is this a PSU problem?

[trevelynzx]

hey guys, built my system last february and haven't quite gotten everything sorted out yet. i realized i had a bad stick of ram, so RMA'ing that fixed about 90% of my problems. but still, from time to time i'll get the B.S.O.D. for apparently no reason. i'm guessing it's one of two problems:

1) a driver conflict
or
2) my 550w psu (not enough wattage)

i'm running a AMD dual core 64 bit Athlon 4800+ toledo processor with a radeon x1900xtx, 2gbs/ram, 10k rpm Raptor drive (150gbs), and a sapphire crossfire advantage mobo, all powered by my RealPower (i think that's the brand?!) 550w psu.

any tips on why i'm getting these occasional crashes (like once every other day) would be helpful. also, i'm not doing anything unusual during the crashes... just running simple programs like word, or listening to music, etc...

thanks!

 

[Talcite]

what's the amperage on the 12v rails for the psu?

 

[trevelynzx]

haha - pwn'd in my own topic.

i'm kind of a noob at building -- how could i figure that out?

 

[cmdrdredd]

On the side or back of the PSU it says +12v and a number (20A, 30A, 17A) there may be more than one +12v number there.

 

[trevelynzx]

ok, i'm not home, but here is my PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817171009

did that help? it says it's got dual +12v, don't know if that's what you're after.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: trevelynzx
ok, i'm not home, but here is my PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817171009

did that help? it says it's got dual +12v, don't know if that's what you're after.

Ok so you have 18A on the first 12v rail and 20A on the second. That should be fine. I don't think it's your PSU.

 

[Talcite]

oh wait. Is your system running nforce 4 MCPs? don't install the firewall. It has problems with windows and causes BSODs.

 

[ForumMaster]

even if you're a noob, you should be able to troubleshoot. how about when you're in the basic boot? (one stick of ram, one hdd, one GC not in CS and so on) and add until you find the problem. also, have you tried a different PSU? as cmdrdredd said, i think it should be enough, but that doesn't mean that a PSU can't be faulty. just swap a different one in there and try.

 

[trevelynzx]

thanks guys, i'll try the basic booting thing. the problem is that the BSOD is not consistent... sometimes it'll go for days without crashing. also, there is no specific list of commands that CAUSES it, it's pretty random. but i'll try swapping PSUs. also - talcite - i don't have anything Nforce in my system, but what type of hardware is that?