Specific answers required.

[hazeman]

So I've been noticing some things lately. MY system build is in my signature, but I need some clarification on a few things before I go swapping anything out.

First and foremost, I've been suggested that my current 430W PSU is inadequate. However, with these suggestions comes no specifics. (i.e. What are tell-tale signs of an underpowered build?) Along with the PSU conundrum, the unit offers only two SATA power connectors which are in series with each other. This actually made drive placement in the bays unfavorable. So I have my HDD and DVD Burner on essentially the same rail and power connection.

On the Mobo, the SATAII connectors labeled 0 and 1, post as 3 and 4. I've yet to have any direct response to this as well. All seems to operate fine, however I cannot locate documentation stating whether or not these connectors are locked.

Lastly, this is of great concern. My original build had two sticks of DDR-1066 OCZ HPC modules rated at 2.1v. These modules came highly recommended for OCing, however, they were purchased by mistake (long story). As it turns out, I was having problems with stability with these modules, not knowing that the Gigabyte BIOS was NOT going to make changes to under-compensate based off the EPP settings of the modules and the pre-configured board voltages. I ran these 2.1v modules on a 1.8v board (OC'd to 2.2v) for a period of 3 days before actually OCing the CPU/NB/HTT. Did I damage the CPU or NB by maxing the vcore on the modules?


Thank you for your time and assistance.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Get yourself a nice Corsiar VX450. That will easly handle your system and not break the bank. While the system may be running fine now it may not be doing so good in a few months. You are possibly taxing that PSU a bit too much and it will wear out on you.

SATA port numbers don't really matter unless your working with a raid and it has to be on the same controler if the motherboard has more then one raid chip on it.

The RAM is fine.

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: hazeman
What are tell-tale signs of an underpowered build?

Instability and crashes under load, especially video card load, such as when running a game. Are you experiencing any problems or does it feel okay? What stability tests did you run while overclocking, and did they run reliably? I'd guess that PSU might be less than ideal if you've got a big overclock but maybe not.

Lastly, this is of great concern. My original build had two sticks of DDR-1066 OCZ HPC modules rated at 2.1v. These modules came highly recommended for OCing, however, they were purchased by mistake (long story). As it turns out, I was having problems with stability with these modules, not knowing that the Gigabyte BIOS was NOT going to make changes to under-compensate based off the EPP settings of the modules and the pre-configured board voltages. I ran these 2.1v modules on a 1.8v board (OC'd to 2.2v) for a period of 3 days before actually OCing the CPU/NB/HTT. Did I damage the CPU or NB by maxing the vcore on the modules?

That's called Vdimm usually - Vcore is the CPU core voltage - and overclocking is when you raise the clock not the voltage. Not wanting to be picky but it might confuse people.

Anyway 2.2V is not that much for good modules. The ratings on the board and on the modules are just a guideline and if you're overclocking you'll probably have to raise it a little higher than that. If you're not overclocking just run them at 2.1V according to those guidelines. The board should be able to provide a lot more than that no trouble, it's not a 1.8v board that's just the default, and with the default BIOS and no hardware mods it actually will not allow you to damage it by running too much Vdimm. It may have the capacity to provide enough V to damage the modules but not the board itself.

So what speeds did you achieve on the CPU and HT?

 

[daveybrat]

Yes you definitely need a better power supply. The AMD X2 5600+ in my signature system had that exact same power supply when i upgraded that system. It 'seemed' to work fine until i stressed the system out or played games.

I would get random hard locking constantly. I upgraded to an Antec 550Watt Triopower and never had another issue since.

The problem is that power supply only has 18Amps on the 12v line which is too little for a Kuma system with a 9800GT card.

 

[hazeman]

Thank you for the replies.

Originally posted by: mpilchfamily
Get yourself a nice Corsiar VX450. That will easly handle your system and not break the bank. While the system may be running fine now it may not be doing so good in a few months. You are possibly taxing that PSU a bit too much and it will wear out on you.

If I do opt to upgrade the PSU, I'll be "forced" to go higher than that. That was the PSU I was going to get. The TT430 was significantly less expensive with comparable data-- hence my choice was made. I believe if anything I'll go the route suggested by daveybrat and go for 550W+. Not necessarily Antec, but a trusted manufacturer nonetheless.

Originally posted by: Atheus
Instability and crashes under load, especially video card load, such as when running a game. Are you experiencing any problems or does it feel okay? What stability tests did you run while overclocking, and did they run reliably? I'd guess that PSU might be less than ideal if you've got a big overclock but maybe not.

I'm running stock clocks and speeds atm. I wanted to get a bit more juice from this setup though, but I'm trying to cover all the bases concerning the PSU. I ran a burn-in test and some similar modules with Sandra 2009. I figured running NFS: Pro Street at HD res for 2 hours would be enough of a "stress test" System runs fine but the concerns with the PSU have been revolving around this board and has risen own-suspicion. I went to Journey Systems and entered my build information and it was suggested that this build is roughly 280W at load. I tend to err on the side of caution, being a son of an electrician/auto mechanic that "just enough is not enough." However, 150W is quite a bit to play with and that's where I stand now. OC'ing this build will require additional demand from the PSU. The consensus is, my PSU is under-powering my system?