Please Help Power Issue

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July 26th, 2005, 12:41 PM
Madmax242

Please Help Power Issue

Okay. I recently bought a evga card the 6600 gt that is 128 ram PCI express. I had a friend build my computer and he knew that I have a 300 watt power supply. When I bought the card I told him that the side of the box says a minimum of 350 power supply required, he said it wouldnt be nescessary and that it would work on my computer. Well low and behold it doesnt. I cant get enough power to the card. I know it sounds simple like "just upgrade your power supply" but I cant. I bought this cool antec aria case that comes with a 300 watt power supply and doesnt have any others that I could put in the case since its a custom shaped power supply. SO now my solution is this, downgrade my video card. BUT what I wanna know is this is the card I want

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121174

but nowhere on the net can I find what this card requires as in power supply. If anyone has this card or knows please let me know! I even shot off an email to asus and they havent got back to me yet!
July 26th, 2005, 11:03 PM
equinoxe3d

Mmm... are you sure it's a PSU problem? I'd think a 300w Antec PSU would be more than enough to run a 6600GT (some people on Newegg seem to do with the Aria) ...that is, unless you might have any other power-hungry parts. Your friend was kinda right in a way; the 350w figure is probably on the conservative side to cover up people using no-name PSUs where 350w is more like 225 :D.

But then, I might be completely wrong too. What are the symptoms your system is having? (doesn't boot, shut downs randomly, etc.).

If the card's power usage is really the problem, I'd try an x700 Pro, those doesn't seem to have the power requirements of the 6600GT and are fairly similar in performance.

[edit: my bad, looked more closely, and it seems that the 6600GT is one little power hog, more than I expected. I'd still try an X700 Pro before moving down to a FX5900 though]
July 27th, 2005, 07:44 AM
jankerson

The best thing to do is contact Antec and see if they can help you get a more powerful PSU that will fit in the case. :)
July 27th, 2005, 08:45 AM
F_A_L_C_O_N

How exactly do you know PSU can handle it, does it not start, gives errors in windows, gives errors in games?

Basically whats the problem.

I would think typical Antec 300W PSU should stil cut it, what are your exact system specs anyway?

Also have you connected your PSU correctly? If its 20pin ATX connector equiped PSU and you are using 24pin ATX board, are you using the adapter? Have you connected 4 pin power plug as well?
July 27th, 2005, 10:43 AM
Madmax242

no i can run simple programs like mozilla, irc, messenger, basically any windows app that doesnt require any hefty rendering or graphics. As soon as I jump into Half Life 2, COunter Strike, etc etc I get Artifacts on the load screen. I contacted evga and asked if these artifacts are associated with a heat issue and they said it sounds like my video card is not getting enough juice and to check what it was getting in the bios.
July 27th, 2005, 01:47 PM
Ratt

From looking at your graphic card choice, I guess that you want a SFF gaming rig. I don't think that this is what the Antec Aria SFF is really for.

Check out the a review of the case here.
It runs too hot for gaming (without modifications) even with a Ti4600. Together with a lack of choice for higher powered PSU and poor ventilation, this could lead to a frustrating experience of crashes and shutdown.

The only SFF casing that can meet your requirement IMO is the Falcon Systems Fragbox2 DIY casing that can accept a standard sized ATX PSU. The only drawback here will be the price. :eek:
July 27th, 2005, 02:27 PM
F_A_L_C_O_N

have you checked motherboard voltages and temps with some software probe when doing some graphic intensive work?

And have you checked VC temps?

The only way to check those is to use program like rthdribl, because your video card uses two different speeds for 2D and 3D and temps change almost instantenously when you exit the game.

Then get everything out of the case, hook up only bare essentials: 1 disk, no CD, 1 stick of ram, CPU at default speed, no extra cards and see if it helps.

Possibly your problem is heat and not PSU, so getting better PSU will not help, you might have to improve the cooling or end up changing the case, thus the above suggestion on what and how to check.
July 28th, 2005, 03:45 PM
SexyMF

"...the 350w figure is probably on the conservative side to cover up people using no-name PSUs where 350w is more like 225 ."

And your proof of this is what? The no-name PSUs actually do provide close to the rated output. It is just that the distrubution across the rails is different. Don't perpetuate the myths about PSUs.
Don't forget to take off your crappy shoes which arn't branded Reebok, and that shirt which doesn't say Zeal. They won't provide anywhere near the rated functionality.

For all that is known the VGA card may simply have damaged RAM.
August 4th, 2005, 12:06 PM
Madmax242

Problem solved

Well guys I got my problem fixed. I downgraded my video card to only require a 300 wattt power supply. Not only are the in game artifacts gone but heat is no longer an issue inside my aria antec case. everything is staying cool for HOURS on end and my computer has not frozen up once or got a single artifact.
August 4th, 2005, 07:56 PM
Shervie2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madmax242

I downgraded my video card to only require a 300 wattt power supply. Not only are the in game artifacts gone but heat is no longer an issue inside my aria antec case.

GREAT! But I dont get it.
August 6th, 2005, 03:05 AM
Madmax242

What dont you get?

You know how people say I need to "upgrade" my video card or any other type of computer hardware? Well I needed to downgrade (as in reduce) the hardware which i bought because it required more power then my Power SUpply could supply that came with my case. Do you understand now? the 6600 cards are beastly and guzzle power. Hope this helps
August 6th, 2005, 08:31 AM
wrathchild_67

Quote:

Originally Posted by SexyMF

"...the 350w figure is probably on the conservative side to cover up people using no-name PSUs where 350w is more like 225 ."

And your proof of this is what? The no-name PSUs actually do provide close to the rated output. It is just that the distrubution across the rails is different. Don't perpetuate the myths about PSUs.
Don't forget to take off your crappy shoes which arn't branded Reebok, and that shirt which doesn't say Zeal. They won't provide anywhere near the rated functionality.

For all that is known the VGA card may simply have damaged RAM.

It's not a myth. I have a generic 300w power supply (brand new which came with a no-name ATX case I bought) that in theory should have been powerful enough to run my Barton 2500+ at default speeds, a 9800 Pro, 512MB of DDR and two IDE devices. Eveything else is integrated into the motherboard. The PSU can't cut it even with everything running at stock- Windows will not even load. The power distribution across the rails is concentrated in the 5v and 12v lines as is ANY ATX PSU. So I throw in an Antec Smart Power 300w I have lying around and lo and behold, the system is 100% stable. Not only that, I can run the proc at 3200+ speeds without incident. Funny that that same cheapo 300w I just pulled out of the Athlon XP system works just great and stable in an old PIII 866, TNT2, integrated everything, 384MB RAM system. Bottom line, those cheap 300w PSUs are cheap for a reason. They're 300w capable for older hardware, but not newer hardware since they just don't have the testicular fortitude in the amps department. To that end, companies like PC Power & Cooling wouldn't be so highly rated and successful in the enthusiast crowd if their PSUs propogated a myth. Half of the people who figure out volt mods for various components work in electronics in some capacity. It's pretty hard to believe that they would go with something overpriced and inflated if they thought a cheepo 300w could do the job. In fact, it is from these people that I learned of PC Power & Cooling.
August 6th, 2005, 08:45 PM
Shervie2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madmax242

You know how people say I need to "upgrade" my video card or any other type of computer hardware? Well I needed to downgrade (as in reduce) the hardware which i bought because it required more power then my Power SUpply could supply that came with my case. Do you understand now? the 6600 cards are beastly and guzzle power. Hope this helps

I need to apploigize Madmax242. I've been out in nowhere ville lately. Thought you wrote "DOWNLOADED", not downgraded. And yes I understand. My apology.
August 7th, 2005, 03:10 PM
SexyMF

There is still no testing done, no determination of which voltage rail is the culprit.

I am an industrial electronics engineer. I'm not spouting crap. El'cheapo model 'B' with the correct amps in the right department would do the job. It is just people don't troubleshoot anyfurther in the PSU department. They buy a Porsche to replace a mini at great cost when there is a lot of middle ground to cover.

The myth "...the 350w figure is probably on the conservative side to cover up people using no-name PSUs where 350w is more like 225 ."

^^^^^^^^^ it's this talk which is pure speculation.

For this specific case the GPU was never proven to be fault free. As I said before, it could be everything to do with damaged RAM and nothing to do with power.
August 7th, 2005, 04:09 PM
jankerson

I would have to agree there as when the GPU manufactor puts out the 350w figure they fully intend that the min PSU that would be used and should be used is 350w.

A 350w is really small today anyway with most GPU's requiring a min of 300w PSU's.