud as mine is as standard. Since I got it, if i'm chatting on vent, people can hear the damned thing in the background, and I have a decent background noise filter on my headset.

**Solefald** · 2009-06-29 09:57

The fan noise and temperatures are most likely normal for a system like yours. i7s and GTX 295s are hot and require strong cooling. There is no way to use a silent heatsink on a 295, your card will cook if you try.

The other sound coming from the back of your computer, is very concerning. My bet is that they installed a cheap power supply that doesn't deliver its advertised wattage, and the excess load when running a game makes it chirp like that.

The company you bought it from sounds incompetent, unscrupulous, or both. You know what you have to do.

**Astarael** · 2009-06-29 10:17

i dunno, my brother and best friend both bought systems from them in the past, and no issues from theirs. I also just spoke to them on the phone, and they've agreed to send another GT295 out for me to replace and send the old one back, rather than requiring the old one back first (standard practice in the UK), which was nice of them. They reckon the card should be running at 50 degrees C too, and 74 is way off, making that the problem.

Though i've fallen into the trap of being too leniant with companies like this before, and you could easily be right Solefald. If replacing the card fixes all the issues, then fantastic. If not, it won't be such a nice phone call next time.

Thanks for both your responses, been really helpful. If the GT295 is still insanely loud even while running properly, I'll be replacing it with a ATI HD4870.

**Solefald** · 2009-06-29 10:36

Um, I guess I should've been more direct in my previous reply. Your power supply may very well die from stress if you don't replace it ASAP. A failed power supply can take out multiple components either before or during its death. That, along with the other issues you've had, is grounds for returning the whole PC, IMO.

**Mafai** · 2009-06-29 10:39

My 4870 is pretty loud also, just a fair warning. Ran really hot until I applied a fan fix (but this maybe fixed with new ccc)

**Olo401** · 2009-06-29 12:02

It shipped with the mobo power connectors loose?

What the hell company is this that doesn't do any QC check?!

**Calina** · 2009-06-29 12:28

i have an i7 system and the temps your getting would be normal for stock heat sink so just wondering what heat sink is on there.Cuase its either not much better then stock or it wasent installed properly and not in good contact to the processor witch could have also happened during shipping.

I have a TRUE black for mine and overclocked at 4GHz i only see around 42c idle temps and low to mid 60's in prime95 so you definitly have a problem there

as for the cards sound its just a load card from what you described.It gets loader when you play games cause its switching to 3d mode and bumps the fan speed up a bit making it loader

i have 3 GTX 260 in my case and when i got them running at 100% fan speed its pretty load so its normal.Tho you said it sounded like a grasshopper? by that did you mean a clicking sound of somekind? If so then its prolly somthing getting in contact with the fan as it spin.

as for the overall sound of the system i know what ya mean i got 10 fans in my case + 3 more on the GPU's and when all 13 going at full speed it sounds like its ganna take off.But a nice headset takes care of that easily

**Olo401** · 2009-06-29 12:36

Originally Posted by Calina

i have an i7 system and the temps your getting would be normal for stock heat sink so just wondering what heat sink is on there. Cuase its either not much better then stock or it wasent installed properly and not in good contact to the processor witch could have also happened during shipping.

That's what it sounds like to me - either it's not installed securely, the heat spreader on the CPU is warped (which can happen if the heatsink is too tight or screwed on at an angle), or there's no thermal grease.

That, combined with the power connectors not firmly connected, makes me think the place he bought it from has some real dipshit techs.

**Astarael** · 2009-06-30 03:15

site is here.

The grasshopper sound is more of a chirping, not a clicking. It's not something interefering with a fan. I'd say I'm pretty proficient as diagnosing most of the issues, but obviously I'm far from the experts you guys are. Either way, definitly not a fan. Leaning more towards power supply problems now.

It's not a stock heatsink, It cost £49, so that's approximatly $80 at the moment? I'm hoping you guys know whether that's spending enough for a decent one, or if that's cheap. seems a decent price..

Either way, I've investigated most of the parts in this system, and read a whole bunch of reviews on pc specialist, and it seems like they're fairly notorious for using cheap parts. At the moment it looks like im having a PSU problem, graphics card problem and a cooling problem with the heatsink. It's looking like a definite return on my end, unless anyone can point out anything else.

Looks like I'll end up buying the parts and putting it together myself, bit of a daunting task for me. I know I can connect em all, just don't wanna do the OS and drivers install

**Astarael** · 2009-06-30 03:36

following on: if anyone can recommend some components for a PC of similar spec, as i'll be looking at all those to see what the prices are looking like for putting it together myself. It doesn't have to be quite as high a spec if there's a particularly good deal.

Budget was £1500, so on most recent converters that's about $2500. I'm probably going to avoid nvidia cards based on the reported loudness of them, but that's not definite.

Really looking for info on cases and cooling, I want it to be as quiet as possible, but obviously i'm willing to sacrifice a little on that for performance. big flashing lights on the case is a big nono, and it has to be as small as is feasible. My last PC was an alienware, so the case was large and it had the lights, and i hated it.

**Wintermute** · 2009-06-30 04:05

Have you tried Overclockers UK ?

Few of my friends have used them for components and custom builds and haven't had any problems with them. They have weekly offers and deals too.

**Olo401** · 2009-06-30 09:01

Well I think I figured out the issue with the cooler running hot. After checking out the specs for that cooler it looks like it's not designed for the heat dissipation needs of the i7, and that also means there's no proper mounting kit for it on an i7 board (ie they jerryrigged the mounting). The chirping could be something simple like vibration between a loose heatsink and the CPU/mobo.

BTW that particular cooler looks like it's a discontinued model, so I'm guessing they sold it to you as a way of clearing out their inventory.

**Astarael** · 2009-06-30 10:28

ahhh, sorry, my fault on the spec. They did notice that, and emailed me to say they changed the cooler as it wouldn't fit. I checked the update notes and this is the one they actually installed:

Processor Cooling
ASUS TRITON 81 PURE COPPER BASE ULTRA COOLER (£49)

Sorry for that, I remembered as soon as I saw you say the mounting kit wasn't there for that one. The one they installed looks to be suitable from the specs, but I would assume something ain't right based on the temperature.

**Olo401** · 2009-06-30 11:30

Ah ok.. yeah that one is specced to fit i7 boards with its mounting kit.

From the specs tho it looks like it would underperform on i7 based solely on its size and how much air it can move - smaller heatsink w/ 92mm fans don't cool as well as the 120mm models. So 50-55 Celsius sounds about right, depending on how your case is ventilated (how many case fans, the size & design of the case itself) and where you have the computer (under a table, in a desk cabinet etc).

BTW if we figure out the heat issue, the noise problems from your fans could also be resolved.

**Calina** · 2009-06-30 20:46

It's not a stock heatsink, It cost £49, so that's approximatly $80 at the moment? I'm hoping you guys know whether that's spending enough for a decent one, or if that's cheap. seems a decent price..

ya £50/$80 kinda low end on cooler if u want to stay with air cooling and still be able to get good temps when OCed gatta go with somthing from the TRUE seires.

i spent $140 on my cooler back when i built my PC $100 for the TRUE black $10 for i7 mounting kit and $30 for 2 fans to do push/pull for max air flow and worked out great better then most water cooling set ups in same price range and even better then some that cost more

**Astarael** · 2009-07-03 05:24

well I got them to replace the graphics card, and the new GTX295 runs significantly quieter, and 10-15 degrees C less hotter. It seems to have stopped the rest of the problems too. I7 Cores are still running between 50-60 degrees, but this seems to be alright for them.

One problem left - since install of the new GTX295, windows just seems far more sluggish. Difficult to describe, it's just not as smooth as it normally is. A few points I've noticed that might help someone go "oh, i know what that is!"
-when minimizing/maximizing any open windows, it 'stutters' the tiniest bit as it does the flowing motion vista does when they expand/decrease.
-when i have media player open, when i go to mouseover the buttons they all have an effect (like the play button glows a brighter blue or whatever), this effect shows up maybe half a second after i mouseover, instead of the usual instant.
-I noticed for a little while it seemed to be happening in FFXI too, anything i did was lagging by the tiniest amount, but it seemed to go away during salvage, was able to tank boss fine

I'm thinking this is a graphics driver problem this time, but I'm really not sure.

Lastly, i ran PCmark vantage, and under performance my graphics card got like a 18000 or something, where the processor pulled out 42k, giving me an overall 23kish PCmark score. Is that kinda low for the GPU I have? Seems it from reviewing other results. Might be worth me noting the brand of the card I received was unknown to me, not one of the mainstream ones. Will edit it in when i get home from work.

**Astarael** · 2009-07-11 09:28

hopefully my last bump - this didn't seem worth making it's own post for, just a minor annoyance.

Got a double showing of nvidia control panel in my right click menu on the desktop. Managed to do it while trying to find a workable set of drivers that would allow me to dualbox. eventually settled on 182.50, which reset all my dual screen config and left me with this. After fixing dual screen config, that was still there. Any ideas?

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y25...kmenuweird.jpg

**fishstix** · 2009-07-11 16:03

If it's a huge deal, I'd uninstall all video drivers and go with a fresh clean install

Thread: My new Computer - is it faulty?

Thread Tools

My new Computer - is it faulty?

Similar Threads

So, my new computer.

I macguyvered my GF's computer, is this smart?

WoW keeps crashing, is it my HDD?

Returning a new Laptop with my FFXI info on it

Is it my Xbox or my Connection?

Latest Threads

Up & Coming Threads

Hottest Threads