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Could PSU be the problem?

G

GreatPiggo

Junior Member
Ok, I've kinda posted this before, but I'm going to try again.

I have:
MSI 865PE Neo2-P mobo
2.8C Pentium 4
And DDR433

Now, even at 5:4 RAM ratio, the damn thing shuts down at 3.2Ghz, 230FSB, regardless of voltage, AGP/PCI locked, and cool temps with huge air cooling.

It'll run stable at 225, but my RAM is at 180. At 225 with 1:1 timings, CPU tests pass, but I get artifacts in games. I haven't tested, but I'm assuming this has to do with the RAM running over speed. So, as is, I figure my best settings would be to run 217 FSB with 1:1 timings. CPU @ 3023 and RAM at 434.

However, this ceiling is extremely low for the Northwood cores. My very last guess would be my PSU. It's a 480w Thermaltake Silent Purepower with 18A on the 12v rail. It's been running fine for about a year and a half, but from reading around it seems that 18A could be better.

My question, is it a high probabilty the PSU is the limit? Or is it more likely my proc is just capping out at 3.15. It's an M0 stepping, which I've seen people hit 3.7+ with.

Please answer before I pop 80 bucks on an Antec 550W TruePower.
 
Stay away from antec and get something else if you have to buy another ps. I would definately recommend that you use a digital multimeter and test the rails while the system is running at idle and again under load to see if the rails are sagging. If you do have to buy another ps I'd recommend enermax.
 
I agree with Puff. Antec has been going downhill quality-wise lately. Fortron, Sparkle, Seasonic, and PC Power&Cooling all seem to get good recommendations around here.

Dunno if Enermax is any good these days, but I don't hear many complaints.
 
Ok, I'll get an Enermax then, if it comes down to that, thanks.

I'll see what I can do about getting a meter, but supposing I test these rails, and they remain strong, would that rule out the PSU problem entirely?

Addendum: And if it'll help, I'm running a Radeon X850XT, two SATA hard drives, two optical drives and four case fans.
 
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