Probably dead PS - Need help picking new one

C

Caffeinated

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 16, 2002
Messages
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I'm not sure if I killed my PS, but it's looking like it.

My original thread is here.

I'll paraphrase for your convenience ;).

Athlon 64 4000+ * eVGA Nforce4 SLI x16 * 2GB RAM (2 sticks) * Geforce 6800 GT * DVD-RW * (2) 160 GB SATA drives in RAID 0 * (2) 250 GB PATA drives in RAID 0 * (1) 300 GB PATA drive

Here is the story - the day before, I put new RAM in it. I ran memtest for 2 hours and it passed with flying colors. I then proceeded to bench it a few times. I played Titan Quest on it for about 3 hours, and noticed a few oddities, but Titan Quest can be buggy so that may not have anything to do with it. Last night, I was in the middle of buying a new sound card for it, and :: poof :: blue screen of death and a stop error. I reseated the video card, and it POSTED and booted again, only to lockup and die in XP after about a minute. One more video card reseat, and it POSTED for about 10 seconds and then died, to never POST again. I went through the cable unplugging, card swapping, memory changing fest, and still nothing. All that happens is that the little LED lights for the case fans come on and then it immediately shuts off again.

The original post goes into more detail about this sad little event. The bottom line is most people seem to think it's my PS. I have this one.

Mind you, this will be my second PS. The first was a piece of crap, but the second looked according to the specs, to be decent. I've already moved the 300 GB PATA and then I broke up the 250 GB RAID 0 set (which had just been formatted anyway) and put all 3 of them in external enclosures. They will not be going back in this box, since my use for this box has changed (was a file server, is going to be more of a gaming box).

Basically, I will be adding a M-Audio Revolution 5.1 and a TV card to this box, and when the prices go down (and if I can ever afford it in the process of getting this box back up) I want to add a Geforce 8800 GTS.

I guess I'm looking to confirm if this is in fact a power supply problem, and what power supply would be suitable for my needs. I don't know much about power supplies, so I need to ask the experts.

Thank you for any advice and suggestions. The [H] has the most knowledgeable folks around.
 
A Rosewill PSU ?? no wonder it's a PoS.

The symptoms you have looks like it's the PSU dying since It's similar to mine when it died 2 weeks ago (Ultra X2 550W).

For your needs, get a Seasonic S12-500 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817151024). It's a bit expensive but it's very reliable and very efficient. If you want to pay less and doesn't care for looks, then a fortron AX500-A (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104934) works equally well. The bottom line is to never skimp on the PSU and get a good one, even if it cost a bit more. If you pick a cheap one, it can be expensive in the long run since it can kill other components when it act flaky or die.
 
Well, it does (or rather did, I guess I should say) have dual 12Vs rated at 20A and 18A, respectively. I paid close to $80 for it, and thought I was making a decent choice. At this point, cosmetic concerns are the least of my worries. If it sounds like a sonic jet and looks like Woody Allen, I don't care as long as it gets the job done. I can't spend more than about $80 though. I need to start saving for a video card, and I've already spent more than I intended on this situation.
 
Okay, this is bizarre. I tried to get it to turn on, still the same symptoms as last night. I tried the original PS, which is nothing to write home about (el cheapo 500W) and took out the 6800 GT, put in a 6600 256MB (non gt) and it fired right up!

Then, I plugged the two SATA drives in, put the new memtest tested memory sticks back in, plugged my DVD-RW back in, and it went back into windows. I am now running 3dMark2K5 to see if it lasts.

The thing is, I tried that last night! Two things changed. 1. I unplugged my XPS laptop off of the surge protector and had it on the back porch with my morning coffee 2. I unplugged PS from MB and plugged it back in to check with the 500W. Both now work.

I do not have the 6800 GT in it, though. I have the much slower 6600 in it (it's the only other PCI-X card I have - my other two are AGP, which won't work in this MB).

Just so that you all don't think I'm too stupid, last night I did try it on an outlet completely by itself with just the 6600 in it, and no drives plugged in. What I hadn't done was unplug it from the mb and plug it back in.

WTF??!!
 
Thanks, Toihret. That would be great.

I put the 6800 GT back in after it ran for a while with the 6600 in it. If the 6800 GT makes it through a benchmark torture test for a while, I'm going to put my new sound card in, and keep the XPS plugged in somewhere else. Then if it makes it with the new sound card, I'm going to quit screwing with it completely (I don't need a damn TV card in it!).

I think maybe I might want a better power supply with the 8800 GTS, though. So I'd like to see how yours does.

I'm wondering if it has to do with the video card. Trouble seems to follow it around, though it does work. I had it in a Shuttle SFF that "died" with a Prescott. It also was in a troubled chaintech motherboard with my current cpu. The chaintech MB is definitely dead, but I'm beginning to wonder about the Shuttle SFF system now (it's long gone) - the CPU/RAM from that system still work in other PCs.

I just don't know. Every time I think I've pinned down the problem, something strange happens.
 
Caffeinated said:
Thanks, Toihret. That would be great.

I put the 6800 GT back in after it ran for a while with the 6600 in it. If the 6800 GT makes it through a benchmark torture test for a while, I'm going to put my new sound card in, and keep the XPS plugged in somewhere else. Then if it makes it with the new sound card, I'm going to quit screwing with it completely (I don't need a damn TV card in it!).

I think maybe I might want a better power supply with the 8800 GTS, though. So I'd like to see how yours does.

I'm wondering if it has to do with the video card. Trouble seems to follow it around, though it does work. I had it in a Shuttle SFF that "died" with a Prescott. It also was in a troubled chaintech motherboard with my current cpu. The chaintech MB is definitely dead, but I'm beginning to wonder about the Shuttle SFF system now (it's long gone) - the CPU/RAM from that system still work in other PCs.

I just don't know. Every time I think I've pinned down the problem, something strange happens.
Click to expand...

The 6800GT require a extra molex to power it so it is asking for more power. That may be why it cause issues for you and not with the 6600.
 
Yeah, and having 3 extra hard drives in there and running my laptop off of the same surge protector probably wasn't helping, either! :eek:

I'm currently stress testing it with the 6800 GT back in, just the two SATA drives and the DVD-RW. My sound card should be here around noon, so I'll add it in.

Anyone know how much power the 6800 GT pulls? I know that the 8800 GTS pulls a lot, but I don't know how much more. I also looked at the 1950pro at newegg for $269, but it seems pointless to spend that much when it's the 8800 series that I really want.

What's weird is that suddenly, it seems to be running cooler, too. (and not just because I removed the other drives - it was running 10 degree C warmer than this before I ever put them in!) I just don't know. This is driving me crazy.
 
FYI, a 6800GT draw more power than the 78xx/79xx series so I guess it's around 70-100 watts.
 
Wow, I thought the 7XXX series drew more than the 6800 GT. I wonder how much it draws compare to the 8800 GTS? I've seen different figures, but nothing that specifically says "8800 GTS draws XX watts".
 
8 series draw more power than 7 series which is mo re than 6 series.

Price does not mean a good power supply. You can have absolute crap for expensive (aspire, rosewill, coolmax, etc) or you can have something very good for very cheap.
 
Bbq said:
8 series draw more power than 7 series which is mo re than 6 series.

Price does not mean a good power supply. You can have absolute crap for expensive (aspire, rosewill, coolmax, etc) or you can have something very good for very cheap.
Click to expand...

I beg to differ, the 8 series is more power hungry than 6/7 series, i agree. But the 7 series is a bit less hungry because it is using a smaller die and implemented various power-saving stuff. The 6 series is a bit hungry, especially the GT/Ultra.
 
Received my xClio 500w Power supply today and it runs perfectly fine. The RMA from Antec should come later this week which I guess I will keep for backup in case I run into this problem again so I'm not without a computer for a week or so. The only thing I don't like is that the power supply is quite small so the hole in the back of the case isn't completely filled so on 2 sides of the power supply there are holes, which isn't a big problem it just doesn't look as nice and flush with the case as the Antec PSU did.
 
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