System specs.
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU: AMD Phenom 9950 2.6GHz AM2+ Quad-Core Processor
GPU: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4870
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2×2 240-Pin DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500))
HD: Western Digital Caviar SE 320GB
XCLIO GREATPOWER X14S4P4 600W Power Supply
The problem I am having is that every few boot-ups, Windows (the computer seems to load all the way until the “Windows loading screen”, or right before it’s about to show the desktop) will just black out and the whole computer automatically restarts a second later. Not too big a problem as it usually is followed by a successful boot-up, but annoying and something that could eventually lead to a much bigger problem down the road if it got worse…
The hiccups I am having are also when loading Windows; there is a noticeable half a second lag every time the “Windows loading screen” first appears. The reason I notice it at all is because it’s at the exact point in time where my computer freezes whenever I try to tighten any RAM timings what-so-ever in BIOS. My RAM right now runs below advertised settings (800mhz@ 5-5-5-15 instead of 1066). I’ve tried running both sticks of RAM by themselves, but I get the same problem. Any ideas what this could be?
Lastly… and I know I’m gonna get hell for this, but I accidentally physically chipped off a piece of my $200 Radeon 4870 graphics card when installing it. I was using needle nose pliers to bend back the metal bracket into place (which came bent) and I got a little careless and chipped off a tiny part of the very edge of it. The chip is very small… see jpg I made below to see what I mean:
http://img198.imageshack.us/my.php?image=radeon4870x2crossfire.jpg
Is this going to be a problem? Any help is much appreciated.
