Register
Events
Popular
More
Post #1
Hey All! Just need some input before I go swapping and replacing parts, not sure if this is the right section but I figured you guys would understand PSU loads and hardware set up more than any others... :(
I’ve started to notice some worrying problems with my PC that I built a few months back and I can't seem to find where the fault is coming from.
The first issue I noticed was that my computer would randomly bsod. The only way to recover would be to hard reboot (just hitting reset will cause it to fail post). Once back to desktop I would get a Windows error referring to an issue with nVidia drivers/hardware.
Another problem is when I'm gaming (Fallout 3 is the main culprit lately) the screen will switch to a random colour (last was a shitty brown) and then just hang there again until hard reboot.
Finally and more concerning I've recently noticed after moving my PC up onto my desk off the floor a very high pitched squeal, it's very fine and quite quiet but just the right pitch to annoy the shit out of you, especially when your PC is an arms length from your ear.
Also during my last play of Fallout I noticed a deeper buzzing when in game, that would go away when I hit ESC for the menu, but then come back when I go back in-game. The rate and pitch of this buzzing also changes when I do stuff in game to put load on the graphics.
I've done a little research and it seems to point to an weak/poor quality power supply. But it could well be my Graphics card too... Please Help.
My set-up...
CPU: AMD Phenom II 955 BE
MOBO: MSI 790FX GD-70
RAM: 4GB Corsair XMS3 1333mhz
GFX: XFX GTX 260 (216 core)
SFX: Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer
PSU: Coolermaster RealPower M620 (620W)
HDD: 1x 1TB WD Caviar Black + 1x 500GB Samsung Spinpoint F1
DVD RW Drive
Case: Antec Twelve Hundred (running 8 fans in total)
CPU Cooling: Zalman CNPS9900
Obviously 620W would seem like enough but I do have allot of hardware running, so could that put allot of strain on my PSU? I'm just thinking it may be struggling when under load.
I'm running Fallout 3 on Max settings at 1440 x 900 Res.
Oh and nothings OC'd
-
-
You should have no problem at all running your system on that PSU... That can't be the problem.
-
Well it could be a lot of things. I would RMA your graphics card, if it's still under warranty, in order to get rid of those blue screens.
Do you have a microphone? Start recording and put it next to your GPU fan, RAM, CPU fan, PSU, and all the case fans and figure out where it's coming from.
-
Graphics card is still under warranty so I suppose I could RMA it, but that would leave me without a PC for about 2 weeks. Although I was considering swapping my GTX 260 for either 2 5770's or a single 5850.
No need to use a microphone I practically stuck my head in the case to have a listen, it's definatly from the graphics card.
I just thought that maybe my power supply might not be up for the job or even faulty. I know it has 620W but its how well it handles the power too, right?
-
Power supplies are all about the +12V rails. In your case, you've got an excellent PSU. If you're considering a new graphics card then buy a new one then RMA the old one and sell it to help pay for the new one.
Otherwise you should just RMA your 260.
-
You're better of with a single 5850 than with a dual 5770.
-
Yes, that would be the ideal way to do it, but I'm lacking greatly on cash atm, and if like Kialtia has suggested then I would have to part with around £230 for a 5850. But RMA(ing) this card seems like the best way to go, I could then keep the one they send me boxed and sealed, then sell as new for around £120?
Edited:
Is my graphics card definatly the problem? My PSU is under warranty too... Do I swap that for something else too?
Also the reson why I considered the 5770 is that, for now, it would be a pretty straight swap from one card to the other seeming their both similarly priced. Then a few months down the line I could buy a 2nd one.
-
Get a 5850, it's bliss
-
Not performance wise. Two 5770's = One 5870.
-
And you get all of the lovely errors and strife generally associated with multiple GPUs.
Keep it simple.
1 powerful GPU is the way to go.
-
And a lot of games don't support CF
-
have you checked your card's temperatures? it might be overheating, also the squeal is just coil whine which is actually pretty common on most graphics cards
-
Yeah I checked the temperature, it idles at 42 then peaks at around 60 so nothing weird going on there. My CPU is even colder at 33 idle and 50 max. I've played Fallout 3 since making this thread and something definatly aint right, its quite a deep buzzing noise. I actaully thought it was something in a fan until I pressed pause and it went away...
And as far as the 5770 vs 5850 or even just getting a 2nd GTX 260 argument goes... its been a long and cold few weeks in forums :(. Suppose the one plus is that my motherboard can very nicely take 3 ATI cards. So i could buy one now, then again in a few months and again in a year or so lol.
But again 5850 or 5770. The 5770 would better suit my current budget, but the 5850 would be the end all for a good year or so and judging from previous experience I'll probably buy an ATI card then a week later Nvidia will release a mid range GTX4 series...
-
arguably. you don't want a weak +5v if you're running a 10 drive RAID array, you don't want a weak +3.3v if you're running a 5 GHz overclock.
but for your average gamer, yeah you want a good +12v
-
high pitched squeal could indicate a leaking capacitor.
Try to find out where its comming from.
(probably PSU)
-
Yeah, Just so happend to read the side of the XFX260s box and it says "Minimum 550W or greater power supply" + "Recommended Non-Sli = 630W or greater". So I just fall into the safety margine. But it also says 12V current rating of 36A minimum... How do you work out your 12V rating? I see alot of numbers on the side of my PSU and I think I have 3 12V rails? ... Please explain, completely lost : (
Edited:
The high pitched beep,sqeal, whine whatever you want to call it is definatly coming from my graphics card there no doubt there. It stopped when I ran my pc without it.
-
Multiple rails are not uncommon. Your PSU has 3x 19a rails, with a total combined output of 516W.
Agree x 1
