Problems after installing an 3870

[foxhound009]

Hi,

I have just bought and installed an msi rx3870 512 mb OC vga,
After installing I've occured few problems such as, no sound, After turning UT3 on it didn't seem like much of a boost (I previously had an x1950 pro), and when I was exiting the game my pc turned itself of(psu?)

So.. could anyone of you help me out with this?

specs:

M2V green edition

rx 3870 512 mb

Athlon 64 x2 4200+ (windsor)

1 gb corsair ddr2

some no name 400 watt psu..

 

[mactronix]

I would have thought so i had a rig with a no name 400 watt psu and i wouldnt have dreamed of putting a 1950 on it never mind a 3870, I really dont think it can possably be feeding enough to the card and i strongly suggest you dont bother trying to continue running it as you risk at least fragging the card if not your whole system.
Check the box and see what it says about power requirements, I would think it a lot more than its getting now and remember its the Amps that are important +12Volt Amps requirements are what you need to know.
Mactronix

 

[foxhound009]

thx.. I won't game on it until I'll get an new psu I think..
http://mycom.nl/Products/View/Spire_Jewel%2c_ATX%2c_420W/149673.aspx

would that work?..

 

[mactronix]

That spire would be marginal (sorry i didnt reply straight away i had trouble with the translation) it has 2 15Amp rails and you cant just add them both together =30 so its gonna come up a bit light i recon the coolmaster has 2x 17 AMP rails and should cover it nicley. Personally i would pay the extra and get the corsair unit but if you are on a budget then the cooolmaster would be your best bet.
Mactronix

 

[firetatoo]

you want at least 500 watts.
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

just input the things that are in your computer and
put the processor utilization and system load to 100% and capacitor age at 20%. you want headroom with your power suply, it makes upgrades easier.

 

[foxhound009]

Thanks, but what about the audio? It wouldn't be something that has to do with directx would it? the itunes doesn't work either.

btw. is it safe for me to just use aplications such as ie, divx, ,mss and so on before I'll get the new psu?

 

[ragemonkey]

I've had issues with no-name PSUs as well. I put together a rig for my parents using an old x2 6000+ and a generic case/psu I had sitting around. After I put it together whenever the rig went under full load it would just shut off. Turned out the generic PSU was the problem. I threw in a spare Antec 480 that was in my closet and everything was fine. Never underestimate the ability of a generic PSU to hinder your rig...LOL

 

[slayer21]

for the audio issue I have had the same problem it seem the 3870 has a audio output for hdtv.. simply go in your sound control then property and change the default output

I can say that the psu could be to change someday ... i have a 450w acepower and it gets hot as hell when i play games go for 500w

 

[slayer21]

for the audio issue I have had the same problem it seem the 3870 has a audio output for hdtv.. simply go in your sound control then property and change the default output

I can say that the psu could be to change someday ... i have a 450w acepower and it gets hot as hell when i play games go for 500w

 

[techgeek]

Do you still have no sound? This happens quite often with ATI's HD series cards. After the driver install Windows defaults the playback device to the HDMI output for the HD card. It's a simple matter of going into the Control Panel and launching Sound and Audio Devices, click the Audio tab and select your Sound Playback Device as whatever your normal sound device is.

 

[foxhound009]

I have already solved the audio issue, thanks ... does the 3870 really need that much more power, the the x1950.. both cards have the same requirements for the psu.... weird.. anyways.. could you tell me whetever it is safe to just use ie, itunes, msn and so on before I'll get a new psu? or you not sure... if you would say not sure.. then it's a -turn off your pc- for me .. so?

 

[slayer21]

I believe it's safe on idle a video card don't need that much power ... and your cpu ain't a power hungry one so you can use it ... NO gaming but software use i believe it's safe

 

[slayer21]

I believe it's safe on idle a video card don't need that much power ... and your cpu ain't a power hungry one so you can use it ... NO gaming but software use i believe it's safe

 

[foxhound009]

Thanks for all the help .. I'll get the psu as soon as possible...

 

[MrCommunistGen]

Corsair 450VX is a good moderately cheap PSU. There is a review up on Jonnyguru. Plenty of clean +12V... more capable than my 500W Antec

-mcg

 

[mactronix]

Slayer whats with the double posting ?
The powerplay technology should mean you can get away with normal applications for now. Here is a part of a review about it.

Another interesting facet of RV670 is its power management capabilities, which borrows from ATI's PowerPlay technology previously only used to any degree in notebook GPUs. The introduction of PowerPlay to the desktop sees RV670 outfitted with an embedded controller which can handle the power state of the GPU core, monitoring the level of GPU utilisation and performing various tasks to save power as and when possible. This goes well beyond simply downclocking the graphics core and memory when running 2D operations, and extends to adjusting voltages and turning on and off certain parts of the GPU core as required. Why this hasn't been brought fully to the desktop before now I'll never know, but its introduction here is a welcome one, and ATI are promising some hefty reductions in both power consumption and heat through this technology. While the 55 nanometre process is estimated to have halved RV670's power consumption over that of R600, the use of PowerPlay is expected to bring this down much further, to under 35 Watts during general (non-gaming) use for the Radeon HD 3870, and just over 50 Watts during 'light' gaming.

Mactronix

 

[foxhound009]

wow that's good to know .. That just kind of made me feel good knowing that I won't screw up my vga right now thx ... I hope to soon get back into UT3 and unrealed as I'm learning it.

 

[Guest]

Did you uninstall then reinstall your ATI drivers when upgrading the ATI card to the HD3870 ? And you wont see an enormous boost with UT3. THe 1950pro was a good card for UT3, the HD3870 will let you boost the resolution and AA & AF to max and still run kick ass where the other card ran good at default.

 

[foxhound009]

Yes, before moving the x1950 out of the motherboard I have uninstalled it, after putting the 3870 I have installed the drivers. I think/hope it will give the boost I wanted it to give after after I'll put in the new psu.

 

[foxhound009]

Hey.. I have just bought the http://www.sundialmicro.com/Cooler-Master-Power-Supplies-Extreme-Power-500watt-rp500pcar_1941_1156.html

thingy.. will my pc explode ?? is there any thing I should know?? I'm noob so feel free to post anything that would make me feel stupid

 

[mactronix]

What you mean something like this
http://www.smartcomputing.com/Editorial/article.asp?article=articles/2004/w1510/28w10/28w10.asp&guid
Mactronix

 

[foxhound009]

oow.. heh sorry wrong link http://www.sundialmicro.com/Cooler-Master-Power-Supplies-Extreme-Power-500watt-rp500pcar_1941_1156.html

 

[foxhound009]

http://www.ciao.co.uk/CoolerMaster_eXtreme_Power_RP_500_PCAP_power_supply_500_Watt__6819672

here are the specs.. it's the rp 500 pcap

 

[foxhound009]

Hey all.. I have installed it.. I just have played the UT3 it seemd fine... also the fps were good now. However sometimes it just stoped/skipped like a frame.. should I be worried about this? (btw is there a difference between the standard pci-e 6-vpin and the 2x 4 vpin connected making a one 6 vpin with one empty hole for an in it?? because I used the standard... If there is still someone left who isn't bored with my constant questions..... please help

 

[bro0mz]

this answer has proboly been given however 400 psu would not idealy be enuf maybe a 700 watt psu will be cool ,the rx3870 realy want 550 watt is idealy needed for the card to work ,700 watt will be good for hdd,s cpu mo bo and fans to work efectively ,if you havent tryed it yet i advise you to =D , i myself rx3870 oc edition + intel q9450 4gb ballistix pc2-8500 ram and ocz game extreme 700 watt psu. no problems ever !!!