Can this be a PSU issue?

G

Ghosthunter

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
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I have had my PC now for 3 years with the Antec Sonata case, and the 380W PS it came with


I have also had my BFG 6800 GT for over 2 years no problems


I recently started to play Lord of the rings Online, and my card would get as high as 80-83C and I would see artificatcs and pixelation. At first I only saw it in LOTRO then started to see in other games. Called up BFG they said card must be overheating, I already cleaned out my case. Sent it back they are sending me a brand new BFG 6800 GT should be here on Tues


In the meantime I ried to use another video card just to power up my sysem and something weird was hapening, I would turn on the PC, fans would come on, motherboard ligth was green, and cdrom worked fine, but no boot or bios. Try this like 10 or 20 times nothing happened. I decided to hit Insert when turning on not sure why was desperate and it worked, it is an asus p4p800 board with p4 2.8

I am starting to think that maybe my power supply is going bad and that is what caused my 6800 GT to overheat and artificat is that possible? Or is it not related? or did i just have some freak concidencecs?


I am thiking of replacing my power supply before i get new card so not to fry it but dont really want to spend a lot of money, especailly not for such an old PC

Was thinking of getting Antec True 430 for $94 at best buy, but if you think it a p/s any other cheaper recommendations?

Thanks
 
It's more likely a motherboard problem rather than a power supply problem. If the fans spin, lights come on, and cdrom drive works, its probably not your power supply as it is providing adequate power to those components.
 
NoodleTech said:
It's more likely a motherboard problem rather than a power supply problem. If the fans spin, lights come on, and cdrom drive works, its probably not your power supply as it is providing adequate power to those components.
Click to expand...


that even worst I guess but thanks for info not sure what I should do anymore

dont want to put too much money in this system but not ready to buy a new system yet
 
First thing you should get is a multimeter. If the rails are off, second thing you should get is a can of compressed air. Both are significantly cheaper than a new PSU

I had a similar problem with my old Asus A7N8X / AMD TBred system, except that I don't/didn't use the hotkey to turn it on. A quick rinse in the sink and a new CMOS battery and it was good as new.
 
tahnks for all replies


i was doing some searching here and found and picked up the antec power suppply tester dont know how accurate this is

but it shows the fault light on plus the 5VSB was orange

is that really bad? Does the 5VSB control the graphics card? or should i cahnge this power supply to be safe anyway
 
The GPU is powered from the 12V rail, the 5V rail being out of spec couldnt cause a problem like the video card overheating.

There are a number of possibilities why your card is getting too hot:
1) Your case airflow is bad/blocked
2) Your GPU fan is running slow/off or is blocked
3) the graphics card doesnt vent out of the back of the case (?) and air circulation is bad
4) The PSU is running the 12V rail too high
5) The thermal pad / paste on the GPU has disintegrated / lost heat conductance
6) The card is damaged

For 3), if the graphics card vents into the case it might help to place an 80mm fan inside the case at the bottom to circulate air.

For 4), The graphics card has its own voltage regulators to power the GPU. Depending how they made the circuit, a high 12V may not have any direct effect on the voltage the GPU receives.
For sure though the voltage regulators will generate more heat and could inadvertantly be keeping the GPU a bit warmer.
 
Thanks for the info



Since i had problems booting up just recently going to replace PS to be safe and since the tester said it had a fault. It is 3 years old now probably be best time to replace anyway

I know there are better P/S but want to get it from the store just in case it wont fit my sonata case i am going to go with this one

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8013302&st=antec&type=product&id=1156203858494

Truepower Trio 430

this should fit sonata 1 case and more powerful then my old 380 right? to run my 6800 card?

thanks
 
I have no idea if that will solve your problem.
To be honest, its not the most likely culprit either so you could be wasting money.
Sorry, I cant help you decide on the fault, you need to do some checking/testing.
 
Thanks I am not sure if it will solve it as well.

I got the new BFG RMA Card today in mail, and with new power supply i will see and monitor temps.

The old 380ps that came with Sonata did very poorly cooling and moving air i felt since only one fan, at least this new power supply has a 120mm fan and hopefully maybe can help move some of the air better?
 
well BFG actually sent me a 7800 GS 256 i guess that better then the 6800 GT that i sent for RMA so i am happy

right now my card is at 45 at idle, not sure if that good for 7800 going to play a few games and see how hot it gets at full


also replaced the power supply with the one above and everything seems to be working ok , but the fan on the power supply seems to go really slow only about 900 RPM is that normal?

thanks
 
It seems your problem is solved and well done with the free upgrade :)

The PSU fan speed is likely related to its internal temperature.
If the air feels hot coming out of the back of the PSU fan, it is faulty.
If the air is warm to cold then it is probably just running at slow speed.
Is it a silent/low noise PSU?
 
I feel air coming out back of power supply but not a lot, i will have to go home at work currently so dont remeber if it was hot air or cold and warm



One thing that has me concercned is my video card temp only rised to about 50 at full load gaming LOTRO, which I think is very good right?

but for some reason my CPU and MB temps are kind of high. CPU runs idle at around 34-39C full load around 45c, and motherboard is 33-36c

I cleaned out this pc extremely well while waiting for my parts so it not dust, maybe I need new fans I dont know. This is a sonata case, and I hvae 1 120 mm fan in back near cpu, and another 120 mm by hard drives in front (though dont think it doing much)

i want to make sure i get better airflow before i run into more problems i was loking at purchasing those expansion slot fans. are those worth it or a waste of money? I have 5 open slots doing nothing next to my vid card

something like this


http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...ntec&lp=11&type=product&cp=1&id=1124432441259

Thanks
 
For a 1 x120mm fan in, 1 x120mm fan out system thats pretty good.

If the CPU exceeds 55C, thats when you should look for ways to cool it better.
Your GPU temp is excellent, nicely primed for overclocking :D
The motherboard temp is fine, no reason for concern.
 
Nenu said:
For a 1 x120mm fan in, 1 x120mm fan out system thats pretty good.

If the CPU exceeds 55C, thats when you should look for ways to cool it better.
Your GPU temp is excellent, nicely primed for overclocking :D
The motherboard temp is fine, no reason for concern.
Click to expand...

Sounds good thanks for all your help

now time to enjoy some gaming
 
it sounded like a ps problem to me.
i won't waste any time talking about the reason why i feel like that, as the problem is solved
congrats on the new card. happy gaming!
 
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