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Antec TruePower 430...seemingly overloaded?

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Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 1, 2004
Messages
335
Well, here is the situation. I just had my Antec TrueBlue pop on me after two years of use. Now, admittedly I ran it under ALOT of load, and I don't blame it or Antec for it popping. I was running an Athlon 2600+, with 1GB of DDR400, two HDD's, a DVD-ROM, CD/RW and my GeForce 6800 off that PSU. It was gonna go eventually, thats a lot of strain to put on a 350W PSU. I replaced it with an Antec TruePower 430 and I seem to be overloading it with the same system load out. I even unplugged my second HDD. Here are the symptoms:

I boot up the machine, all runs well. All fans are at full RPM, good airflor, HDD's sound nominal, etc. As soon as Windows XP finishes it's final post-up and it changes my display mode to 1280x1024x32 (seemingly kicking the 6800 in to working order at this point), my system "loses power". What I mean is, the system stays on, it works (I am posting from it now), but my fans seem to lose RPMs, my HDD's seem to spin a bit slower (making a slightly annoying high pitched whine) It's as if the 6800 kicking in draws so much power that the rest of the system stops functioning at it's nominal levels. Has anyone seen anything like this? It's a visible and audible change in my system. I can hear the "sound" of my fans and my HDD's change, and the LED's on my graphics card (I have BFG 6800 OC) dim.

I am at a loss...I really hoped a 430W PSU could handle my system...
 
I'm running four harddrives, 6800GT, 6 fans, P4 3.0, 1 gig of ram, various pci cards, and 2 optical drives off of a antec tru430.

No problems... antec rocks.
 
Which is why I am so confused as to why my system is acting like this. The TP430 should be able to put out plenty of juice. It's very strange behavior, and I hate to just ignore it as a wierd anomoly.
 
Everything looks good tempature wise. 6800's core is sitting at 55C, ambient temp is 33C. CPU temp is good...I don't have a read on my PSU temp, but it doesn't feel terribly hot. Again, I am completely lost.
 
Kain said:
I was talking about the PSU. Bum Unit(Power Supply Unit).
Click to expand...

Just making sure. *sighs* This sucks. I hate having to change my PSU. Oh well. I just hope it's not something with my motherboard causing it to draw too much power or something. Because this will be the second PSU in two weeks I have had problems with. I guessed my 350W was just on it's last leg, but maybe I was wrong...maybe it's something in my system actually causing an issue with the PSU.
 
Sure don't. One thing I did notice when I plugged the PSU's fan monitor in to the motherboard, the fan speeds on the PSU were really low. The motherboard printed the speed out in red during the post up. Thats my mobo trying to tell me that it's not running the fun at nomimal speeds. Is this a sign of a bad PSU? I am guessing it is.
 
Do you have them plugged into the motherboard or into 4 pin connectors?
 
Kain said:
Do you have them plugged into the motherboard or into 4 pin connectors?
Click to expand...

The little 3-pin connectors used to monitor fan speed. My mobo has three of them, FAN1, FAN2 and FAN3. I have my CPU fan monitor in FAN1 and my power supply in FAN2. When I boot up, the PSU on FAN2 registers only 1020-1035 RPM (it fluxes), while my CPU is up over 4000 RPM. My previous power supply's fan ran at 2500 RPM, and I can't imagine a more powerful PSU needing less fan rotation.
 
I've had the Antec 430. The PSU fan will run slow so it creates less noise. Of course, under heavier load, that fan will have to speed up as the PSU itself will heat up (requiring more cooling).

So, I don't see 1,000RPM as anything to be worried about. My Antec averaged 1200-1300RPM when I had it.
 
Well, I don't know why it's acting like it is. It shouldn't have any problems at all.
 
I am gonna shutdown and re-do all the dongles, just to make sure I don't have them chained incorrectly. I may have accidently stuck the 6800 behind another device like an idjit. Let me make sure I didn't do that :p My only other theories are that the PSU is bad, or that the wiring in my room is faulty (which wouldn't shock me, when my fiance turns on her hair dryer my bathroom lights dim :p).
 
maybe you are getting dirty power from your wall outlet which took out your old psu and is making your new one run like crap.. its a possibility.. try it in a different room on a different circuit..
 
scottatwittenberg said:
maybe you are getting dirty power from your wall outlet which took out your old psu and is making your new one run like crap.. its a possibility.. try it in a different room on a different circuit..
Click to expand...

Just tried it in my living room (my computer is in my bedroom), same result. If the wiring in my apartment is faulty, it's probably all faulty.

Would there be other symptons of a dirty power problem? I ask, because occasionally my computer speakers will "crackle" for no reason, almost as if there is a major electromagnetic disturbance going on next to them (when there obviously isn't).
 
Yeah, I'd consider getting a UPS or new surge protector to see if you can clean up the power going into your computer a bit. My friend had stability issues that went away when he got a brand-spanking new (decent) surge protector to replace his 5-year old one.

And if a storm has gone thru the surge protector (or storm(s) I should say), you may also consider getting a new one to see if it makes a difference.
 
I have a UPS as we speak and it hasn't gone through any major storms. I am going to take the PSU and new 6800 back to the place I bought them and exchange them both.
 
I've overloaded a tp430 before, although with admittedly more load that your machine. What I'd really reccomend for you is a pcp&C 425 deluxe, or the pcp&C 510 deluxe if you have the cash (this unit will see you through the next generation as well).
 
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