'No Signal' to monitor after a few minutes of gameplay

[Nolf3]

On some games, but not all I lose video after about 5-10 minutes and I basically have to reboot (hold power button to shut it down and reboot). The computer is still running, lights are on, fans still running, but monitor says 'no signal'. This happens when I play Crysis and also Prince of Persia. But when I play NBA2K (one game is about 40 minutes), I can play that fine with no video loss. I really dont play alot of games so only noticed this problem recently.

System Specs:
Dell Dimension 9200
Quad 2.4 GHz
PNY 9600GT Videocard
2 HD's
1 CD/DVD burner

I know the 9600GT says 400W minimum PSU but I found this on the nvidia site (http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiv...index.php?t61578.html) that said the 375W PSU in my Dell should be fine, but maybe its not after all?

Any help would be appreciated. There is a sale on a corsair 400W PSU and I want to know if I need to buy it or my problem might be something else.

 

[Mana]

I had a similar problem to you and couldn't figure out the problem until my power supply blew a year later. Which of course made gaming very difficult for me in that year until I figured it out. Simply put, your power supply is not adequete. What is happening is that you're right on the borderline of your power supply's limits. As such, some games which don't push your videocard as hard and as such don't require as much power work fine. While others, such as Crysis, will push the videocard to the max and cause it to draw more power.

My suggestion would be to, instead of buying that 400W PSU, to buy a 500W PSU just to be safe. It'll also give you a bit of headroom should you add another harddrive or something.

 

[Nolf3]

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking it was something like that and was also thinking about going for a higher PSU instead of the 400 like you said. Maybe I will wait until a good 500W PSU goes on sale then instead of getting this 400W PSU. I dont play games that much anyway so I can wait. Thank you!

 

[mentalcrisis00]

A 500W PSU would definitely do ya for that build and probably have room for upgrade. The power supplies on newegg are super cheap now. My friend and sister bought rosewill's for their builds which I thought would be a cheapo but they're actually pretty nice, AND they were only like 30-50 bucks for 500 watts. They're quiet and my sister has had hers for a couple years now without fail.

Rosewill 550W $49.99 free shipping

Rosewill 550W SLI $49.99 free shipping

The OCZ and antecs are the name brands and are about $30 more for the similar wattage.

Personally I've been running a 485W enermax for 5 years and it's never failed me, I even recently upgraded to the build in my sig and still runs just fine. The 9800gt also has a 400W minimum.

 

[Hauk]

Having some psu overhead certainly can't hurt. As you may know, in general, nV psu recommendations are over-specified.

There are numerous reasons why games crash. Drivers, hardware, patches, temps, OS stability, etc. With Crysis I have to turn my gpu oc's down. With Fallout 3 I sometimes lose signal/blank screen and have to recycle power, while other times it crashes to desktop. I've tried various recommended fixes.

Often times it's so random, some people have zero issues while others experience problems. If you replace the psu and still encounter issues, consider yourself a valued member of the pc gaming community..

 

[Nolf3]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I will get the Rosewill 550W and hopefully that'll do the trick.

 

[MrK6]

The reason those other PSU's are $30 more is because they're actually worth a damn. If you just want to replace the unit in your Dell, grab the on sale Corsair 400W and save some cash. If you want to buy a unit that you can transfer to a possible future build (if you're considering going that route), then buy a more powerful corsair PSU like a 550W. Either way, don't buy a generic PSU, that's what got you here in the first place.

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: Nolf3
Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I will get the Rosewill 550W and hopefully that'll do the trick.

FAILL!!!!!!

Grab the corsair 400w

 

[mmnno]

Originally posted by: MrK6
The reason those other PSU's are $30 more is because they're actually worth a damn. If you just want to replace the unit in your Dell, grab the on sale Corsair 400W and save some cash. If you want to buy a unit that you can transfer to a possible future build (if you're considering going that route), then buy a more powerful corsair PSU like a 550W. Either way, don't buy a generic PSU, that's what got you here in the first place.

Originally posted by: BassBomb

FAILL!!!!!!

Grab the corsair 400w

There's nothing wrong with Rosewills. Not those ones, anyway.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modul...iews&op=Story4&reid=32

Don't be brand sheep and pay double just for the name.

 

[wanderer27]

I'm not so sure about the PSU being the problem with that card.

The first EVGA 9600GT I got did the exact same thing you're experiencing, and I have a 500W PSU.
Turns out it seems there were quite a few problems like this with the 9600GTs - someone said it was a power regulator on the card itself that was the actual problem.

My current 9600GT hasn't had any issues - same hardware otherwise.

 

[MrK6]

Originally posted by: mmnno

Originally posted by: MrK6
The reason those other PSU's are $30 more is because they're actually worth a damn. If you just want to replace the unit in your Dell, grab the on sale Corsair 400W and save some cash. If you want to buy a unit that you can transfer to a possible future build (if you're considering going that route), then buy a more powerful corsair PSU like a 550W. Either way, don't buy a generic PSU, that's what got you here in the first place.

Originally posted by: BassBomb

FAILL!!!!!!

Grab the corsair 400w

There's nothing wrong with Rosewills. Not those ones, anyway.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modul...iews&op=Story4&reid=32

Don't be brand sheep and pay double just for the name.

Has nothing to do with being a "sheep." A PSU is something I buy every 5 years+, so I get a great one when I do. You'll notice that the Rosewill had less than stellar efficiency and ran very hot, nevermind the fact that it only had two SATA connectors. You get what you pay for.

 

[Nolf3]

Thanks for the info wanderer27. So it was a problem with the 9600's then, so I should have returned it when I first got it then? I am going to refuse my order for the psu then. I'd hate to spend the $ and find out its not the psu, am on a budget at the moment like most ppl and since I dont play games all the time anyway. hopefully I can borrow a psu from a friend first. Also found this forum post - http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiv.../index.php?t65194.html
I think I missed my RMA window since I got the card months ago and didnt get around to playing some of these games until now. Thanks again everyone.