Power supply troubles

[fishmonger12]

Ok, first here's the setup:

Windows vista 64 bit
4 gigs mem super talent ddr 2 667
athlon 64 x2 3600+
Biostar TA690g motherboard
xfx 8800gts 320 mb factory overclocked edition
2x sata hard drives, dvd drive.
Antec NeoHE 550 Watt psu*

*(keep reading)

So this PC was built, booted up and installed windows just fine. Started doing some stress testing with various games, ut2k4, rainbow six vegas, and some dvd playing. About five to ten minutes in to play, the computer will show a black screen for 5 or so seconds, then it will either recover and continue playing the game or whatever, or it will stay black indefinitely, requiring a reboot to fix it. I figured it was a power problem. On paper, the NeoHE should easily be substantial enough to power the system, so I figured there was something wrong with this particular one. Bought a new one from Worst Buy (TM), had the same problems. Took that one back, bought a BFG 650 Watt power supply. Same problem. I think it's a power problem because I can reproduce it by playing back a large demo and doing lots of hard drive reads and writes at the same time, but these power supplies should be more than ample to power the system. The hard drive reads and writes seem to make the black screens much more frequent.

Ran memtest and prime95 to make sure it wasn't a cpu or memory problem. Those ran flawlessly.

So my question is, do any of you have any insight? I thought it might have something to do with split rails, but I tried a bunch of different rail configurations and got the same problem. The pc doesn't have this problem when using the integrated graphics on the motherboard.

Should I buy a newer, even bigger, power supply to run this system, or should I look for another culprit like the motherboard? Help me out here. Let me know if you need any more info.

 

[oynaz]

Why is it that people always blame their power supplies for everything from famine in Africa to the price of fish.
You have the same problem with no less than 3 different PSUs. Obviously your problem lies elsewhere. You even isolated the problem yourself.

"The pc doesn't have this problem when using the integrated graphics on the motherboard."
- well, guess which part is the prime suspect then. Your video card is defective, and probably overheating is the problem. If it is under warranty, RMA it.

Sorry for being sarcastic, but when you have tested RAM and CPU fine, tried 3 different PSUs and made the problem go away by swiching video card, I honestly cannot understand how can doubt that the video card is the culprit.

Cheers

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: oynaz
- well, guess which part is the prime suspect then. Your video card is defective, and probably overheating is the problem. If it is under warranty, RMA it.

RMA a "factory overclocked" working video card because of "overheating"? :shocked:

* How can overheating be blamed on a factory overclocked video card. The card isn't oprtating in a void, it's inside of a case.
* If his case air flow sucks, then he will be trapped in an endless cycle of RMAs.
* Make sure your air flow in the case is good, then clock the video card to the GPUs default settings (not overclocked), load the latest drivers for your card & OS... Begin testing again.

BTW, What case are you have and what fan configuration are you using in it?

 

[oynaz]

"RMA a "factory overclocked" working vi2eo card because of "overheating"? "

No, because other likely points of failure has been overruled.


* The card isn't oprtating in a void, it's inside of a case. "

- What? My guess is overheating due to a defective cooler or card, a very common error on video cards. No voodoo of any kind i involved.


"* If his case air flow sucks, then he will be trapped in an endless cycle of RMAs. "

Well yes, but given that he has gone to the trouble of testing RAM, CPU no less than 3 different PSUs and tried a different video card, I doubt that he has wrapped his case in cotton or something similar.


"* Make sure your air flow in the case is good, then clock the video card to the GPUs default settings (not overclocked),"

Why? He paid for a factory overclocked card. If it does not work at the promised clock speed, it is per definition defective, and should be RMA'd. Underclocking it is a waste of time.


"load the latest drivers for your card & OS... Begin testing again. "

You believe crashing after 5 to 10 minutes of heavy use is due a misinstalled driver? I think that is very unlikely.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: oynaz
"load the latest drivers for your card & OS... Begin testing again. "

You believe crashing after 5 to 10 minutes of heavy use is due a misinstalled driver? I think that is very unlikely.

You are completely within your rights to think that.

 

[fishmonger12]

You people are extremely hostile. Go away. If you can't offer good advice without blowing your load all over my thread, you need to go do something else with your spare time.

I tried the vid card in another system and it works flawlessly, ran ut2k4 @32 bots for 24 hours straight all highest settings, this usually brings my system to a crash in less then 10 minutes.

The physical vid card isn't the problem, RMAing it wouldn't help.

The reason why I'm almost 100% sure it's a power issue is because when I increase the power draw by reading/writing the hard drives continuously while playing a demanding game, the crash occurs much more quickly and more often. Perhaps it has something to do with the way the motherboard regulates power? I don't know. Which is why I'm asking for input. Legitimate input. Not BS.

Onto the response:

Case config: coolermaster mini-atx case with 120mm intake fan, 2x 80 mm output fans on back, 1x 80mm output on side. I've been doing these tests with the case open anyways so this shouldn't matter.

 

[nineball9]

Why is it that people always blame their power supplies for everything from famine in Africa to the price of fish.

I got a chuckle out of that analogy! Alas, so true too... Everything that runs off AC but has DC components in it has a power supply. TV's, radios, amplifiers etc all have power supplies, albeit not in a metal container, but for budding PC builders, the PSU is the first guess when any problem occurs.

OP: any info in your system logs?