Help With Video Card Upgrade Please

[iKavio]

My System:

Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz
4GB OCZ Ram
8800GTX 768MB
Asus P5KC mobo
PSU Generic 500W
1 DVD drive
2 HD

The 8800GTX is lacking now for most games on moderate settings, so it's time for an upgrade. I recently purchased the ATI HD5850 for £210, it worked for 3 days and then i started getting graphics corruption, screen flicker and crashes. This started today. I am planning on RMA the HD5950 and i have my 8800GTX back in the box at the moment.

Basically i'm not set on the HD5850 any more because i had issues with the ATI i had before my 8800GTX, im considering getting an Nvidia equivelent or better instead. My upper limit is £300 or there abouts. I'm also not sure these days what PSU is best for which scenario.

All advice is welcome.

Thanks,

 

[OCGuy]

5850 or GTX260. Not sure what GTX470s are going for in your area.

 

[iKavio]

Well i already have the 5850 as i mentioned and while it worked i was delighted. The problem with the flickering and corruption appears very common. I did quite a lot of browsing about it today and noone has a solution, none of the drivers work or underclocking tricks, bios etc.

Any ideas if 500W is enough to support that rig? Given that the card worked fine for 3 days (where it wasnt used that heavily), a PSU problem is all i can think of.

 

[toyota]

PSU Generic 500W does not sound good

 

[iKavio]

This is the PSU:

http://www.xsreviews.co.uk/reviews/power-supply-units/fsp-blue-storm-500w/

 

[RussianSensation]

PSU Generic 500W does not sound good

The FSP Blue Storm II should be more than enough. That's actually not a generic PSU.

But in general a Q6600 at stock settings is pretty slow. Overclock that CPU and 5850 can be recommended. I would say otherwise, a 4870 1GB is a good budget upgrade. If you overclock the Q6600 to 3.0-3.4ghz, then a 5850, overclocked 460 or a GTX470 can be recommended. Run DriverCleaner to uninstall all NV drivers before installing an ATI graphics card.

Use HWMonitor to check your 3.3 and 12V rails (especially this one at load). Check the mins of those voltages.

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

 

[iKavio]

Hi,

I have used DriverCleaner to get rid of all the crap. A question though, why should i have to overclock the CPU in order for the 5850 to be recommended? I did previously have this CPU at 3.0GHz running fine. I think i reset the BIOS at some point and never set it back again. Also, any recommendations for a decent PSU?

Thanks,

 

[Markfw]

Fortron IS a decent PSU, one of the best IMO. I have 10 different fortron 700's (OCZ are rebadged fortrons, at least the ones I have), and all support 2 video cards, the slowest of which is 8800 GT's.

As for the overclock, you wouldn;t want you cpu to be holding you back on a game. OC to 3.2 (or maybe 3.0) I have 4 of them, and they can all do over 3.2.

In case you are wondering, here are the ones I have, reconditioned (scratched) are $45 US.
http://www.svc.com/ocz700gxssli-b.html

 

[iKavio]

Here is a screenshot of CPUIID with my 8800GTX installed. I will do one shortly with the HD5850 too.
http://img534.imageshack.us/f/cpuidz.png/

I'm not sure if you can tell any problems before i do an HD5850 one.

Thanks,

 

[iKavio]

Bump,

Does anyone else think the min and max for 3v and 12v are low at idle? I found a review of this psu and the reported voltages were a little over 3 & 12 respectively.

Any thoughts?

 

[RussianSensation]

Your 12V rail is hovering at about 10.30-10.50V. That is completely unacceptable/overloading the PSU. Even if it was at about 11.2-11.3 I would tell you it's too low for comfort. Perhaps the main connector is not plugged in all the way. Unplug the connectors to the mobo and reconnect them. If you still get the same results, you should either consider replacing the PSU or RMAing it. A good PSU should be doing 11.90-12.1, and an excellent PSU will be at about 11.95-12.12V or so. It is certainly better to be slightly above the 12v reading than below it as is in your case.

I see that these voltages are also reported with only an 8800GTX. With a more powerful graphics card, you'll be getting BSOD non-stop at load and constant crashes.

 

[iKavio]

Excellent, I was hoping someone could decisively say the power supply wasn't working because this was the only realistic cause left. What wattage would you recommend or which psu specifically?

 

[s44]

Excellent, I was hoping someone could decisively say the power supply wasn't working because this was the only realistic cause left. What wattage would you recommend or which psu specifically?

Corsair 650TX for £65 shipped