Which psu is better?

[krouch]

im having problems with my video card while gaming in cs. Like it freezes then goes bak into game play. Itz like a HUGE lag spike but itz a video card spike. im not sure if itz my psu or not but i think i will still have to upgrade.

Computer Specs
Cpu - Amd athlon 3800+ X2
Video card - EVGA 7800 GT (core clock - 445 mhz, memory clock - 1070)
Motherboard - EVGA 133-K8-NF41
Power Supply - Ocz Powerstream OCZ420ADJ
Sony dvd burner
Wester Digital hard drive
Sony Floppy Disk


Do i need a new power supply. If so i am debating on these two PSU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103933
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817151025

 

[[Spectre]]

That system should be fine with that PSU you currently have if it is working properly. What trouble shooting have you done so far?

 

[Flak Monkey]

Your PSU is fine. This is a common issue with nvidia video cards. Clock it back to stock and see if the problem persists.

 

[krouch]

Your PSU is fine. This is a common issue with nvidia video cards. Clock it back to stock and see if the problem persists.

the video card is at stock. Cpu is also at stock.

 

[krouch]

That system should be fine with that PSU you currently have if it is working properly. What trouble shooting have you done so far?

I have tryed a different psu but i still get the laggy glitch. I also tryed another video card and i still have that laggy glitch. Now i think i have a defected motherboard.

 

[krouch]

Can it be a cpu hiccup. My friend was telling me about it. Is there even such thing? lol

 

[Ice Czar]

to answer the question
Id personally opt for the S-12, but both supplies exceed spec in one regard or another, as does your Powerstream

and like everyone else, provided its functioning properly I don't think its the root cause of the issue

 

[krouch]

to answer the question
Id personally opt for the S-12, but both supplies exceed spec in one regard or another, as does your Powerstream

and like everyone else, provided its functioning properly I don't think its the root cause of the issue

on evga site it says my video card requires a minimum of 450 watts?

 

[Ice Czar]

if they are talking "watts" they are talking out their arse to people that dont know WTF they need
they should be specifying amps per rail

the reason is that PSUs are often exaggerated in capacity
and that legacy amps for old components make so much of that capacity up
see > http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=996355

your powerstream is more than upto the task


if its working properly

 

[krouch]

if they are talking "watts" they are talking out their arse to people that dont know WTF they need
they should be specifying amps per rail

the reason is that PSUs are often exaggerated in capacity
and that legacy amps for old components make so much of that capacity up
see > http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=996355

your powerstream is more than upto the task

if its working properly

should be working properly. Anyway i can test it to see if itz not?

 

[Ice Czar]

well it has it has 30A +12V (360Watts capacity on just the +12V) @ 40C

and considering many a supply out there is rated at 21C > 25C and for peak voltage rather than sustained it would kick the ass of many if not most "450 watt" supplies your likely to come across

Seasonic also Rates at 40C
Antec rates higher than 21C but doesnt actually tell us what
FSP gives a real derating curve Derate 2W / C° from 50C° to 25C° (deduct 2 watts for each degree above 25C)
PCP&C rates at 50C

in case you didn't already know
your OCZ was made for them by Topower off a P6 Series with a few trick options like the Titanium EMI shielding and the REMIC EMI chokes (which clean up ripple on the leads that have them, being a ferrite core EMI supprressor and a few caps)

 

[Ice Czar]

Anyway i can test it to see if itz not?

not this side of $10,000

well not fully at least, if you have a Digital Multimeter you can verify the voltage is within spec and log fluctuation

closer to the reference value is better than either higher or lower
stuff also doesnt tend to get fried from lower values as much as higher values
anything higher than the 5% range is called an overshoot and that fries most stuff
anything lower is called an undershoot and that makes things unstable


for reference Basic Spec compliance of 5% is
+12V....11.4V to 12.6V
+5V......4.75V to 5.25V
+3.3V...3.135V to 3.465V
but its also a dynamic range
the supply converts power from AC to DC as the load changes from the components
well it also has to keep the reference voltages within the range above while it doing that
so measuring at one point is like watching a single frame in a movie
so logging the voltage is a good idea

that said your BIOS and software is lying to you
what you dont know is by what amount
for that youd need to measure it with a multimeter
cheap ones can be had for $20 or $30 though their accuracy isnt all that much better than the BIOS
they scale up to hundreds of dollars and increasing accuracy

ideally you calibrate your software to a hard measurement (like at idle)
then log till your confident that your within spec at all times

a high reference voltage at idle means that while the supply might be regulating the load within its own parameter,
under some circumstances it could be letting overshoots through
now there are advantages to having a higher reference value if your overclocking
but only if your not allowing overshoots
thats one of the reasons overclockers like supplies with tighter than spec load regulation
so instead of a supply with a range of 5% regulation it has 3% or 1%
and can thus have a higher reference value without letting through overshoots

most components can deal with higher than 5% values and are commonly tested to survive split second 10% values, but these wear on the components

since IC Chips (integrated circuits) vary from pristine to just barely passing the functional test, that means a little "wear" (electromigration) could cause immediate failure or not be noticable degredation for years

more to the point though, the odds are greatly increased for some failure somewhere by the sheer number of IC chips throughout the computer as a whole.
some are behind buffers like the CPU and RAM which have the voltage modified by the motherboards voltage regulation modual, while other lack any buffer at all, like the drives

the Powerstreams\P6's are tighter than spec at 3% load regulation

 

[[Spectre]]

should be working properly. Anyway i can test it to see if itz not?

To see if proper voltage is being provided grab a DMM and check the voltages. In Davidhammock's guid above is a how to.

 

[Ice Czar]

<Nelson Munn> AHH HAH </Nelson Munn>

ninja edit

 

[[Spectre]]

<Nelson Munn> AHH HAH </Nelson Munn>

ninja edit

Experience and cunning before youth eh?

 

[krouch]

fixed it. Mobo was defective.

 

[Ice Czar]

congratz

Experience and cunning before youth eh?

the only hope for you young whippersnappers is to survive long enough to be old farts