Instability Problem

[creativus]

Computer specs:

(LGA 771 to 775 modded) Xeon E5450 at stock settings (333MHz x6.00-x9.00)
2 Mushkin 991558 2GB RAM, for which HWiNFO64 shows 400MHz clock, 5CL, 5RCD, 5RP, 18RAS, 23RC and 1.8V
2 Kingston 99U5316 2GB RAM for which HWiNFO64 shows 400MHz clock, 6CL, 6RCD, 6RP, 18RAS, 24RC and 1.8V
Geforce GTX 750 Ti Galaxy OC 2GB at stock settings
Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB that Windows 7 is installed on
ST3750640AS 750GB, 16MB HDD that is mainly used for storage, portable programs, movies and some games, it also once was giving S.M.A.R.T report that was sth like HDD was going bad, I decided to stop S.M.A.R.T and keep using it but I think sometime later when S.M.A.R.T. was turned on it didn't give a bad report until I saw it and turned it off

Antivirus: Windows Defender

I'm feeling insecure about stability of the computer after numerous instances where I had to restart the computer while doing sth with it.

Civilization VI was crashing and giving a BSOD or a black screen with nothing to do but restart and if I remember correctly sometime ago I ran both Windows Memory Diagnostic and MemTest86 and neither gave an error.

Later, Everspace was crashing so I ran Prime95. Blend tests failed after some hours though Small FFTs test did not fail for like 16 hours.

Yesterday after the latest Windows update hidden icons were not displayed and date and time was wrong. I couldn't system restore to the latest restore point wihch was after the latest update, but I restored to the previous update and it updated again this morning, no problems about hidden icons or time now.

Previous to all of this, CPU had been overclocked and at some time it became seriously unstable so I returned it to stock settings. I saw the date and time set wrong at startup maybe 3 times since then but generally it is correct.


Can you help me overcome this instability ?

 

[Mr.Scott]

What motherboard? What PSU?

If the time is resetting, you need to change the battery.

OS has some corruption. Re-install it, and ditch that bad HDD.

Test the memory better. Mixed ram is not an ideal situation at all.

Multiple problems going on here.

 

[creativus]

I know, I just want to keep using it stably with the least investment possible until I buy a new computer. I know HDD may totally fail some day but I thought I could keep using it as long as I didn't have important data that could be lost anytime on it.

Re-installing OS and all the software that I use takes time, but if it can help with stability I'll do it.

How would you recommend me to test RAM ?

What do you think can be the cause or causes of the stability problem ?

 

[Sentential]

You’ve already tested the RAM if you’ve run memtest. Whenever I see instability where you get hard locking my first thought is always the PSU. Hardlocking 9/10 times is always power related.

Go into the BIOS and look and make sure the voltage looks OK or if you’ve got another PSU nearby test with that or buy one from a bestbuy or similar so you can return it if need be.

 

[creativus]

My PSU is sth called Redrock, model no is RRATX500 PFC, it says combined load is 360 W, rated is 500W and peak load is 550W.

My motherboard is Asus P5Q SE.

Which voltage am I supposed to look at ? I think they are all on auto in BIOS.

HWiNFO shows 1.1V - 1.25V for CPU and all memory modules are on 1.8V.

 

[Sentential]

You're not looking for voltages as far as individual components but the PSU itself; each rail has to be within 10% of the rated spec. ie 12v has to be +-11.4 to 12.3 and also keep in mind that the electrolytic compounds in the PSU wear out after about 5 years.

 

[creativus]

You're not looking for voltages as far as individual components but the PSU itself; each rail has to be within 10% of the rated spec. ie 12v has to be +-11.4 to 12.3 and also keep in mind that the electrolytic compounds in the PSU wear out after about 5 years.

The PSU is about 2 years old. I installed a software called SpeedFan to read the voltages. It says this:

Vcore: 1,08V
+12V: 11,40V
AVcc: 3,25V
Vcore: 1,08V
3,3V: 3,23V
+5V: 5,06V
+12V: 12,10V

There is also a charts part of the software. While I checked,
First Vcore took values 1.18, 1.08, 1.21, 1.23, 1.14
It seems to me first +12V stays at 11.4V
AVcc has become 3.23, 3.25, 3.27
Second Vcore took values 1.18, 1.08, 1.21, 1.23, 1.14, 1.06, 1.11
+3.3V took values 3.21, 3.23, 3.20
+5V took values 5.07 and 5.04
It seems to me second +12V stays at 12.1V

 

[Sentential]

The PSU is about 2 years old. I installed a software called SpeedFan to read the voltages. It says this:

Vcore: 1,08V
+12V: 11,40V
AVcc: 3,25V
Vcore: 1,08V
3,3V: 3,23V
+5V: 5,06V
+12V: 12,10V

There is also a charts part of the software. While I checked,
First Vcore took values 1.18, 1.08, 1.21, 1.23, 1.14
It seems to me first +12V stays at 11.4V
AVcc has become 3.23, 3.25, 3.27
Second Vcore took values 1.18, 1.08, 1.21, 1.23, 1.14, 1.06, 1.11
+3.3V took values 3.21, 3.23, 3.20
+5V took values 5.07 and 5.04
It seems to me second +12V stays at 12.1V

Well if that 12v rail is to be believed then it most likely is the PSU, the vcore and the like don't mean anything per say; the issue IMO is the power delivery to the board not the board itself. Any way you can change the PSU?

 

[Mr.Scott]

You might have bought that PSU 2 years ago, but it is a 10 year old design. It was released in 2005-2006, and it was junk then.
Replace it.
Also, software is totally inaccurate for checking voltages. You need to test the good old fashioned way with a DMM.

 

[trents]

Rails should be within + or - 5% of nominal value.

 

[creativus]

I'll change the PSU. What shall I look for in a PSU ?

 

[creativus]

Outervision PSU calculater calculates under 347W load wattage and 397W recommended wattage when I consider all this PC can work (overclock, extra hdd, etc) and says this:
Amperage (combined)
+3.3V +5V +12V
9.4 A 17.7 A 23.1 A
120 W 277 W

Is this peak 460W PSU that says +3.3 V /18 A , +5 V /18 A , +12 V/20 A ,-12 V / 0.3 A ,+5 VSB /2.A ok ?

http://www.teknolojipazar.com/evere...-80-bronze-psu?utm_source=akakce.com&v=1.58.7

I think not because +12V is below 23.1A

 

[Mr.Scott]

Not enough +12v amps, and no quality.

This would be the least I'd put in your system.
http://www.teknolojipazar.com/corsair-vs-450w-120mm-fanli-80-bronze-psu

 

[creativus]

Not enough +12v amps, and no quality.

This would be the least I'd put in your system.
http://www.teknolojipazar.com/corsair-vs-450w-120mm-fanli-80-bronze-psu

I found Thermaltake Litepower 450W at about 43 USD and EVGA 430W at about 47 USD (this country may have different prices)

Since they are at the same tier with Corsair VS but cheaper here, I consider one of them:

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/

The thing I'm curious is their amperages, are they fine ?

EVGA's +5V rail has 15A while the PSU calculator said 17.7A on +5V, and Thermaltake's +5V has 18A:

https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=100-W1-0430-KR
http://www.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00001755

Corsair's +5V rail has 16A:
http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/vs-seriestm-vs450-450-watt-power-supply

What do you think ?

 

[Mr.Scott]

Nothing runs on the 5v rail. 12v is all you need to be concerned about.
Buy the EVGA. It's the best of the choices.