I have been running this system for some time with no issues and great game play. Over the past few months though, I noticed some particles and graphic tearing in game which was easily remedied by minimizing the game and then bringing it back up. I figured that my GPU was on it's way out, as it was old. Also, I figured my PSU was getting old and figured if I replace the two I can't go wrong (should fix the issues all together).
I placed an order for a 360w PSU and an XFX 256MB GeForce 7900 GS (AGP).
I ran a quick 3dMark05 just to get some comparison before/after installing the new hardware. The end result ended up being a 2000+ point gain over the old hardware : ). I also ran a game (Age of Empires 3 - Asian Dynasties) along side Fraps to check my FPS at different points of gameplay (which ended up not too bad 40-60Fps). After a few times of minimizing the game to make notes, the horrid issue occured.
When I minimized the game the last time the whole desktop brokeout with particle distortion. I then Maximized the game to see what was going on. The whole game had gone mad, particles and color distortion everywhere and then the game eventualy locked up. After that my monitor shutdown and my PC seemed to still be running. Without my monitor I had to hold the power button to turn off the PC. I waited a few minutes and pushed the power button and the PC seemed to fire up but still no monitor so I pushed the power button again to turn it off and it seems it did not fully boot because the PC shut off right away (as it does when you are in the bios or in DOS mode, anything pre-windows).
I then put the Old GPU back in the PC and the PC booted just fine.
What is happening here? Was I right to replace the hardware that I did? Is the new card screwed or incompatible? What should I do next?
A common misconception about PSUs is that they will always run at their rated wattage, therefore many people will skimp on the size thinking that they're saving electricity. For example, if you had a 1000W PSU & your PC only required 400W, that's all the PSU would produce. It wouldn't sit there needelessly churning out 1000W.
That being said, the Dell 305W PSU was designed to handle the factory hardware & has little reserve power to handle a high-end video card, soundblaster card, added RAM, etc. 305W is definitely undersized & "upgrading" to a 360W PSU certainly isn't much of an improvement. Amperage is the key ingredient. If your PSU has a single +12v rail, it should have approx 30A +/- on the +12v line...if it has dual +12v rails, each should have 18A +/-.
I don't know what you paid for the 360W unit, but you should have played it safe & gotten at least a 500W brand name unit with decent amperage specs.
Generally, you should expect to pay at least $50 (before rebate) for a good PSU, but here's an example of a "cheapie" with decent specs:
What I am concerned more about is the graphical issues and what happened with my new card.
In regards to the PSU, I placed a call to Dell and talked with them through a Chat Session to compare and the both said that the most my MoBo can handle is not too much more then 350w.
Originaly they said 250w but when I stated that my PC came Factory istalled with a 305w they said that my PC must have been a late model and they must have upgraded to a 305w but their system indicated that the MoBo could not handle much more then a 350w. Since most Graphics Cards that I have looked at say Requires at least a 350w PSU I figured I would be ok MoBo wise and Graphics Card wise going with the 360w (which cost me $50 and the brand is Zalman, also has a quite fan which may add to the price I don't know).
"Obviously Dell knows more than me, so take their advice & continue having problems...it's no skin off my a$$."
Dude, I was just pointing out what they said. I use my PC for all kinds of things so I have to play it safe. So, avoiding burning up the system is a must. I am not to keen on all the voltage and wattage ratings and so I asked Dell what would be safe to install without running the risk of burning up the PC. If your telling me that you can put whatever in there and the PC wil only take what it needs, instead of the PSU outputting too much and frying the board then I would be more than happy to return the PSU and get a higher rated one.
"If your telling me that you can put whatever in there and the PC wil only take what it needs, instead of the PSU outputting too much and frying the board then I would be more than happy to return the PSU and get a higher rated one"
That is EXACTLY what I'm telling you. And the vast majority of Dell tech support people have never opened up a PC case in their lives. They give standard answers from the tech support manual.
It may be too late for you though...your video card appears to have been damaged either by overheating or by running it with inadequate power. You didn't happen to try overclocking it, did you?
Nope, I wouldn't even know where to start with overclocking it. I just installed the New Graphics Card and PSU. Everything was fine for the first 1 1/2 hours that I was running 3dMark05 and Playing AoE3 and then the whole screen went crazy, PC crashed and then this is how it looks now. Also, these pictures were taken in between the Monitor turning on and off continualy.
Not sure if this is due to not enough power and a higher rated PSU will fix it or the card is just bad now.
Are either of these good and if so which should I go with:
Also, do you think I should wait for the new PSU to see if it will remedy the GPU issue or is there no chance that the higher rated PSU will fix that (the card needs to be replaced)?
"do you think I should wait for the new PSU to see if it will remedy the GPU issue"
It wouldn't hurt to wait, but I have my doubts. In the meantime, check into BFG's warranty policy & you may wanna try contacting their tech support to see if they can help. The RMA process usually takes weeks.
"Since you're willing to pay $70 +/- for a decent PSU, consider this Corsair 450W unit with 33A on the single +12v rail:"
While I would love to do that, my situation is this, I have an account with Dell and I get several different discounts through them so the above PSU's are the best in the 400W-600W range without paying +$100.
From looking through their PSU's in the 400W-600W range (including the most expensive), the highest rated Amperage per 12v Rail seems to be 18A. While the OCZ and Antec above run at 18A per 12v rail the Thermaltake does not (14A/15A). If I was able to properly understand the info you linked me it seems the OCZ has 4 12v rails, while the Antec and Thermal have 2 rails.
So I am guessing that the toss up is between the OCZ and the Antec.
OCZ: 4 12v Rails at 18A (600W) Antec: 2 12v Rails at 18A (500W)
So the question is, which of them will be Sufficient and Durable Enough.
I also want to thank you for all of your help. I have to say that I put off researching info about PSU's for to long. >.<
"I have to say that I put off researching info about PSU's for to long"
I was in the same boat a few years ago. I was pretty much "up" on all the rest of the hardware, but didn't pay too much attention to the PSU until I had a problem. That was when I realized how little I knew about them & how important they actually are. So I did my best to learn as much as I could.
If you haven't read the 1st link I listed in response # 8 (Power Supply Myths Exposed), I highly suggest you do so. The last question (# 8) deals with the multiple +12v rail issue. It seemed like a good idea when it 1st came about, but as is explained, there's a fair amount of waste when doing it that way.
Anyhow, to answer your question...you're correct in thinking that the Thermaltake shouldn't be considered. It's a good unit but doesn't have enough amps on the +12v for a gaming system. The Antec & the OCZ are both good but 4 rails make the OCZ the better choice. Here's a review:
The OCZ is the one that I was also leaning toward and again I thank you.
"I was pretty much "up" on all the rest of the hardware, but didn't pay too much attention to the PSU until I had a problem."
I think this is also where I have been going wrong as I have had issues with PC's and never figured out the issue. Continualy replacing PSU's along with other hardware and having a proper PSU probably would have fixed all my issues from start.
Well now that I have the PSU knowledge out of the way, I think a lot of my PC headaches will be releaved.
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