Can too litle Amps hurt the graphic card?

[krillz]

Hello people.

I just have a question regarding my graphic card:

XFX GeForce 8800GTS 600M 640MB XT GDDR3 PCI-Express, 2xDVI/HDTV/HDCP, 112-SP

The company cheated me with the PSU, the specs weren't as they said, so the +12V rail only had 18A normally than the 25A and 35A max as stated.

So I'm suspecting that this is the culprit when it comes to the crashes while playing, that is too little juice to the card.

But now I'm concerned that this could have destroyed or hurt the graphic card, or does this not effect it?

 

[Blacken]

If it's only one rail running 18A, it's the culprit.
As for damage, I would be uneasy that it happens all the time, but don't know if it's causing actual damage.

 

[crazywheels]

I don't see how it could

 

[croc]

Hello people.

I just have a question regarding my graphic card:

XFX GeForce 8800GTS 600M 640MB XT GDDR3 PCI-Express, 2xDVI/HDTV/HDCP, 112-SP

The company cheated me with the PSU, the specs weren't as they said, so the +12V rail only had 18A normally than the 25A and 35A max as stated.

So I'm suspecting that this is the culprit when it comes to the crashes while playing, that is too little juice to the card.

But now I'm concerned that this could have destroyed or hurt the graphic card, or does this not effect it?

Too little information. PSU make,all rail info, etc.. Hard to help without knowing these things.

As to whether it will damage your GPU, an analogy would be buying a car that requires 98 RON fuel, then cheaping out and filling it with 91 RON. It'll still drive, but...

 

[krillz]

Good as I got scared there for a moment, the XFX card requires 26A on the +12V rail. So I'm hoping that swaping the PSU will resolve my problems.

 

[krillz]

croc:

The graphic card requirements is: minimum 400W and 26A on the PCI-E 8pin power cord.

The PSU I have is: Apevia 500W, Transparent, Aluminium, Double UVBLUE-FAN, 2xSATA, ATX, 20/24pi.

On their site they stated that the +12V rail was delivering 25A normaly and 35A the most, but when reading on the PSU it self I discovered it said 18A normaly which is something completely different from what they stated on the site. Also I only have one 8 pin connector for the pci-e card.

Rail info:

DC O/P Load|Max|Peak
+3.3V|28A| ...
+5 V| 30A|...
+12 V1|16A|18A
+12 V2|16A|20A
-5V|0.3A|...
-12V|0.8A|
+5VSB|2.0A|2.5A

+3.3V & +5V combines Load: 200W
+3.3V, +5V & 12V combines Load: 500W

Total peak output power: 520W

 

[phantom123]

It will definately help. If you have only one rail at 18A you have to remember that the rest of you system is using some of those amps, which lowers your power to the video card. If it's was two rails at 18A then you shouldn't have a problem. By a new PSU with at least two rails with the 18A, I had to for my new X1950 gt, which wants 30A for the total PSU.

 

[croc]

Good as I got scared there for a moment, the XFX card requires 26A on the +12V rail. So I'm hoping that swaping the PSU will resolve my problems.

You still have not provided enough information, but buy a new PSU if it will make you feel better. Antec Neo HE 550 or Silverstone 650, or PCP&C 650... Any of them should do the job nicely.

A good website for PSU reviews is http://www.jonnyguru.com . Read the reviews and decide accordingly. There is also a PSU ranking chart at http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088 . Tier 1 or 2, 3 if you are cheap... 4 or 5 if you like to worry.

Edit:.. You posted better info as I was researching. Still, look at the 2nd link and decide if your PSU MFG. is appropriate. From the numbers just listed, your PSU should be up to the task, but if its a Rosewill.... Well, not all specs are believable.

The XFX specs are probably quoted for an average system in total, not for the card alone, BTW.

 

[sweatlaserxp]

Krillz,

I am vaguely familiar with Apevia... reputable companies like Antec or Seasonic tend to give "conservative" power ratings to their PSU's, meaning you can throw a substantial load on one and it will still work just fine. nV and ATi tend to exaggerate the required amount, but nonetheless you need to make sure that your PSU can supply somewhat near the amperage suggested for the card, especially if the PSU wasn't manufactured by a top-flight manufacturer.

 

[croc]

croc:

The graphic card requirements is: minimum 400W and 26A on the PCI-E 8pin power cord.

The PSU I have is: Apevia 500W, Transparent, Aluminium, Double UVBLUE-FAN, 2xSATA, ATX, 20/24pi.

On their site they stated that the +12V rail was delivering 25A normaly and 35A the most, but when reading on the PSU it self I discovered it said 18A normaly which is something completely different from what they stated on the site. Also I only have one 8 pin connector for the pci-e card.

Rail info:

DC O/P Load|Max|Peak
+3.3V|28A| ...
+5 V| 30A|...
+12 V1|16A|18A
+12 V2|16A|20A
-5V|0.3A|...
-12V|0.8A|
+5VSB|2.0A|2.5A

+3.3V & +5V combines Load: 200W
+3.3V, +5V & 12V combines Load: 500W

Total peak output power: 520W

Get a new PSU. Yours is a bit sus. Try dickering with your supplier, but only for one of the better brands.

 

[major53]

KRILLZ i HAVE SAME VIDEO CARD,BUT I HAVE OZC 700 PSU WITH 4 12VOLT 18 AMPS ON EACH RAIL.SOUND LIKE YOUR USEING 1 RAIL @ 16 AMPS TO THAT VIDEO CARD THAT WANT WORK.

SENSE YOU NEED 26 AMPS FOR THE CARD YOU CAN US A Y CABLE TO US BOTH THE 16 AMP RAILS THAT WILL GIVE YOU 32 AMP'S TO THE VIDEO.

I US 2 - 12 VOLT 18 AMP RAILS TO MY VIDEO CARD SENSE IT HAS 4 12 VOLT 18 AMPS.USEING Y CABLE IT WORKS
THE OTHER 2 12 VOLT 18 AMPS FOR THE REST OF THE PARTS.

THE 400 PS WITH 2 16 AMP RAIL WILL WORK USEING Y CABLE BUT THAT DOESN'T LEAVE MUCH FOR THE REST OF YOUR PARTS.RECOMMED PS WITH 4 RAILS WITH 18 AMPS THERE ARE PLENTY OF THEM OUT THERE OZC IS A GOOD ONE. HAVE HAD NO PROBLEM WITH IT.HOPE THIS HELPS YOU

 

[krillz]

Thanks for the help guys, I just talked to a dude with a XFX 8800 GTX card and he said that he also had too lite juice going to the system having it crashing and that getting a 600 W + did the job for him.

So I'm gonna switch this in for a stronger one, hopefully my problem with the crashes during gaming will vanish as I ruled out any hardware failure and incompatibility.

Edit: One last question though:

If I buy a PSU that has the 12v rail specified like 12v1 12v2 and 12v3 at 19A each, does this mean that I have to run 2 x 12v in a Y cable configuration as major53 wrote, or just use the PCI-E connector. Been reading about this rails and I'm very confused now.

I'm thinking of getting the: http://www.antec.com/ec/productDetails.php?ProdID=05660 antec NeoPower 650 - EC.

 

[major53]

KRILLZ THAT PS WILL WORK

YOU STILL HAVE TO US Y CABLE 3 12V 19 AMP WILL POWER IT JUST FINE.

JUST REMEMBER TWO SEPERATE MOLLEX CABLE GOING TO Y CABLE WILL GIVE YOU PLENTY OF POWER TO GET THE GTX TO WORK JUST FINE.

2 12 V 19 AMPS GOING TO Y CABLE = 38 AMPS IT WILL WORK JUST FINE.

HOPE THIS HELPS

i STILL LIKE THE OCZ 700 BECAUSE IT HAS 4 12V 18 AMPS EACH.FUTURE UPGRADES

2 12V 19 AMP USE TOGETHER = 38 AMPS DON'T US PCI-E UNLESS IT HAS AT LEAST 1 12V 26 AMP RAIL OR 30 AMP OR 40 mp on that single rail.

 

[itheral]

First off.. major53.. there are so many wrong statements youve made my head hurts..

Secondly to Krillz, the power supply you have now *should* have enough power for the card, though apevia certainly isnt a brand I would recommend. Most likely that is the problem, though not because it doesnt have enough power. Get a Corsair HX520 or something similar and you should be fine

 

[chedrz]

That Antec power supply should be fine. You won't have to bridge the 12V rails; it has dedicated PCIe connectors for a PCIe graphics card. You'll just be able to use that power connector for the graphics card.

 

[chedrz]

Major53--first, lose the caps.
Second, I'm no expert, but I know that "bridging" two 19A rails won't make a single 38A rail. If that's the way things worked, then why would any power supply manufacturer ever make a power supply that didn't just have a single, high-amp rail? Somebody correct me if I'm wrong here, but the rails aren't necessarily the lines coming out of the power supply--it's more along the lines of the method the psu converts the current. Some companies use multiple, low-amp rails; others use single, high-amp rails. It's all about efficiency and the ATX standard, I believe.

 

[nukemaster]

The graphic card requirements is: minimum 400W and 26A on the PCI-E 8pin power cord.

Thats for the entire system. The video card in question takes under 9 amps on its own(under 10 for a factory OC'd one)....

If that's the way things worked, then why would any power supply manufacturer ever make a power supply that didn't just have a single, high-amp rail?

Because the ATX specs say to.....for real 99% of multi railed psu's have ONE large rail with virtual rails(Each with over current portection).

The other reason is that if you try to pull 50 amps through a 16-18 gauge wire it can burn the wire(So its a safety concern too)....

In general you should have more then enough power...but Apevia PSU's kind of suck but even at that, the full system should not be taking enough power to show its suckyness


That PSU is exactly the 25 amps they say

DC O/P Load|Max|Peak
+3.3V|28A| ...
+5 V| 30A|...
+12 V1|16A|18A
+12 V2|16A|20A
-5V|0.3A|...
-12V|0.8A|
+5VSB|2.0A|2.5A

+3.3V & +5V combines Load: 200W
+3.3V, +5V & 12V combines Load: 500W

So 500 - 200 = 300watts of 12 volt(combined)
300 / 12 = 25amps

As with normal PSU's there is a maximum combined 12 volt amps(One big rail)and 2 virtual rails. each has a current regulator to stop you from burning the wires(and keep it in spec).....so as long as the load on +12v1 and +12v2 does not exceed 25 amps your good....if any rail takes over its limit(18 for the first "rail" or 20 for the second one....the psu will shut off....) So you do have your 25amps(You can get up to 35 amps as long as the combined 3.3 and 5 does not exceed 80 watts, but don't bet on getting more then 30....just because that psu is ...well....kind of crappy)....
This is based only on the specs you posted....if that PSU can hold that kind of power you are fine, but i have seen some bad ones like this before...this is only based on the specs provided


I doubt you crashes are related to the psu in this case, but its still not a great psu to have......

If you have access to a volt meter you can test the power and see whats actually happening at load....

 

[tamalero]

Itheral: I think he means using ONE Rail on one of the PCI-EXPRESS connector
and using the SECOND RAIL on the other pci-express connector.

 

[crazywheels]

is everybody on here a bunch of idiots, you can't compare enough power for pc to fuel for a car..that is apples and oranges

 

[soloman02]

I'm currently using this power supply to power what is in my sig below. It runs without a hitch. Currently, Newegg is offering $30 off instantly, so instead of $100 it is 70 with free shipping, doesn't get much better than that. It has 34 amps on the 12V rail.

 

[nukemaster]

I'm currently using this power supply to power what is in my sig below. It runs without a hitch. Currently, Newegg is offering $30 off instantly, so instead of $100 it is 70 with free shipping, doesn't get much better than that. It has 34 amps on the 12V rail.

Solid and silent
80+ Saves a good deal of power too....

Antec's Earthwatts psu are also built by Seasonic...

 

[Evilonigiri]

If anything, shouldn't the PSU be damaged if it's being overloaded?

Anyways I agree with nukemaster, getting a better PSU will be better for your system on the long run.

 

[bydesign]

The 80+ rating wont save you a dime in the US for a residentual customer.

 

[croc]

is everybody on here a bunch of idiots, you can't compare enough power for pc to fuel for a car..that is apples and oranges

No, it is watts vs. watts. Just because one derives its watt rating from electricity, and the other derives its watt rating from fuel, in the end its is watts vs. watts. So a true apples / apples comparison.

Same issue when measuring various power stations... So much 'fuel' in delivers so many watts output.

Idiot...

 

[sepayne21]

As to whether it will damage your GPU, an analogy would be buying a car that requires 98 RON fuel, then cheaping out and filling it with 91 RON. It'll still drive, but...

terrible analogy.
using crappy fuel could clog/damage your car, but the only thing that could damage your vid card is if the power supply blows up (which can happen with any power supply, but has a higher probability of doing so with an overloaded supply) and even if it blows up, it will not necessarily damage your hardware, it's just a possibility.

When you put a load on the 12V rail, your voltage will become lower (as does any loaded transformer). if a device is rated for 12V and you put 11V (voltage dips because the load is too high for the power supply) on the device, you cannot damage the device; you can only damage the device by overvolting it. However, the device might now work the way you want. i.e. system crashes.