Do I dare?

L

Ladyhawk

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 5, 2005
Messages
244
My Radeon X1900 XT has been acting up for quite awhile now (artifacts). I've already tried the usual fixes so it's time to the card in a different system to see if the issues are hardware-related. I just happen to be working on a system with a PCIe x16 slot, so now is the time.

The only problem is this: The Radeon X1900 XT calls for a 450 Watt power supply. Except for the one in my system (which I'd rather not remove), the most powerful PSU I have on hand is a Rosewill 400 Watt. I'm pretty sure it has the necessary PCIe connector.

If I don't run anything but the keyboard, mouse, video card and hard drive (no CD-ROMs), can the Rosewill handle the load? Or should I play it safe and dig my 650 Watt Antec out of its case?

LH
 
I agree with playing it safe.

If you have to take the PS out of another system I would just get a new PS.(corsair hx520/620) for the future. If its just an extra then no big deal.
 
CleanSlate said:
powersupply switch = 15 minutes for back-forth.
Click to expand...

That's applies for you, not everyone. I for one cannot take the PSU out, put it in another system, then swap it back to the original system in 15minutes. Considering the neat wire tucking that goes into a properly wire-clean case.:rolleyes:
 
Ladyhawk said:
My Radeon X1900 XT has been acting up for quite awhile now (artifacts). I've already tried the usual fixes so it's time to the card in a different system to see if the issues are hardware-related. I just happen to be working on a system with a PCIe x16 slot, so now is the time.

The only problem is this: The Radeon X1900 XT calls for a 450 Watt power supply. Except for the one in my system (which I'd rather not remove), the most powerful PSU I have on hand is a Rosewill 400 Watt. I'm pretty sure it has the necessary PCIe connector.

If I don't run anything but the keyboard, mouse, video card and hard drive (no CD-ROMs), can the Rosewill handle the load? Or should I play it safe and dig my 650 Watt Antec out of its case?

LH
Click to expand...

If you already have a 650 on hand then there is no reason to introduce another possible problem (with under-powering) while trying to figure out what's wrong in the first place.

Although, I'm wondering if you've recently gotten a bigger monitor. My x1900xt starting goofing up when I got my 24 inch monitor and went to 1920x1200. Random pixels and stuff showing up and other graphical corruption. That kind of thing seems to be a driver issue(my x2900xt did the same exact thing).
 
I wouldn't worry about it. The 450 Watt recommendation involves a safe zone and factors in a number of different CPU types and different system power requirements at full load. To say that on your system it would require 450 watts or die is a stretch. Not to mention all 450 watt power supplies are not the same, so they probably gear it towards the low end units that OEM's use.
 
Be safe, I tried to have 2 X1650 PRO 512MB cards in crossfire mode, under a 305WAT Dell Powersupply, and it was not pretty, but luckyly newegg took em both back, and gave me a full refund.
 
yeah definitely do not skimp on the PSU. in fact I would probably just throw the Rosewill into the trash can right this minute and get perhaps a Seasonic or Corsair brand to replace it. that thing is a ticking time bomb set to bring down armageddon on the unlucky (and very expensive) hardware hooked up to it.
 
Dont do it.
At best it will work for a while but as you are pushing the PSU to its limit it will age fast.

A PSU on its limit can make your PC not work properly at times or it can go bang!
Its really as simple as that, you risk damaging anything in your PC and a possible fire.
If it happens while you are out and the PC is left on, it could cost you your home.

Even top quality PSU's can fail catastrophically when pushed to the limit, its not worth the risk.
 
People have this false sense that makes them think computers take 600 watts of power.

I have a wattage meter on my PC in my sig, and at full load in a 3D game it draws a measely 225 watts.
 
Met-AL said:
People have this false sense that makes them think computers take 600 watts of power.

I have a wattage meter on my PC in my sig, and at full load in a 3D game it draws a measely 225 watts.
Click to expand...
also the wattage recommendation is always exaggerated and assumes that you have more than a basic system. a basic system(1 HD, 1 DVD, no highly overclocked cpu) can get away with way less than the recommendation. the OP would be totally fine with a quality 400watt psu. I have an EVGA 8600gt, which recommends a 400watt psu, running on the stock 300watt psu for almost 6 months. my pc has never even pulled much over 200watts under full load.
 
PSUs = 4 or so screws plus like 8 plugs. I mean you'd have to like have your current psu wires tied down or something for it to matter.

I would say you could do it with an Antec or a PC&P but rosewill? I'm not sure what a rosewill is and how it performs as compared to its printed stats. That makes me uneasy to tell you it would be ok. Check out the sticky in the PSU forum to see if Rosewill is a solid brand (which I highly doubt!).

As I said if it was a good brand PSU I would have no problem telling you to plug it right in but when it comes to off brand junk that you can get for 30 bucks... Stick to the AMPS necessary and the volts as well.

Adam
 
RangerSVT said:
That's applies for you, not everyone. I for one cannot take the PSU out, put it in another system, then swap it back to the original system in 15minutes. Considering the neat wire tucking that goes into a properly wire-clean case.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Thanks, Ranger. That's my issue, too. My Antec PSU has a lot of extras that must be neatly tucked away, etc. I've got them wrapped and placed neatly in out-of-the-way spots. Luckily, the Antec case is very accessible (but heavy).

Yes, I can swap out PSUs. I just wanted a bit of input before I did something stupid. It's happened before and I'm sure it will happen again. :D

Thanks for the input. I was leaning toward swapping PSUs, anyway. It will take a little while, but it's better than destroying hardware.

The other system I'm working on came with no description. It's an Antec desktop case (not a tower) and I had to completely remove a mounting bracket and floppy drive to access the PSU. I was hoping for at least 500 Watts, but no joy there.

Still, I just powered it on and found it's running a dual-core Athlon 64 3200+. Not bad! I wasn't given any instructions, just told to "play with it," so I'm not sure what my friend / boss wants to do with it. The hard drive apparently needs formatting and an OS. But yeah, pretty fun! :) With a good vid card and a memory kit (the mobo does dual memory), it would be a pretty decent gaming system. (Oh, it needs a better PSU, too, but I'm still pleasantly surprised the CPU was a nice dual-core. Considering the puny PSU, I was expecting a Sempron.
 
Ladyhawk,
From the looks of your last post there, it seems your first question was answered - you'll swap out PSU's - although I was going to say, if you're only testing the card for a while, you should be fine...
Somebody also mentioned that graphic corruption could be due to drivers, and that is a very strong possibility. If it was acting fine a few months back, put on the CCC drivers from a few months back, and give it a shot. If the corruption starts from the moment the computer POSTs though... yer hosed, matey! :(
 
My 8800GTS + Q6600 system uses about 434w of power at full triple load (2 copies of Orthos, + RTHDRBL)... It's a bit more powerful than your X1900 XT setup...

You'll be fine.
 
Arcygenical said:
My 8800GTS + Q6600 system uses about 434w of power at full triple load (2 copies of Orthos, + RTHDRBL)... It's a bit more powerful than your X1900 XT setup...

You'll be fine.
Click to expand...

How do you know that your PC uses that?
 
Met-AL said:
People have this false sense that makes them think computers take 600 watts of power.

I have a wattage meter on my PC in my sig, and at full load in a 3D game it draws a measely 225 watts.
Click to expand...

Your power consumption figure is way out.
Dont believe the hype !!

You have no clue why a PSU is rated at 600W and what it actually means for a PC?
I'll explain it for you if you ask nicely ;)
Assuming nobody knows is dumb, assuming everyone should know is dumb.

Met-AL said:
How do you know that your PC uses that?
Click to expand...

How can you ask him that when you already specified how many watts your PC uses.
Not only that but the figure you gave is BS.
Perhaps measuring power is exclusive to you :rolleyes:
 
Nenu said:
Your power consumption figure is way out.
Dont believe the hype !!
Click to expand...

It's not a "figure", its a reading off of a meter, plain and simple, the needle says 225 watts, that what I typed here. Kinda hard to be "way out".

It's looking like you are the one believing the hype.

Oh and what is this? http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795&p=7

600 watts my ass.

Oh, and just for you in case you missed it in the other thread LINK
 
Met-AL said:
It's not a "figure", its a reading off of a meter, plain and simple, the needle says 225 watts, that what I typed here. Kinda hard to be "way out".

It's looking like you are the one believing the hype.

Oh and what is this? http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795&p=7

600 watts my ass
Click to expand...

Check some power consumption figures for the whole system with a GTS on the web.
The best I came up with is 250W with a less power hungry CPU
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/bfg8800gts/10.html
Thats with default clocks of 500/800 so your EVGA 8800 GTS 685/900 is going to be considerably higher than the 225W you quoted!

I'd try another meter before calling other peoples figures out.

The Anand link you gave demonstrates that under load, a C2D system at the same speed as an A64 x2 (2.6GHz) uses 6W less power.
Thats at default volts, you are running 0.05V over spec which gives a power increase of 7.5% for your CPU over those figures. And the C2D is 0.06GHz faster!
Thanks for backing up my point.

A PSU can degrade its maximum output by 20% a year if used a lot and more if used in an inhospitable environment.
Thats a good enough reason to get a more powerful PSU than the recommended minimum.
Those that are getting 600W+ PSU's for their 8800GTX systems are sensible and shouldn't be knocked by people that know less.

Met-AL said:
Oh, and just for you in case you missed it in the other thread LINK
Click to expand...
Grow up
 
Oh, what was I thinking. Anandtech is a liar and Nenu is right. My bad. :rolleyes:
 
Met-AL said:
People have this false sense that makes them think computers take 600 watts of power.

I have a wattage meter on my PC in my sig, and at full load in a 3D game it draws a measely 225 watts.
Click to expand...

Same here, I had a Thermaltake 420W and -most- people recommended getting a higher wattage PSU for my E6750 and 8800 GTS Superclocked... I held off and it pulled 220-245W with Orthos and 3dmark 06 running. In Bioshock it pulled ~220W. Kill-A-Watt readings. Even with 70% efficiency (I don't know what the Tt does) it isn't close to maxing the PSU. Of course, amps are important. I did end up getting a Corsair HX520 though, for the noise and cable modularity not because I needed more power.
 
hungryJonJon said:
Same here, I had a Thermaltake 420W and -most- people recommended getting a higher wattage PSU for my E6750 and 8800 GTS Superclocked... I held off and it pulled 220-245W with Orthos and 3dmark 06 running. In Bioshock it pulled ~220W. Kill-A-Watt readings. Even with 70% efficiency (I don't know what the Tt does) it isn't close to maxing the PSU. Of course, amps are important. I did end up getting a Corsair HX520 though, for the noise and cable modularity not because I needed more power.
Click to expand...

I need to pick up one of those Kill-A-Watt meters. I am getting my readings off my built in meter on my Cooler Master Real Power RS-450-ACLY Power Supply. Doesn't show near the load that legends of the internet are made of.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/08/30/450_watts_for_real_men/page4.html
 
Met-AL said:
Oh, what was I thinking. Anandtech is a liar and Nenu is right. My bad. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I don't know what you guys are arguing about (and don't care to boot) but why would this be so out there? Like a big name web site hasn't lied before :rolleyes:
 
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