Is my psu the reason of crashing?

coohjay

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So I have this decent gaming computer,
Intel E8400
Nvidia Geforce 9600gt
4 GB RAM
350 watt power supply

My computer has been crashing a lot lately like my monitor says no signal randomly, the only way i could fix it was to reboot, also a bunch of Nvidia crashes have been happening when watching videos or playing games. The reason i think is because my power supply is not strong enough for my graphics card. I've been having this problem forever and I've thought about buying a new power supply to fix it all. the reason I'm buying a new power supply is because that's what i think has been causing all the problems, not the graphics card. my graphics card is the Nvidia Geforce 9600 GT and i have a 350 Watt power supply, on the Nvidia website it says that the 9600gt requires a MINIMUM of 400 watt power supply, therefore leads me into thinking it was my power supply that has been leading into my crashes and monitor losing signal.

So i just wanted to know, is my power supply the reason behind all of this? My video card doesn't have enough power to run so it crashes everything. So my investments would be into a new power supply. So please reply because i want to make sure my predictions were right and i should buy a new power supply such as this one http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

Thank you for reading, please help me.

coohjay
 
I would say unless your power supply is from a company like Seasonic then I would think it is the culprit. You can see how low the 12,5,3.3V lines are going to see if they are sagging so much to cause the system to reboot.

That new power supply should be enough to run your system and be good for long usage. You normally want 30% over the max draw you have for a power supply so that when it ages it doesn't start crashing all the time.
 

Jak Atackka

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It's entirely possible your PSU is too low capacity. According to the Tom's Hardware review for that card, it can use up to 200W. If your PSU is an off-brand model or has a weak 12V rail, it may be the issue.

However, you might have a bad graphics card or simply bad video drivers. Have you tried updating your drivers?
 

coohjay

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My graphics driver are fully up to date :) but i just wanna know if my power supply is the problem I have also been on that problem of updating my video card drivers, still crashes. ive tried downloading older drivers but it still crashes. so it all brought me down to the pu and the pc, most likely the psu
 

coohjay

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Yeah so it must be my power supply, I dont know how to see the brand of power supply i have, i could open up my pc and write what it says on the power supply, Lol im not that great with computer stuff, but hopefully you guys can help me make sure its the psu doing this.
 
Well than without watching voltages (requires either a program to monitor them or a Fluke to see them live) you are stuck swapping parts to see. As you state the manufacturer of your video card says your PSU is too small, that means it is highly likely the culprit.

Yes you can open the case and look at the sticker on the side of the PSU to see who makes it and what each rail can handle.
 

coohjay

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So since the PSU is probably the culprit, Would the new PSU I linked be compatible with my computer? Do power supplies fit into most computers? or should i measure the size of my psu and compare it to ones that are the same? I just need a good psu that will fit and easy to connect.
 

coohjay

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How to I check my model number? sorry haha
 

coohjay

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I think I've got a solution, lately I've been using MSI afterburner and setting my Core Clock (MHz) to the lowest it could go. I've no longer experienced crashes, you have to set it low every time u restart.