PSU behind video card 'failures'?

[DerekBaker]

A couple of weeks ago I had what I though was video card trouble: had a
lot of instability in Windows and eventually there was no picture.

Replaced that X800 with a new X1950GT and all was fine.

Until yesterday. When I turned on the machine the fans ran, but nothing
else happened.

Testing today, shows the machine's fine with my old Radeon 8500.

Replaced the 430w Seasonic S12 with an Antec 550w that I already had.
Now it will work with the 8500 and the 'broken' X800 - the X1950GT is
still no go.

The 550 - a True Power - can't power an X1960GT when there's only the
CPU, one stick of memory, a keyboard and mouse and the room temp's 19C?

The question is is it worth getting something more powerful such as a
Corsair 620?

Thanks

 

[JAD]

A couple of weeks ago I had what I though was video card trouble: had a lot of
instability in Windows and eventually there was no picture.

Replaced that X800 with a new X1950GT and all was fine.

Until yesterday. When I turned on the machine the fans ran, but nothing else happened.

Testing today, shows the machine's fine with my old Radeon 8500.

Replaced the 430w Seasonic S12 with an Antec 550w that I already had. Now it will work
with the 8500 and the 'broken' X800 - the X1950GT is still no go.

The 550 - a True Power - can't power an X1960GT when there's only the CPU, one stick of
memory, a keyboard and mouse and the room temp's 19C?

if the PSU is failing on any rail then the system gets flakey. FME, 7 out of 10 problems
boil down to the PSU(especially in the last 3 years)

The question is is it worth getting something more powerful such as a Corsair 620?

Read the reviews. If your going to spend the cash, do the research and get your money's
worth.
Advertised High wattage numbers mean nothing in the PSU world these days,..

 

[Dr.H@l0nf1r£$]

if the PSU is failing on any rail then the system gets flakey. FME, 7
out of 10 problems boil down to the PSU(especially in the last 3
years)



Read the reviews. If your going to spend the cash, do the research
and get your money's worth.
Advertised High wattage numbers mean nothing in the PSU world these
days,..

Sometimes they can refer to the minimum load necessary to induce the unit's
detonation.

 

[Frank McCoy]

In alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt "Dr.H@l0nf1r£$"

Sometimes they can refer to the minimum load necessary to induce the unit's
detonation.

.... or complete meltdown.

 

[John Jordan]

A couple of weeks ago I had what I though was video card trouble: had a
lot of instability in Windows and eventually there was no picture.

Replaced that X800 with a new X1950GT and all was fine.

Until yesterday. When I turned on the machine the fans ran, but nothing
else happened.

Testing today, shows the machine's fine with my old Radeon 8500.

Replaced the 430w Seasonic S12 with an Antec 550w that I already had.
Now it will work with the 8500 and the 'broken' X800 - the X1950GT is
still no go.

The 550 - a True Power - can't power an X1960GT when there's only the
CPU, one stick of memory, a keyboard and mouse and the room temp's 19C?

It's a <40W idle card, so that seems rather implausible. If this is a
PSU issue (which I'm not convinced about), it's not a straightforward
capacity issue. The X800 has very similar idle consumption, btw.

If all these cards are AGP, maybe an issue with the auxiliary power
connector? Make sure it's connected to the first molex from the PSU,
preferably with no extension cables.