My PSU too low for my eVGA Geforce 260 Superclocked?

Defacil

Member
Jul 20, 2004
67
0
0
Hey everyone,

I recently got an evga 260 superclocked edition from my lovely gf and I've been having some problems with my pc after installing it and I wanted to make sure it is or isnt my psu.

I use the Seasonic 600W (link) and I think it's just too low or it's dying on me. In Windows, like when I'm typing this forum post, everything runs fine but under load, my games run choppy and I even experience some stuttering/fps drops.

Am I right or should I look elsewhere?

Here are my pc specs:
Core 2 Duo E8400
4GB RAM
eVGA 260 superclocked edition
2xWD250AAKS in RAID
Asus P5K
1xSamsung DVD-R

Edit: If it was my PSU, any recommendations? I have this local store and I would preferably like to pick from this list so I can fix it ASAP without ridiculous shipping charges: http://www.tcponline.com/Power_Supplies.htm

Thank you for your time.
-def
 

SSChevy2001

Senior member
Jul 9, 2008
774
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0
Your PSU is more than enough for your config.

Maybe the card's overheating under load, did you check the temps?
 

MBentz

Golden Member
Jun 8, 2005
1,049
0
0
Sounds more like a video card or driver issue than a PSU problem. I'm using an Antec earthwatts 500 to power my 4870 and I don't have any issues.
 

Defacil

Member
Jul 20, 2004
67
0
0
I'm using the latest non-beta nvidia drivers and yes I did check my temps and in Warcraft3 (the game that my video shut down in) and they were around 70-80. Could a faulty video card fail under loads but work ok idle?
 

SSChevy2001

Senior member
Jul 9, 2008
774
0
0
Warcraft3 isn't going to push the card enough. Try the furmark programs and see how hot it gets.

It's sound though like a defective card, but the temps should be fine. Away with all the defective GTX280, still sounds like a bad card.
 

Defacil

Member
Jul 20, 2004
67
0
0
Ran furmark's stability test under 1680x1050 for 360 seconds and temps hovered around 82C.

Is there any other way to see if it's a defective card? I've never received a defective vid card in my life so I dunno how to test it besides maybe playing games and seeing if it crashes?
 

Elcs

Diamond Member
Apr 27, 2002
6,278
6
81
My Seasonic S12 600W has just went in for RMA for a fan issue but the unit itself is more than capable of tackling that graphics card and setup.
 

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
11,848
2,051
126
Can you test it using another PSU? You could also try disconnecting everything except the bare minimum needed to play a game to test...including taking out 2 sticks of ram (if you have 4). Power wise that PSU would be fine but if it's faulty then obviously it won't hold up. And yes a faulty vid card can work at idle but not at load.
 

Defacil

Member
Jul 20, 2004
67
0
0
I just played a 20 minute Warcraft 3 and my game lagged a bit but didn't crash. Than I watched a youtube video in full screen and my video died. I guess it IS a faulty vid card?
 

rstove02

Senior member
Apr 19, 2004
508
0
71
I just bought the card was well and have a Seasonic 550w PSU and everything is fine. Am running on a E6400 processor on a low end Gigabyte motherboard. Have 1 DVDR and 1 hard drive and X-Fi sound card.
 

Keysplayr

Elite Member
Jan 16, 2003
21,209
50
91
OP, what kind of audio setup are you using? Onboard audio, Soundblaster Audigy/X-Fi?
 

adlep

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2001
5,287
6
81
IMO the 600W PSU should be enough to support a single GTX260.
Tip:
Nvidia Cpanel (on the taskbar) will let you to adjust the fan speed (Performance -> Adjust GPU settings). Go to GPU Fan Settings -> Direct Fan Control -> Crank it up to 80%. It will get loud, but you want to eliminate the cooling issues.

Also, you want to download the newest beta set of drivers 177.79 drivers as they do fix a lot of issues. The symptoms that you are describing may indicate that your GPU is downclocking
EVGA FIX For That -> More Info is here :D
 

Defacil

Member
Jul 20, 2004
67
0
0
I use onboard audio. I had heard about the downclocking issue but my evga precision tool never indicated such problems like downclocking.
 

videopho

Diamond Member
Apr 8, 2005
4,185
29
91
it sounds like your psu should work fine with the 260.
You may try new driver if have not yet done so.
Either go to eVGA or NV site snd use th 177.79 (Beta)
Back to topic I too need a much more juicer/beefier psu.
I'm considering the Thermaltake 700W
 

OCGuy

Lifer
Jul 12, 2000
27,227
36
91
Which "latest" drivers are you using? Use the .79 betas, they fix all downclocking issues.

Basically they added a "speedstep" like power saving feature on GT200. The problem is, the initial drivers would not properly recognize when to revert back to 2D mode, so you would get frame drops in the middle of a game.

I personally dont ever want my core to drop, so I use Rivatuner to "Force Constant 3D mode."

 

Defacil

Member
Jul 20, 2004
67
0
0
Ok, after reading a bit more about the downclocking issue, I did a sweep of all the drivers and installed the beta drivers from evga. The beta drivers did fix the solution for my earlier example (warcraft3) but I still chug/stutter in games like TF2 and CoD4 (although I'm 99.9% positive CoD4's issue is totally different than video).

Anyhow, I'm confident the problem is not my PSU now but may involve my video card. I used furmark for 10 minutes and no problems arose. Is there another benchmark/stability-test program I should try?
 

RaulF

Senior member
Jan 18, 2008
844
1
81
mmmm, i doubt is your PSU see if the voltage is steady while playing(everest if you can get with a G15 would work) i have similar setup with a Enemax 500 and same vga and cpu 4 sticks of ram and 2 raptors 1 hitachi 1TB HD with 3 case fans.

Yeah the COD4 is pissing me off, that's the only game that gives me issues. Still trying to figure out what the problems is.
 

Defacil

Member
Jul 20, 2004
67
0
0
Here's what I am going to / ended up doing:

RMA my gtx260
completely format my main partition and reinstall everything
 

RanDum72

Diamond Member
Feb 11, 2001
4,330
0
76
After what I've read so far, I don't think the video card is defective, sounds more like a driver/software compatibility issue. Why don't you reformat your system THEN try the GTX 260? Also make sure you have the latest chipset drivers for your motherboard, including the sound drivers and use the latest beta nvidia drivers.
 

OCGuy

Lifer
Jul 12, 2000
27,227
36
91
Originally posted by: Defacil
Here's what I am going to / ended up doing:

RMA my gtx260
completely format my main partition and reinstall everything


If you RMA'd your 260 before installing the new drivers.......wow.
 

cusideabelincoln

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
3,268
11
81
Ha, yeah you should definitely reformat the computer first. If you are still experiencing issues, then you can RMA your video card.