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| Thread ID: 29695 | 2003-01-29 22:59:00 | Possible power supply problems | craig_b (2740) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 117220 | 2003-01-29 22:59:00 | I have a problem where my PC constantly restarts when I run graphically intensive programs. I had thought the issue was the graphics card itself, but I have been told that it is possibly my power supply, in that it is too minimal for the job. I have 2 7200RPM hdd's, cd player, graphics card, lan and modem. The processor is a 1.2GHz athlon, and the power supply is 250W. Is there any way I can monitor the supply just before the pc resets to see if it is the power supply that is dropping out or if it is the card? Cheers, Craig. |
craig_b (2740) | ||
| 117221 | 2003-01-29 23:35:00 | Can't answer your actualy question. BUT what OS are you using? If it's XP have you disabled the option of reset on BSOD? |
roofus (483) | ||
| 117222 | 2003-01-30 00:05:00 | I am using XP pro, and I can't say I have ever seen this option. can you let me know how to set/change it. Something to note, I was told to decrease my agp settings in the bios to disable fast writes and set speed to 2x. This seems to have stopped the problem, but I am going to test that further with other apps. Does this indicate power or graphics fault? |
craig_b (2740) | ||
| 117223 | 2003-01-30 00:29:00 | I would suspect the powersupply, it is going to be extremely marginal. There was a discussion on the current drawn by cpus a little while ago. A 1.2GHz Athlon Thunderbird puts out 66 watts at 1.75v core voltage with %100 useage, thats 37.7 amps. That current requirement may well be more than the psu can deliver without a severe drop in voltage or a shut-down. I'd be inclined to invest in a good 300watt or more psu. Even my Aopen 300watt is theoretically iffy with a 1.33GHz Athlon, but it probably has a good design margin built in. |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
| 117224 | 2003-01-30 00:36:00 | The problem you have encountered is caused by your VIA chipset. This is why my next computer will not have a VIA chipset in it. Many VIA users with this problem report improvements with an increased power supply, however this evidence is only anecdotal. You may have some sucess by changing your AGP Driving Value from Auto to EA (for Nvidia cards only!). I suggest however you leave it on auto and leave AGP at 2x with no Fast Writes. AGP 4x and Fast Writes only give a marginal improvement in performance on a system such as yours anyway, at a large cost to stability. |
BIFF (1) | ||
| 117225 | 2003-01-30 00:37:00 | > I have a problem where my PC constantly restarts when > I run graphically intensive programs. I had thought > the issue was the graphics card itself, but I have > been told that it is possibly my power supply, in > that it is too minimal for the job. > > I have 2 7200RPM hdd's, cd player, graphics card, lan > and modem. The processor is a 1.2GHz athlon, and the > power supply is 250W. > > Is there any way I can monitor the supply just before > the pc resets to see if it is the power supply that > is dropping out or if it is the card? > > Cheers, > Craig. I would go for a 300W PWR Supply anyway (try to get one of the dual fan jobbies, they’re great), but I guess you could hook up a muitimeter to the supply rails and check the voltage that way. Cheers Liam |
nz_liam (845) | ||
| 117226 | 2003-01-30 01:38:00 | Cheers for the info biff, can you give me details on the problem, ie why it is caused by via chipsets? By the way, I have noticed a large decrease in graphics quality by switching to 2x AGP... I now have to run games on low graphics to play them wheras before I was able to use medium or high... So, in your opinion, this problem would not be fixable, short of a new motherboard? Cheers, Craig. |
craig_b (2740) | ||
| 117227 | 2003-01-30 02:41:00 | Thanks for everyones help on this, but I found a solution. I was reading some info on the web about via chipsets and AGP issues. Turns out it is a known problem and a patch has been released as part of the 4 in 1 drivers. I installed them and the latest drivers from nvidia (which worked this time!!!!) and am now back up to AGP 4x speed and everything is working sweet as. I am about to try increasing the res and detail in the problem games to see where the best level is. Cheers, Craig. |
craig_b (2740) | ||
| 117228 | 2003-01-30 02:50:00 | Tut! tut! you were told to install the lasted chipset drivers days ago! :-) Glad you got it sorted however. :-) | BIFF (1) | ||
| 117229 | 2003-01-30 02:53:00 | Yeah, i did install them a couple of days ago, but i think now I installed the wrong ones - the last set i got from the via website, but this time i looked up my motherboard on gigabytes site and found a different package. Anyway, everything seems to be working OK, I have been able to play UT2003 with medium detail wheras before I couldn't even play it without a crash, so it must be all good. Thanks, Craig. |
craig_b (2740) | ||
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