Whats goin on. . .

So, out of nowhere my monitor starts wigging out, going black for a second or two, coming back to normal, going black again. It would go black at random intervals. During this, on bootup I had errors saying "H/W Monitor status abnormal Enter SETUP and check voltage and temperatures". That being the most common error I got, I also got another error, this one only appearing once "IDE Channel 1 no 80 conductor cable installed". At first I thought it would be the video card because of the blacking out and some occasional ripping/tearing of my screen image. I replaced the video card with the same results. I noticed my CD and DVD burners were making odd noises, so I unplugged them and my PC booted normally and everything seemed fine. This morning I tried getting on was playing some games and everything was fine, then it locked up, so I rebooted and my harddrive isnt being recognized. I fiddled with the harddrive settings for a bit, changing each from master to slave and such. I kept recieving hang ups during boot or EXTREMELY slow boot up times during this. So now my boot HD is finally recognized, and my PC boots up like normal. I've managed to backup everything on my HD's, in case it IS my hard drive that is dying. HOWEVER, I've had a 250gb HD in my PC that hasn't been used for a while that I tried booting up with to install Windows on, but all it did was a "Setup is inspecting your currect hardware setup, so and so" and then it would hang on a black screen and not proceed into the actual installed. When I used the hard drive that wasn't being recognized which is my normal boot drive, it went to the installer fine, but prompted me that there was no hard drive in my system and that It would restart my PC.

At first I suspected the problem was my video card, X850 Pro 256MB PCIe, after swapping cards and still getting the same problems, I then suspected my power supply, a 420W switching PSU, however, now having the problem I did with my hard drives I'm pretty much lost. Right now I've got everything unplugged that doesn't need to be on to start up my system (ie fans, CD/DVD drives). Any suggestions much appreciated, hopefully this will be a good excuse to buy a new mobo and CPU, heh.

EDIT: forgot to mention this, I hooked up another monitor to insure that it wasnt the monitor I was using and I got the same result.

 

A Failing PSU can cause a whole host of problems including killing all your Hardware
What exact brand & model of 420w PSU is this?
Off hand I can't think of a single 420w PSU that is worth the box they ship them in

What are your Voltages? Do they Fluctuate?

First thing to do is Test your PSU with a Multimeter, Idle & load


You already tested with another VC & Monitor
Aside from Testing the PSU, I'd run a memory Test

 

My voltages fluctuate constantly, they are always below what they should be by .2 to .8. My 3.3V voltage was in red at 2.3-2.5V and then it went back up. Its a "TurboLink" came with the case. Got any links for a memtest? I ran one at one time but cant remember the link. As for testing with a multimeter, as soon as I make it to the auto parts store =D

 

Take your pick from here http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads26.html

 

Right. . . I forgot we had a downloads section. Hehe

 

Based on what you posted about your Voltages, Your PSU has had it.
If you keep using it it will takes it toll on some more of your hardware.

I wouldnt power up again till it's replaced

I bought a Corsair HX 520 about month ago, Man what a Sweet PSU
The quiestest PSU I've experianced, one of the most efficient, Rock solid voltages, Modular too the modular cables are of flat ribbion style that makes them easy to hide
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article692-page1.html


Memory testing, I use memtest 86, it's modded into my BIOS

 

Ran Memtest overnight, probably 10 or so hours, got no errors. Haven't gotten around to getting a mutlimeter yet.

What do you think about this PSU? http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=BROWSE&N=200089+10&Ne=500000&product_code=339001&Pn=PC_System_650_Watt_ATX_12V_Power_Supply

Not a bad price for 650W, but I'm not sure how BFG does with PSU's, although I know they are pretty decent when it comes to vid cards.

 

There's better PSU's out there, If you have a Large case these BFG have a short Main cable
A Positive thing they have Lifetime warranty

A Negitive
Lifetime warranty doesnt cover hardware killed by faulty PSU
In the future If your planning on getting a 8800 series VC, you"ll need more juice

Here's Jonnyguru's review
http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=21


10 hrs Mem test, ya memorys good to go

 

Interesting, looks like im headed to OCZ this time.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=BROWSE&No=0&N=200089+10&Ne=500000&product_code=335343&Pn=520_Watt_ATX_Modstream_Power_Supply

From what I read in this review, it seemed to be a winner, the price is just at the max of what i'd like to spend and looks like it should fit my needs, seeing as I dont run SLI/Crossfire or a dual core/dual CPU system.