Dual +12V Rail Setup?

[Blaaguuu]

Ive got a problem, because i just got a new geforce 7600GS AGP to replace my old Radeon 9700 Pro, but every time i run a game, a minute or few in the screen freezes, then goes black, and my computer crashes and reboots.

My conclusion was that my PSU wasnt cutting it, and the 7600 wasnt gettign enough power. I was told that i would need a PSU with +12V@20A or Dual +12V with one dedicated to the GPU @ atleast 15W. I had a Vantec 420W with +12V@18A. And i just went out today and bought an Antec 500W Smartpower PSU with +12V1@17A and +12V2@19A, but if all of the information i have been given is correct, i must be doing somethign wrong, because its still crashing.

I have 2 HDDs and a DVDRW drive sharing one of the 2 Molex cables in the system, and the GPU alone on the second. The mobo (MSI K7N2) has its 20pin connector, and the 4pin connector for the CPU.

I have never used a PSU with 2x +12V rails before, and i dont completely understand what that means, so i fear im not implementing it right.

Any guidance would be much appreciated!

 

[Blaaguuu]

Well im completely stumped as to what other problem there might be... The only thing i did in my initial upgrade was replacing the GPU. I got the newest drivers for the GPU, and have since flashed my BIOS with the newest version, and bought a more powerful PSU. Ive never experienced any similar crashing problems before, so i have no idea what else could be the cause - lack of power is the only thing i can think of.

I did get an error having to do with Services.exe when it crashed the first time, but i have no idea if that was the cause of the crash, or caused by it. and it woudl be very coincidental if the OS broke the moment i installed a new video card. But I have no idea how i woudl confirm that as being the problem, or repair it, short of reinstalling Windows XP - which is a pretty dramatic step for troubleshooting.

I might return this PSU, and order that one you pointed out, but that probably wouldnt fix the problem, would it? im sure its not THAT crappy of a PSU.

 

[ZOldDude]

Ive got a problem, because i just got a new geforce 7600GS AGP to replace my old Radeon 9700 Pro, but every time i run a game, a minute or few in the screen freezes, then goes black, and my computer crashes and reboots.

My conclusion was that my PSU wasnt cutting it, and the 7600 wasnt gettign enough power. I was told that i would need a PSU with +12V@20A or Dual +12V with one dedicated to the GPU @ atleast 15W. I had a Vantec 420W with +12V@18A. And i just went out today and bought an Antec 500W Smartpower PSU with +12V1@17A and +12V2@19A, but if all of the information i have been given is correct, i must be doing somethign wrong, because its still crashing.

I have 2 HDDs and a DVDRW drive sharing one of the 2 Molex cables in the system, and the GPU alone on the second. The mobo (MSI K7N2) has its 20pin connector, and the 4pin connector for the CPU.

I have never used a PSU with 2x +12V rails before, and i dont completely understand what that means, so i fear im not implementing it right.

Any guidance would be much appreciated!

I don't know what CPU you have so it is hard to tell what amount of 12v pwr your system really needs.

I overclock and no longer use Antec 550's as they end up failing (caps go out) and have even taken out a few Asus MB's with them.

I am using Optron 146's overclocked 50% on stock volts and heat.

What you want is a PSU with lots of 12 volt amps and all on a ONE rail.
Avoid PSU's with modular connectors (points of voltage drops/failure) and built in 120mm fans (less room inside for heatsinks).

The best PSU you can get is the PC Powercooling turbo line which is all I use for systems I now build.
The 510-ASL puts out more power on 12 volts under a constant load than even a OCZ 700....costs about $200 retail....but the cheepest place to buy them is dirrect from the company (12% cheeper than Newegg on average).
Then again it is a real PSU that gives me higher OC's and I never have to raise voltages (or parts heat).

Next best bet is a Silversone PSU.

Look for 32+ amps on a SINGLE 12 volt rail...or...50% more of what your system needs if using some other brand like Antec/OCZ if you want to avoid problems as they are rated @ 25C intake air temps "peak power" unlike the 50C "constant power" of a PC P+C unit.

 

[Blaaguuu]

well, rather than doing a repair install, i went ahead and formated and re-installed Windows XP... I'd been thinking about doing that for a while now, so it seemed like a good time. But... my games are still crashing - so it would apear its not a software problem.

Im still convinced it has to do with the PSU, so i think i will call the store i bought my new PSU from and make sure i can return it (jsut a 15% restock fee, if i understand the return policy listed on the receipt), and order a new, higher quality, higher amperage PSU from newegg... i can survive a few more days without gaming.

BTW, my CPU is just an Athlon 2800+ Barton.

Thanks for your help guys... and wish me luck >_<

 

[Blaaguuu]

You might also want to try running Memtest86+ to make sure the RAM isn't bad.

ran it for about 7 hours while i was out today, and it didn't find any errors. How many passes will that thing make before its done? each pass was taking about an hour... wasnt really expecting that amount of time.

Also, I was just looking at PSU's on newegg, and there are a few Enermax ones that looked pretty good.

ENERMAX EG465P-VE FMA 2.2 ATX12V 460W
ENERMAX Liberty ELT400AWT ATX12V 400W
ENERMAX Noisetaker II EG425P-VE SFMA 2.2 ATX12V 420W

Anyone know how those are?

 

[Blaaguuu]

Well i was just trying a few more things, and one of the times it crashed, rather than immediately restarting, it crashed to the desktop and gave me an error saying "The nv4_disp display driver has stopped working normally...". Ive been doing some searching for that error message, and finding a lot of hits, but nothing useful to my situation. Its looking a lot less like a problem with the PSU now, and more like a problem with the display drivers or the GPU itself... perhaps i got a faulty one. Ive tried several drivers, including the ones on the disc that came with the GPU, and the newest ones from nvidia's website.