- So you may have tried the how to guides
on how to fix your blue screens of death,
you've tried changing memory sticks,
and you've tried changing the power supply.
Okay, some of these may indeed fix your problems,
but if you're still having those blue screens of death,
then today we're going to go through
some of the weirdest problems I've encountered
since I've started building PCs,
and of course, how you can fix those problems.
(upbeat music)
Welcome back to Tech Yes City,
and first problem we're gonna get into
is undervolted default settings.
This one can rear its head up more than you would think,
especially in 2018, where AMD and Intel are,
happy to say it, pushing the envelope
as much as possible on their CPUs,
particularly when consumer CPUs like the Ryzen 2000 series
and also the i7 lineup are to be discussed.
These have been clocked more aggressively
out of the box to the point where they may be
near diminishing points of return.
So in some cases, when a power supply is a budget one
that may have large amounts of ripple,
which is a whole topic in itself,
the basically fluctuating voltage levels
that can in certain cases drop below
the default voltage spec, leaving your computer
blue screening, coupling this together with a budget
motherboard being used with most likely
a lackluster VRM, that's a voltage regulator
that draws power directly from your power supply
and then changes it to power that your processor can use,
all of this can lead to a situation
where your cental processing unit
may be starved of sufficient voltage
to run at even default settings.
So in order to fix this, just simply head into the BiOS,
so hit the delete or F2 key when your computer boots,
and if your computer allows to,
which on most modern motherboards,
the hardware will boot at non-turbo settings,
so you shouldn't crash before you get into the BiOS.
And then simply after this, go to the part
where your CPU voltage settings are,
and then just press the plus or minus key
on your num pad, and try raising these
over the default settings.
Voila, you may be able to kiss
those blue screens goodbye.
However, before we get on with problem number two,
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Number two, hibernation mode.
Computers often go to sleep, and on Windows
default settings, the computer can go
into a mode called hibernation,
where the computer is on a minimal power draw state
and is ready to spring to life
the moment you click a button on your keyboard or mouse.
There are also other settings like USB ports
and PCIe slots on your motherboard
that can be disabled too, though here's
where things can get a little tricky.
Some budget power supplies don't actually
support the low power draw states
to feed the CPU when it is in this mode,
so the computer doesn't wake up
after you hit a button.
This can in particular rear its ugly head
after the fourth gen Intel CPUs were introduced,
that is CPUS like the i7-4770, i5-4670K,
i5-6400, et cetera, where Intel introduced
that low power mode called C7.
So in order to circumnavigate this problem
and stop it from becoming a problem,
you can do one of two things,
either go into the BiOS and set your minimum C state
to C3, or if you're on a laptop,
I do recommend C6 for power savings,
which is what I always do, or you can go into Windows,
or of course, you can do both,
which is what I do on my desktop computer,
X79 god bless, and in the power settings,
you can set your computer to high power mode.
In here you can also change selective suspend settings,
and PCIe power states.
And in general, this just helps
make a super snappy machine.
Though one negative to all this is,
of course, higher power consumption.
So again, if you're on a laptop, do be careful,
you may wish to just go with C6 in the BiOS
and call it a day.
And of course, if you're no longer having
those BSoDs or freezes, then you can call it a day.
Number three, faulty memory modules.
This one is such a pain to diagnose
because sometimes it's completely random in nature
and it can pass some of the diagnostics tests
and then bam, just suddenly spring on you
with a blue screen, or a program crashing
for no reason, or in rare circumstances,
lines going through your screen.
Though if you do wanna rule out memory problems,
the best way is to run MemTest86 Plus,
and run this for a few hours,
going through all the tests it will stress
the memory thoroughly, and if the memory
does have a fault, I usually find
it will come out in this stress test.
It has never given me a false positive,
nor a false negative.
So in order to get this program to work,
just simply download it, make a bootable USB,
and then boot into MemTest86,
and you shall be good to go.
Though if you don't have much time,
and you don't wanna make that bootable,
and you don't wanna use MemTest86,
then you can try just using one memory stick
at a time, or if you've only got one memory stick
in your computer, you can try changing
that out for another memory stick,
because in my time building PCs,
I've never had two memory sticks go bad
at the exact same time, and I've built
a lot of computers, so this is rare.
If this ever did happen, you're like one of
those guys who won the lottery,
but in a negative way.
Anyway, if you do find out there was a memory problem
with your computer, then you should no longer
be freezing or having blue screens of death.
Coming in with number four is hardware incompatibility.
This can sometimes come about with things
like RAM not working with a particular motherboard,
or simply, and in this one is very weird,
using a cheaper chipset license,
like an H61, versus a Z68 motherboard for example,
or an H110 motherboard, versus a Z170.
I've found that some budget motherboards
will just simply not have the ability
to boot two different DDR3 memory modules
from different manufacturers at the same time.
If this is indeed the problem,
then I would suggest just trying one memory stick
at a time, and of course, simply just
trial and erroring the situation.
And if they don't work together,
then you may wish to source another memory stick,
or another motherboard, because unfortunately,
some problems like these are just non-avoidable
and non-curable.
Another common problem is using a PCI
or PCIe wireless adapter, and the drivers
not simply being installed, and when you install them,
they just give you a BSoD, like in the past,
I've used a D-Link wireless module
and when I turned the computer on,
it was working before I installed the module,
but then after, as soon as I got into Windows, bang, BSoD.
This can cause a lot of frustrations,
and in this case, if you buy a new piece of hardware
and this happens, then simply return it to the store
and get a refund, and try a different brand of product.
We're the consumers ultimately,
and we should not be used as beta testers,
it can cause some serious headaches.
Though more problems from hardware incompatibility
can arise from things like sound cards.
Same thing as the wireless modules,
some can cause issues, even working on Windows 7,
for example, but then when you upgrade
to Windows 10, bang, no longer works.
Same deal, save yourself the headaches
and get rid of this problematic part
out of your life.
And coming in with number five is a faulty
or underwhelming power supply.
This one is a very, very tricky one to diagnose
sometimes, and in fact, I've only had this
rarely pop up a few times since I've
started building computers.
Mind you, I don't use garbage power supplies,
and I have been building and tinkering
for a very long time, though that doesn't mean
that it won't happen, and it can happen.
So basically the problem here is
that if you have a faulty power supply,
your computer will either just not boot,
or it can blue screen, or it can just freeze,
and other problems that can happen as well
is that your computer may seem fine,
but there is this weird burning smell,
and it's not the smell of freshly opened hardware,
this is different.
It's a smell that just lingers
and draws itself to your nose.
If you smell this odor ladies and gentlemen,
then do yourself a favor, shut down your PC immediately,
find out the source of the smell,
and remove that part ASAP.
This goes not just for the power supply,
but other components in your system,
though 99% of the times, a weird smell
from your PC has always been from a power supply,
that's just my experience.
So always, out of all your PC components,
do get a power supply that is a little better
than the cheapest junk they sell
from the brand you've never heard of.
For instance, if you are in Australia,
the promised land, and you are on a budget,
even a power supply like a Corsair VS350
will be miles better than some no name 680 watt
power supply that will in due time,
most likely sizzle.
And the problem here is that it might not
just take itself, but it could also
take out other hardware with it, or even your whole house.
Don't risk it, just like those dodgy sellers
on Gumtree or Facebook.
And the last problem with power supplies
is of course, the power supplied.
Some people buy cheap 500 watt power supplies
thinking they can power their GTX 1070 all okay,
and then when they boot up a game
and find out their computer just shuts off,
this is because that 500 watt power supply,
just like mentioned above, is junk.
You'll generally need to spend
some decent money on a power supply
if you're putting in medium to high end
components in a build.
If you need to find some decent power supplies,
then I will put some links in the description below.
But for most people, a solid 650 watt power supply
will cover you for years and years to come,
and it won't break the bank, and it will be able
to be ported from every PC you build,
meaning you can reuse it.
Anyway guys, I hope you enjoyed today's video,
if you did then be sure to hit that like button.
Let me know in the comments section below,
what are the weirdest problems
you've come into when it comes to blue screens,
or freezing, or problems that you may encounter
when building PCs.
Love reading your thoughts and opinions,
as always, and I'll catch you in another
tech video very soon.
Also don't forget to check out today's
video sponsor, LastPass, completely free to try out,
links in the description below,
and I'll catch you in the next one.
Peace out for now, bye.