"f00ge" said:
Thanks for the reply, Paul.
Getting that amp-meter and volt-meter etc. will most likely turn out to be
more expensive/difficult, then actually getting a new video card.
Plus I'm no electrician. I would probably end up electrocuting myself or the
pc.
Anyway, don't you think all this points to a faulty video card?
I've had three different PSUs in it - two of them kept giving me the message
as described in my first post. And the 3rd one gets hotter than hell.
I've had a PCI video card in this PC. The PSU didn't get even warm there.
And yes, the PSU fan is working. I can feel the fan blowing out of the case.
(There is only one fan in there, afaik)
Yes, you are right. The PSU only really gets hot when I'm in 3D games. Which
again gets me thinking this whole thing might be a video card issue.
What do you think? Should I try to get it replaced?
That information is useful (that a PCI card doesn't make the PSU hot).
But, it doesn't tell us whether the FX5900 is within normal power
consumption bounds or not. The FX5900 is a top end card, and power
consumption could be 60 to 70 watts while in 3D mode. This should be
5 or 6 amps or so, flowing in the +12V lead which is connected to the
four pin power connector on the video card.
Generally, to RMA product for warranty returns, you need symptoms to
convince the vendor that the product is broken. You could, I suppose,
claim there are colored lines or blocks on the screen, when there shouldn't
be any. Sometimes, the product you get in return, is a "refurb",
which is a product returned by someone else, that has been repaired
and tested by the manufacturer. As many products that are returned
are "no fault found" at the factory, there shouldn't be anything
wrong with these refurbed cards.
I'm a technical kind of guy, so I generally want to understand _what_ is
going on in the computer, if at all possible. Sure, you can try replacing
the video card, but how do you know this will fix the problem ?
Maybe a better power supply won't get quite as hot ? If the video card
measures 5 or 6 amps, as expected, maybe the power supply is the thing
to replace.
What you do next, may depend on economics. A trip to your local computer
shop (phone and ask if they have a clamp-on ammeter to measure current)
might cost you $50. Presumably, if you RMA the video card, there will
be shipping costs. Compare the charges and see which is more reasonable.
You might also check around, to see if you can borrow or rent a clamp-on
ammeter overnight. Open the side of the case. Start a 3D test running,
like 3DMark or a game that runs in demo mode. Close the jaws of the
clamp-on ammeter around the +12V wire of the four wire power cable that
goes to the video card. The pinout for cables on ATX power supplies
and the "Peripheral Power Connector" in particular, is on page 19 of:
http://www.formfactors.org/developer/specs/atx/atx2_1.pdf
Turn the clamp-on ammeter on, and set it to DC current. The setting
you choose should be sufficient to measure the current. On my meter,
this would be DC 40A full scale, to measure the (hopefully) 5 amps
being drawn from +12V by the video card. On my meter, the symbol for
DC current looks like this:
_____ <---flat bar with
40A - - - <---three hyphens underneath
As long as you don't open up the power supply itself, the wires inside
the computer are insulated, so you won't be making contact with any
wires anyway. The whole purpose of the clamp-on ammeter, is that
you make no contact with the conducters in the cable. The amp meter
clamps _around_ the wire and is actually measuring the magnetic field,
to derive a measurement of the current flow. This is different than
using a cheaper, conventional multimeter, where you actually have to
interrupt the flow of current, to insert the multimeter's current
measuring circuit in series with the power supply voltage in question.
I use my clamp-on ammeter on my outdoor central air conditioner, which
is connected to 220V AC. I only dare do that, because I'm not disturbing
or changing any connections inside the unit. The ammeter goes around one
wire at a time on the power feed, and doesn't physically have to touch it.
(Note - if the clamp on ammeter is placed around the two wires of an
appliance, the AC current measured is zero. The reason this happens, is the
magnetic fields of the two wires cancel each other out. That is why only
one wire at a time should be measured. I have a "cheater cord"
to make it possible to clamp the meter around one of the AC wires at
a time, when measuring the AC current flowing in an appliance.)
For a demo of how a clamp-on ammeter works, go here:
http://fluke.com/products/home.asp?SID=5&AGID=3&PID=30405
Click the "Virtual Demo" button. When the popup window appears, there
should be a Flash animation in the upper window. Click the blue text
string underneath that window - it says "Fluke 330 Clamp Meter Demo".
You should end up here:
http://fluke.com/VirtualMeters/330/330shock.asp
Another window with the word "Shockwave" in the title bar should open.
Click the "Explore" button in the middle of the window. There, you can
see a nice picture of a clamp-on ammeter. Click the "jaw trigger"
button, to see how the jaws open. With the jaws open, you put the wire
you want to measure the current in, inside the jaw area, then allow
the jaws to close again, so the jaws surround the wire. It's that
simple
To sum the currents in
You are right about the cost - the meter I bought is a nice one and
it cost $400 CDN.
HTH,
Paul
