Problems with power supply....

[ashivji]

I just put together a new system, it is a p4 2.8C (800mhz FSB) with 1 gig of pc3200 DDR ram running at 400mhz, an Asus P4C800 DLX (Intel 875 chipset) motherboard, as well as an Asus GF 4 TI 4600 graphics card. I am using a Generic 350W power supply. I can install the operating system fine ( I have tried Windows 98,XP and 2000), once I get windows going, anything I do that is graphicly intensive (loading a webpage etc) causes the screen to flicker, and eventually the system to crash. If I don't install any drivers for the card, the flickering is much less frequent and the system is more stable. I have tried many different drivers, and I have gotten my hardware tested by the store I bought it from, it is all fine. I have also tried putting in a Radeon 7000 64MB card, it causes the screen to become garbled and eventually unreadable. I have a strong feeling that the problem has to do with the power supply (not enough power?) does anyone have any ideas? I have tried everything I can think of.


Thanks,
Aaron

 

[redhatlinux]

Either the PS is bad or the AGP slot on the mobo, your guess is as good as mine. Generic PS's are frequently flakey, its probably easier to change the PS than the mobo.

 

[shootinyou]

PS gets my vote, what are your voltage readings in the bios?

 

[ashivji]

Voltages:

VCORE 1.52
3.3V 2.68
5V 5.95
12V 11.61

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[capricorn]

That 3.3v line certainly looks suspicious. If you look on the power supply, what are its ratings for the various outputs (especially the 12v one)? Someone pointed out a really good article on choosing a power supply that might help.

-cap

 

[ashivji]

+3.3 ---- 28A
+5 ------ 35A
+12----- 17A

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[capricorn]

If that power supply is living up to those ratings, that really ought to be enough. That 3.3 line stills sounds low. If you load up AsusProbe, does it complain about it?

If your motherboard supports it, you might try increasing the voltage to the AGP slot a bit. The fan on the Ti4600 is turning ok, right? Decent airflow around it and all? Is it getting really hot when you do 3D work/games?

-cap