Hey guys and gals,

Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully I can get some answers...

Here is my pathetic build...(Until after Feb. when I will be upgrading...)

Asus P5-ND2
Pentium D530 with the Evercool WC-202 watercooling setup.
1 DVD/CDRW drive
1 DVD Writer
2 7200 IDE drives
1 SATA Drive
2 120mm LED Fans
1 90mm Non LED Fan
APEVIA 500 P/S http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817148005

I just bought from a friend an HIS ATI 1950PRO card http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6814161093 to upgrade from an XFX 7600GT for $100. It has an adapter for the PCI-E to Molex(x2) for power to the card.

It won't stay powered up for more than a few minutes, the most I have had it on was about 10-15 minutes... Is it a lack of power? I have also tried putting the card on it's own 350W power supply with nothing else connected...

Here is what the Calc said:
System Type: Single Processor
Motherboard: High End - Desktop
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 530 3000 MHz Prescott
CPU Utilization (TDP): 85% TDP
RAM: 2 Sticks DDR2 SDRAM
Video Card: ATI Radeon X1950 Pro
Video Type: Single Card
IDE HDD 7200 rpm: 2 HDDs
SATA HDD: 1 HDD
DVD/CDRW Combo Drive: 1 Drive
DVD-RW/DVD+RW Drive: 1 Drive
USB: 2 Devices
Fans
Regular: 1 Fan 92mm;
LED: 2 Fans 120mm;
Water Cooling Kit: Evercool WC-202
Keyboard and mouse: Yes
System Load: 100 %
Recommended Wattage: 351 Watts
If it is a lack of power what would you recommend as an upgrade? I would want something that will handle my next config of a new board and quad core like the q6600 and probably a new dx10 card as well... I also don't have an unlimited budget so anywhere in the $100-$150 range would be OK...

Any comments(positive and not flaming) would be appreciated...

Thanks
JonC

Did it work when you had it hooked up to the seperate power supply?

Watts are not the only thing that matters.
You need to look at the amps that a PSU puts out on the 12v line.

In many cases this is more the limit that watts.

The amps are listes as 32A on the 12V line.... The extra power supply works, but that is only for about 15 minutes...

Dude, its an Apevia power supply. Of course it sucks...

It is this type of comment I was looking to avoid... It is not positive or constructive.

If the power supply sucks, then with your obviously vast, superior and infinite wisdom, why don't you recommend a good replacement? Or are you just spitting out what other people have said?

Up until now I have not have any problems with that power supply and I don't think it is a bad one, just under powered as it does not have dual 12V rails...

That sounds more like an overheating problem. What do your vid card temps look like?

I am not sure, does the catalyst control have temp monitor? If not what can I use to check the temp?

Sorry, don't know anything about ATI & catalyst. I've only used Nvidia.

Dude, I can link you to hundreds of professional reviews complaining about the efficiency, rail stability, and just overall low quality of Apevia/Aspire PSUs. Here is one review from HardOCP on one Apevia PSU. http://hardocp.com/article.html?ar [...] VzaWFzdA==

And just for reference. I was using a 450Watt FSP unit to power:
3600+ @ 2.5 Ghz
ASUS x1950 Pro @ 630/1410
2x1GB DDR2 800
7200.10 HDD
Crossfire Motherboard
2 Optical Drives
2x80mm Fans
2x120mm Fans
Plus some misc USB things and such.

The Extreme PSU Calculator is right, it just sounds like you have a faulty/crappy PSU.

I would take it the problems started with the upgrade. There is a chance the card might be defected but that is just a chance not a statement from me lol . Try putting the 7600gt back in and see if it does this. If it does not then i would put my money on the PSU. If you tell me ruffly bout how much you want to spend on a PSU i can help you. With you upgrading soon unless you want to keep the PSU for your new build. Also you can refer to this LINK to find out more about PSU's what you might need and such. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] wer-supply

It did start when I upgraded. My friend gave me the card, brand new in box... The 7600GT is no longer an option as it is sold and shipped...

I want to spend between 100-150... I was looking at this one: http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6817148028 but I am willing to go with another which comes recommended...

The Iceberg is a terrible PSU. You can get the OCZ GameXstream 700 watt from ZipZoomFly for $102

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] ode=316505

Th e also have the Corsair HX units for a better price then the egg. That review I posted earlier was on the Iceberg, it is terrible.

Newegg actually has the OCZ GameXstream 700 watt for $99 after rebate currently with free 3-day shipping.

You can get that at NewEgg for $89.99 after Rebate at NewEgg.
(Signup for Newsletter and use PromoCode EMC816CASE11)

Cool. Go with the egg then. When I was shopping a few weeks ago, the egg had it for $135 plus $15 shipping with a small $10 rebate.