A little knowledge is dangerous...HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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A little knowledge is dangerous...HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 1:54 am

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Ash
Posts: 554
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2005 1:15 pm
Location: Manchester, UK
Okay I've managed to do something really dumb,
so I am expecting a certain ridicule, but I could do with
people getting past that and posting some helpful advice.

Basically my rig is a slightly modified HP Pavillion 7570.
which came suppleid with a Geforce 7600 GS.

I recently decided to treat myself to a new graphics card
and shelled out for a Geforce 8800 GT.

Now this is where the little knowledge comes into,
I checked my rig could run it except i didn't check
my PSU rating.
And with HP being cheap skates my PSU is on 300W.

I installed the card and had beautiful graphics until
the PC locked up.

Now for my questions:

Am I right in assuming that my lack of power is the cause?

If so, any suggestion on how I fix this, preferably without shelling
out a fortune. ie could the PSU be replaced with a beefier model?

Could I effectively gut my current PC and transfer everything to a
new tower with a better power supply?

But at the end of the day I'm open to most suggestions,
as I am willing to throw more money at the problem to
prevent a $250+ card from sitting on my shelf.

:smack:
Ash
The quiet one in the corner

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 4:06 am

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Isileth
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Its around 200-230W at load.

So I would imagine its the source of your problems. (especially if its the only thing youve changed)

But you can just replace the PSU with something a bit more powerful, shouldnt cost you all that much.

You can easily grab a 400-450W for $50.

Scratch that, just noticed your in the UK like me.
Little more expensive because of that (Although you can get a 400W for 10 its not something I would advise :p)

Looking at 20-40 for 400W. Obviousely a bit more for top brand, I wouldnt go to cheap on the PSU however.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 9:32 am

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Ash
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Location: Manchester, UK
Ok this is what I'm considering getting...

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?Mod ... 2#overview

the card specs recommend 500W +

Thoughts.
Ash
The quiet one in the corner

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:19 pm

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BlackDove
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I'm running my 8800GTS on a 420W Power Supply. Box says 400 minimum, so...

Yeah, get the 500W one.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 2:06 pm

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esd
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If there's one componant you should never skimp on with a PC, it's the PSU. A dodgy cheap one can do a lot of damage when it dies, and the cheaper they are, the further they tend to be from their stated wattage/amps.

"You wouldn't run a marathon with a weak heart, so why run performance componants on a weak PSU?"
""I like my women like I like my coffee. In a plastic cup.""

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:07 pm

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Ash
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Location: Manchester, UK
Ok now for a curve ball.

I acquired a 600 W PSU today, installed it (phew)
and it worked.....

......for a while then it glitched and froze.

The pessimist in me is thinking that I've just wasted the better
part of $400.

The optimist believes that the HP Media Center Tower
is just too full and things are getting nice and toasty
and therefore my next step should be to purchase a nice large
case and transfer my rig into that.

Who is right????

:shake:
Ash
The quiet one in the corner

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 9:54 pm

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BlackDove
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The owner of a local PC support store you're gonna take your PC to ASAP for hardware diagnosis.

My reccomendation anyway.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:10 pm

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=BTM=
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just a quick question. when it happens does everything just freeze and stay frozen or does the screen go black?
Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big old storm right in the eye and says, "Give me your best shot. I can take it."
-Jack Burton

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:11 am

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esd
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Grab yourself PCWizard and monitor the temperatures before it goes splat.
I installed the card and had beautiful graphics until the PC locked up.
In a nightmare scenario, it could have damaged your card...
""I like my women like I like my coffee. In a plastic cup.""

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:39 pm

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Ash
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Location: Manchester, UK
esd wrote:Grab yourself PCWizard and monitor the temperatures before it goes splat.
I installed the card and had beautiful graphics until the PC locked up.
In a nightmare scenario, it could have damaged your card...
I had nMonitor running and the eventlog indicates the graphics card
hit 90 degrees C at/or just prior to the lock up.

I've decided to have someone check my PC after talking to the IT bods
at work.
I talked through the problems i had and they seem to agree
on not enough cooling. Which probably means a new LARGE case
and the transfer of parts etc I'll get done by a professional.

:thumb:
Ash
The quiet one in the corner

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:34 pm

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Isileth
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Yeah 90C is deffinately to hot, while they do run hotter than the rest of the PC you want to be looking into better cooling when its hitting 70-80.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:52 pm

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SL33PY
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my pc never runs any hotter then 50C

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 6:09 pm

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Isileth
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heh, my GPU runs at 50C when its idle :p

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 11:27 pm

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SSX Fahd
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90C while idling? :eek: You could try the same test with the case off, just for a temperature comparison. Just make sure not to let anything fall inside (if it's a desktop case) whilst it's on; like a screw onto your motherboard ;).
Fahd, IM Prog's: See profile, Linky: TechSnap Video Podcast
"In the computer world few people read the 'readme.txt' files. In the real
world, few people read the signs that say 'Stand on the right'
" - Fahd.

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 4:22 am

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Indigo64
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nVidia cards run hot. They won't throttle down until they reach a scorching 120+ *C. My 8800 GTS 320 MB card runs around 70-75*C under full load, but I have a pretty big ATX case with some big 12cm fans to push air around.

The biggest thing I've found that helps with hot video cards are those nifty little PCI slot fans. The temperature controlled ones aren't so good (they have a little probe that sticks out) but if you buy the ones that Thermaltake or AOC makes, they last a while and they're cheap.

to beat a dead horse further, you need a minimum of a 510 watt power supply to really be comfortable with the 8800 GTS. I have a 600 Watt Allied that does duty for my system and it works great.

The Antec 900 cases aren't too expensive and they offer cooling options out the hind end. I just built a buddy's system for him in one of those and I'm tempted to get one...

I hope you work it all out - sounds like you have a nice setup.

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:44 am

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Futile Resistance
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http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

You can calculate how much you'll pull from your PSU... Though I've never looked into how much research they do when reporting the numbers.

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