GPU or PSU problem ?

[soldano]

I built my PC around a P6X58D-E mother, an i7 990X micro, a GF 470 GTX video card, 3 Hard disks 1 Tb each, and a 750W Thermaltake modular PSU.-
I noticed after some time, that when overclocking my PC over than 3,9Ghz I commenced getting crashes consistent in sudden black screens after succesfull bottings; other times. during booting, graphics artifacts appeared and after that, a warning box informed that windows had recovered from a graphics driver problem.-
After sometime I began suspecting about a GPU problem, so I installed an old GF 8800 GTX I have in other PC, and Voila ! all problems dissapeared.- I could then reach 4,7 Ghz stable.-
So very happy with my discovery, convinced about that a faulty GPU was the cause, I acquired a new GF 570 GTX.-
I was very dissapointed when I installed the new GPU and the black screens again were present, except when running the micro at the default clock.-
Now I can only blame either the mother or a faulty PSU for the problem.-
So my question is: As I have the oportunity to acquire a similar Thermaltake PSU, but of 850W capacity, is it worth to do it ?
Thanks

 

[Fallengod]

Hmmm, tough call. I am not that familiar with quality of Thermaltake PSU's but if they arnt very good, that could be an issue. However, the scenario you are giving does not quite make sense.

To me it sounds like an issue with overclocking or some bios setting or something like that.... Its obvious it is not the GPU since its stable at default cpu clock speeds.. Unstable overclock is what id say. Depending how you are overclocking, you might be doing something wrong...

Changing a PSU to slightly high wattage PSU wouldnt make any difference unless the previous one is in fact faulty. A 750 watt PSU should be plenty for most single video card systems.... Personally, I only buy quality PSU's and I dont know enough about Thermaltake's to know if they fall into that category...but I do not buy Thermaltake...

 

[soldano]

Hmmm, tough call. I am not that familiar with quality of Thermaltake PSU's but if they arnt very good, that could be an issue. However, the scenario you are giving does not quite make sense.

To me it sounds like an issue with overclocking or some bios setting or something like that.... Its obvious it is not the GPU since its stable at default cpu clock speeds.. Unstable overclock is what id say. Depending how you are overclocking, you might be doing something wrong...

Changing a PSU to slightly high wattage PSU wouldnt make any difference unless the previous one is in fact faulty. A 750 watt PSU should be plenty for most single video card systems.... Personally, I only buy quality PSU's and I dont know enough about Thermaltake's to know if they fall into that category...but I do not buy Thermaltake...

I think overclocking or bios settings are not an issue, as the old GF 8800 GTX works perfectly well at the fastest speed I could reach (4,7Ghz)
Isnt a posibility that either the GF 470 or the 570, when the system is OClocked require more power and in that situation the PSU goes into problems ?.-

 

[Doougin]

it might be the gtx 470. the gtx 400 series are known to be very finicky in general.

 

[soldano]

it might be the gtx 470. the gtx 400 series are known to be very finicky in general.

I dont think so, as with the GTX 570 I have the same problem.-
Thanks

 

[Stuka87]

No clue on the specs on that PSU, but you may be maxing out a 12V rail (assuming its a multi rail design).

 

[KompuKare]

Although not ideal (ideal would be a good multimeter checking voltages and even amps while running), software hardware monitoring tools which can display the voltage on a 2nd screen might worth considering. Course that only makes sense if you can actually run your PC. At stock and only running Windows (i.e. no 3D) I can't see it using anywhere near 750W. Have you got one of those power meter plugs? Also, just in case, try it with only one HDD (unless it's a RAID array you have there).

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Just buy a good PSU,a thermaltake 750 is like a seasonic 500-500 and a seasonic 500-550 is not enough for a hexa oced plus graphic card plus 3 hdds. Get a seasonic 750 or better.