Think my PSU is the problem here?

[Rogue 2]

Rig worked fine w/ my old AXP-based system w/ a 6600GT, sound card, and IEEE1394 card... but now that I'm in 939-land, I am having an interesting cold-boot problem:

My new K8NGM2-FID (bios rev 3.00) is acting oddly on power-up. On a "cold" bootup (first time in the day, where it's been off for at least a couple hours), I hear really really faint clicking... can't really tell if it's from the mobo or the HDD, but I physically switch the PS off, back on, and hit the power button, and it works fine (using it now). No problems if I turn it off for a few minutes and then back on, once it's been on.
I have this power supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153006
Are my problems due to an underpowered system (only 18A on the 12V rail), or should I troubleshoot further and/or RMA the motherboard?

Other components:
3000+ Venice (E6)
2x1GB Sticks G.Skill PC3200 (the red sticks rated at 2.5-3-3-6)
1 x 80GB IDE HDD (I know, need to go SATA soon!)
Using IGP, planning on 6800GS soon...
No other PCI cards, USB, or IEEE1394 devices... just USB mouse and PS2 keyboard.. running fairly lean at the moment.

Any ideas? The HS was loose on the IGP when I first got it, not sure if this may be indicative of other issues.

Thanks in advance...

 

[Rogue 2]

I should clarify.. the power supply has 18A on the 12V rail. Motherboard manual says "PSU should supply greater than 18A at 12V". So perhaps I'm just borderline, or is the manual just playing it safe?

I used a link from another thread on the wattage consumption of all my gear, and with my proposed 6800GS, it will eat up 240W... which at 12V = 20A... but maybe not all of that is draining simply off of the 12V rail.

I'm looking at perhaps getting this PS instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104953
...but if I don't need to spend the $$ on a new PS, I'd prefer not to. My budget dollars are pretty much dry if I get the 6800GS.

Thoughts?

 

[Bobthelost]

No it won't eat up 240W. The entire computer won't draw 240W from the PSU with a 6800 in there.

However it could still be the PSU at fault. The only real way to test it is to get another one and try it instead, if you've got a mate who'll lend you one for a day or two then that'd be best. I'm not a fan of the TT PSU range at all, but it should be enough to power that system, if you can test it with another PSU then maybe RMA would be a possibility?

 

[ta8689]

Well the psu could be going bad. OR a fan. Ive had fans that would make weird noises depending on how long they have been running. cpu fan maybe???

 

[pkme2]

Zero in on noisy fans, one at a time, replace if at fault.
If the noise comes elsewhere, then listen. An click-click at startup could be your floppy drive, a faint click-click-click could be your hdd. Some hdds do make noises occasionally, not to worry. You might find it, good hunting.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Actually if your mobo requires or in the specs of your mobo it says it requires..
I would certainly make sure that the mob requirements were being met.

Also most mobo companies have 1-800 numbers..you might call and ask about your power supply....rather than listening to us try to give advice that nobody will agree is correct advice.

case in point......people claim you only need a 250 watt PSU for your system......think about that one for a few seconds....dopn`t swell on it becuase its rediculous and at best a ludicrous assumption.

Good luck!!

 

[Rogue 2]

Thanks for the advice... some new news: I did a cold boot up just a few hours ago (from being off overnight), and it worked OK - I still heard the weird clicking, which happens only on startup (so it's not a fan), and I think it's my DVD+/-RW drive (NEC 3540).

So now that I've posted this thread it decided to start up fine today. So who knows what's up.. I might just buy a new PSU just to be in the clear anyway. What's $40 anyway, right?

EDIT: To clarify, once it's started up, everything's peachy. I even ran BF2 off the IGP (nVidia 6150) and it works fine for a couple hours.. though it's barely tolerable running on "low" settings at 800x600... <grin> Never a BSOD, or anything else, so... just a weird issue if you ask me.

 

[Rogue 2]

Darn it, it happened again today.
Guess the problem isn't solved after all!

Any more ideas?

 

[SparkyJJO]

Use this to help calculate your PSU wattage needed

I'd assume your PSU is it - that fortron looks good.

 

[Rogue 2]

Based on that link, I need 240W (with my soon-to-arrive 6800 GS)... not sure how much of that sucks off of the 12V rail vs. 5V, 3.3V, etc.? Or is that calculator specifically for 12V load calculations? If so, I'm a couple amps short!