6800 ultra power consumption 6800ultra 380w 380 W

rhk0327

Member
Jan 26, 2004
76
0
0
I thought my 380W from my Antec Sonata would be enough for my BFG 6800 ultra OC. When I brought my ultra home I unplugged the two dvd drives to get the two power cables I needed. It ran fine. Then, I used the splitters that came with it and plugged in one DVD drive. When it hit windows, a whining/high pitch squeal occurred (probably from the powersupply). Also, the Dvd burner was acting a bit funny. I couldn't read the disk I just burned. I replaced my videocard witht he puny old one and returned everything to normal (with all drives attached), and the squealing went away and the DVD drives could suddenly read the dvds again.
Note, I do have some extra equipment in mine :
2DVD burners
3Hardrives
Cat5 card
Wireless G network pci card
(4)USB PCI Card.
120mm fan (came with sonata)
upgraded CPU fan (cooler master Xdream II)


After, I finished the burn, I unplugged my DVD drives and Wireless card, and put in the 6800ultra card. Now I still hear the squeal but it is not as audible (very slight).

Do power supply units (psu's) squeal when there is a lot of stress?
If I end up keeping this card, I'm definitely gonna upgrade to a beefier one, especially since I might upgrade from my AMD athlon xp 2400+(really outdated for this gfx card).
BTW(by the way): My card temp runs fine always below 60C. (according to the NVIDIA driver program)

Please leave any comments about squeal? could it be something else.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/05/10/news_6096837.html is a link to the article that lead me to believe that my small psu would be enough. Apparently, I could be wrong.

Semi-Related: When I plug a sole molex cable (don't remember, but lets say the right one from a top view) it gives me a beep beep (warning from card?) and when I plug the sole molex in to the other side it doesn't. I did try switching molex cables with my DVD drives just to make sure I don't have a bad one.
 

Keysplayr

Elite Member
Jan 16, 2003
21,209
50
91
Also mention how many fans you have.

It appears you have a "loaded system". A 350W good quality power supply should be enough to run your basic system. Mobo, CPU, hard drive, CD/DVDRW and a case fan. I would go get a nice 420W at least for your system.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
When I bought my V9999GE, I thought my Antec 350 would be enough. I got random freezes in a handful of games after playing for a time, Doom 3 included. The text in windows was also a little fuzzy. When I got my Tru430 Antec PSU, the lockups in games disappeared. And text is now sharp and clear again. Don't see how a PSU would effect Taxt clarity though.

Since your card draws more current than my own, I'd say its probably running a little short on juice. Or it just doesn't like to share power with anything else.
 

sparkz

Member
Sep 13, 2003
44
0
0
Originally posted by: rhk0327
I thought my 380W from my Antec Sonata would be enough for my BFG 6800 ultra OC. When I brought my ultra home I unplugged the two dvd drives to get the two power cables I needed. It ran fine. Then, I used the splitters that came with it and plugged in one DVD drive. When it hit windows, a whining/high pitch squeal occurred (probably from the powersupply). Also, the Dvd burner was acting a bit funny. I couldn't read the disk I just burned. I replaced my videocard witht he puny old one and returned everything to normal (with all drives attached), and the squealing went away and the DVD drives could suddenly read the dvds again.
Note, I do have some extra equipment in mine :
2DVD burners
3Hardrives
Cat5 card
Wireless G network pci card
(4)USB PCI Card.

After, I finished the burn, I unplugged my DVD drives and Wireless card, and put in the 6800ultra card. Now I still hear the squeal but it is not as audible (very slight).

Do power supply units (psu's) squeal when there is a lot of stress?
If I end up keeping this card, I'm definitely gonna upgrade to a beefier one, especially since I might upgrade from my AMD athlon xp 2400+(really outdated for this gfx card).
BTW(by the way): My card temp runs fine always below 60C. (according to the NVIDIA driver program)

Please leave any comments about squeal? could it be something else.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/05/10/news_6096837.html is a link to the article that lead me to believe that my small psu would be enough. Apparently, I could be wrong.

Semi-Related: When I plug a sole molex cable (don't remember, but lets say the right one from a top view) it gives me a beep beep (warning from card?) and when I plug the sole molex in to the other side it doesn't. I did try switching molex cables with my DVD drives just to make sure I don't have a bad one.



Quality of each individual PSU makes a difference as well. I've tested both an Ultra and Extreme Edition with the included 250watt PSU inside Dells's 400SC without any noticable prolems with 14 hours of 3dmark03. and about 5 hours straight of Doom3.