Lots of small problems

NagelFire · December 2009

So I just replaced my video card earlier and it works.

However, I get this annoying stuttering crash at random times, the comp just "freezes" then does nothing. There is no blue screen or anything. Also, Borderlands and Dragon age stopped working the second I put it in and now it doesn't recognize my disk drive, like setups wont start or it will say the whole disk is corrupted.

I hooked up a new power supply and motherboard along with he new video card.

dfan · December 2009

Drivers or overheating is my guess.

noquarter · December 2009

Originally posted by NagelFire
So I just replaced my video card earlier and it works.
However, I get this annoying stuttering crash at random times, the comp just "freezes" then does nothing. There is no blue screen or anything. Also, Borderlands and Dragon age stopped working the second I put it in and now it doesn't recognize my disk drive, like setups wont start or it will say the whole disk is corrupted.
I hooked up a new power supply and motherboard along with he new video card.

Was there a pre-existing problem? Why did you get a new PSU and mobo as well, or are all 3 just upgrades? Did you reinstall Windows when you put in the new motherboard? Does the crash only happen during games or what kind of tasks? What video card, motherboard, PSU and CPU are you using now?

Right now it sounds like the mobo is just a lemon or the Southbridge is overheating. If data on your HD is getting corrupted as well it almost definitely is an overheating/bad Southbridge chip on the mobo. It wouldn't hurt to find out what temps your CPU/mobo/GPU are all running at to see if there's any clues there, and memtest86+ is one of the easiest tests to run even though this doesn't sound like a memory problem yet.

Grunty · December 2009

Unless you replaced the motherboard with an exact copy you need to reinstall your operating system. Windows doesn't like having such a major piece of hardware just being swapped in.

Somnulus · December 2009

Many of the things already mentioned are possible solutions. I always like to go through a hardware step-by-step unless I am 100% certain that it is a particular issue.

This will seem very elementary; but often one or more connections may not be completely seated and may cause issues.

So, here's my step by step.

1. Shut down the computer, turn off the switch on the Power Supply Unit (PSU) itself and disconnect the power cord from the PSU.

2. Open the case, ensuring you maintain contact between your skin and a piece of metal, or wear an anti-static wristband.

3. Have your motherboard (mobo) manual on hand for reference, and do the following, one at a time.

Disconnect all of the PSU connectors from the motherboard, hard disk drives (HDD), video cards, and optical (CD/DVD) drives.

Carefully remove the RAM from your motherboard, one module at a time. Reinsert your RAM one module at a time, ensuring that it is aligned properly and that you press gently but firmly to seat the RAM all the way into the socket. The side snap locks at the end of each socket should lock firmly into the slots on the ends of your RAM. Most often you will hear an audible snap when they are locked into place properly.

Unplug your HDD and CD/DVD connector(s) (most likely SATA connectors) from your motherboard and from your drive(s). Reinsert one connector into the motherboard at a time, ensuring that it is aligned properly and that you press gently but firmly down on the connector. Then reinsert one connector at a time into each drive, ensuring that it is aligned properly and that you press gently but firmly on the connector. If you are using a single drive, make sure it is connected to the first SATA motherboard connector (it could be either SATA0 or SATA1, depending on your mobo layout. It didn't sound like you were running a RAID array. Reconnect your CD/DVD into the next available SATA socket.

Remove your video card(s) from your motherboard. Reinsert your video card(s), ensuring that they are properly aligned with the PCI-E socket and that you depress the PCI-E retention clip down to get the card seated properly. Again, press gently but firmly on the card to ensure that is fully seated into the socket.

Reconnect your primary PSU connectors to the motherboard according to the manual. There should be two; one twenty-four pin primary power connector and one eight pin power connector. Confirm your connectors with your manual. Again, press gently but firmly and ensure that both connectors are fully seated into the sockets.

Reconnect your HDD, CD/DVD, and video card PSU connectors following the directions previously discussed.

Now; go back through all of your cables (PSU and SATA) and check each connection by following the cable from one end to the other to ensure that they are all connected properly and fully seated. Pay particular attention to your video card fan plug, as the card will burn out and/or the computer will start and shut down if it is not seated properly or not connected.

Next, find your BIOS jumper by referring to your motherboard manual. Follow your manual to place the jumper into the Clear CMOS position.

Reconnect your PSU power cable and flip the manual switch on the back of the PSU back to the ON position. Some lights may light on the motherboard and different peripherals, depending on your motherboard and your peripheral add-ons. Also, you may have an LED BIOS monitor with a small power button next to it near the CMOS jumper and the CMOS battery. If you have a small power button on your motherboard, go ahead and press it. If not, press the main power button on the front of the case to start the computer.

Of course, with the CMOS Jumper in the Clear CMOS position, the computer will not fully start. No problem, as you probably already guessed, all we are doing is clearing the CMOS. Watch your various fans and make sure they are all running properly.

If for some reason, your video card fan or CPU fan is not running properly, shut down right away and check your fan connections. The CPU fan should have zero issues, since we made no modification to its connection at all.

Shut down the computer by either pushing the power button on the motherboard (ensuring you are in contact with metal of your case or wearing an anti-static wrist strap) or by pressing the main power button on the case and holding it in until the computer shuts down.

Disconnect the power cable from the PSU. Flip the manual switch on the PSU to the OFF position.

Remove the CMOS jumper and place it back in the default (non-Clear) position.

Reconnect the power cable to the PSU. Flip the manual switch on the PSU to the ON position.

Restart your computer. If your motherboard does have an LED BIOS monitor for checking the POST codes, watch it and ensure that there are no stops in the POST.

At this point, if any of the connections were an issue, that should be corrected. By clearing the CMOS, we forced the CMOS to re-check all of the physical hardware and its connections.

If you did install a new mobo without reinstalling Windows and installing the proper drivers for your motherboard, Windows might accept the new hardware because it takes its cues from the BIOS and we did a manual clear, but you will most likely still have driver issues from your previous mobo.

If this didn't work and you did install a new motherboard without reinstalling Windows, you will most likely have to reinstall Windows.

I'm not sure that was what you were saying, though. So, with any luck at all, you were suffering from a connection issue - one or more connectors were not seated properly, or your RAM was not inserted fully.

If your computer starts up with no issues, put the side cover back on and enjoy.

LIke I said, I know this was really basic; but sometimes it is the simplest things that trip us up. One loose connector can raise all kinds of heck.

I hope this helped, if you haven't gotten the issue fixed.

Good luck!

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