PSU causing 7600GT(AGP) artifacts in TF2/freezing in WoW?

[Chynkinese]

I just got me a new 7600GT. I've clean installed the drivers a couple of times and I've tried both the regular nVidia drivers and the Omega drivers. Both give me artifacts in Team Fortress 2 and both freeze in WoW. I originally thought it was due to the power supply as I am running 3 HDs + 1 optical + 3 PCI devices. I've unplugged two of the HDs so now I'm down to 1HD + 1 optical + 3 PCI. The artifacts SEEM to be fewer in TF2 but they're definitely still there. I have a Fortron 400W PSU:
http://www.fsp-group.com.tw/english/1_product/2_detail.asp?mainid=1&fid=52&proid=136
Video card:
http://www.evga.com/products/moreI [...] A8-N559-TR

And...I just realized the amps on the two +12V rail is 14A each which is 4A less than what EVGA recommends so I'm guessing it's because of this?

Can anyone recommend a budget PSU that will support my old setup of 3 HDs + 1 optical + 3 PCI devices?

Edit: I used to run the same setup but with a Radeon 9800PRO and, strangely enough, according to this thread:
http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=7&t=9354
My old 9800PRO requires more power than the 7600GT? This whole PSU deal is confusing.

Edit: I'm looking at some thermaltake PSUs...many of the cheaper ones have good amperage on the +12V rails. Are these PSUs reliable?
Another one that I can definitely afford is the 500W OCZ StealthXStream. According to the website there are two +12V rails each providing 18A which is the requirement for the 7600GT. Is this PSU good enough? reliable?

 

[blacksci]

Stay faaar away from thermaltake, go with antec, corsair, roswell, better known power supplies, also try taking out all your ram and insert one stick and see if your artifacts are still happening or not, it might just be a bad stick of ram. 400 watts seems a little weak to me, but we dont know what processor your running, so post a reply and give us the specs to your comp .

 

[jhyukkang]

nono, not rosewill. i just used it for 3 months, it is burnt, took my onboard, sound, my mobo, does not reconize, USB devices, trying to refund it, and get fixed my board
its performance series, RP 550-2 550W for 70$, it has 5 star, on newegg (about 300users) but mine sucked

 

[Chynkinese]

Aww, that's what I thought lol. I guess no cheap-o thermaltake for me. I doubt it's the RAM as I was just running fine with my 9800PRO (albeit at pretty low frame rates) then I swapped to the 7600GT and the artifacts began. My specs...here comes the embarrassing part:

P4 2.66Ghz (Northwood 533Mhz FSB)
2x512MB PC2700

And as I mentioned in the OP I had 3 HDs + 1 optical + 3 PCI devices. Taking out 2 HDs seemed to have reduced the amount of artifacting. Unfortunately Newegg is unavailable to us here in Canada. My local store has a pretty decent variety of PSUs though so it's all good.

Here are a few options I'm considering:

http://www.corsair.com/products/vx.aspx (Both watt models have single 12V rail...will the amperage be enough?)
http://www.corsair.com/products/hx.aspx (3 rails @ 18A each)

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/power_management/ocz_500w_stealthxstream_power_supply (500W Two 12V rails, each@18A)
http://www.ocztechnology.com/drivers/GameXstream_600W_chart.jpg (600W, 4 rails @ 18A...overkill?)
My local store also lists a StealthXStream 600W even though its not on OCZ's website...

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=27430 (Also considering the 500W version, both have 2 rails @ 17A which is just below the 18A recommended for my video card)
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=23430 (430W, 3rails@16A)
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=23650 (650W, 3rails@19A..probably overkill for my system)

I've never heard of these guys but I'm gonna link it up anyways...are these any good?
http://www.mushkin.com/doc/products/power_supply/hp-550.asp (550W, 2 rails @ 20A each)
http://www.mushkin.com/doc/products/power_supply/hp-580ap.asp (580W, 4rails @ 20A each)

I'm leaning more towards the 430W-500W PSUs as they're generally cheaper and I think they should be enough. Sorry...it's a lot of links but I thank everyone for their help and I'll be grateful as I'm on a pretty tight budget and just want a little WoW/TF2/whatever goodness during my study breaks .

Edit: last but not least some seasonic goodness
http://www.seasonicusa.com/S12II.htm (the 500W model, 2 rails @ 17A each)

 

[jbj190]

Unless you're upgrading anytime soon, get an Antec Earthwatts 380w or 430w.

 

[Chynkinese]

Unless you're upgrading anytime soon, get an Antec Earthwatts 380w or 430w.

Yea? The +12V rails are only 17A each while my card recommends 18A. Will it be alright if shared with an HD?

 

[jbj190]

LOL, your card will at most draw 20-40w. Those recommendations are as useful as a pile of turd.

 

[Chynkinese]

LOL, your card will at most draw 20-40w. Those recommendations are as useful as a pile of turd.

I figured as much...but I can't think of any other reason for the sudden appearance of artifacts. The RAM shouldn't have gone bad just like that. My current PSU is a Fortron 400W supply with two +12V rails each @ 14A.

 

[blacksci]

If you have a 400 watt power supply now, going with a 380w or a 430w is not going to do it for ya. Might as well just keep what you have now. And its possible your p4 is bottlenecking your card and thats why you are seeing articfacts. But i would definetly upgrade to 500 watts or so, future proof yourself, if you decide to go with a new build next year, uneless your running some crazy insane setup, this power suppy will slide right into your new build, and you will have saved yourself some money.

 

[jbj190]

If you get artifacts, it's usually either the graphics card that's defective or the actual voltage of the 12v rail.

 

[Chynkinese]

If you have a 400 watt power supply now, going with a 380w or a 430w is not going to do it for ya. Might as well just keep what you have now. And its possible your p4 is bottlenecking your card and thats why you are seeing articfacts. But i would definetly upgrade to 500 watts or so, future proof yourself, if you decide to go with a new build next year, uneless your running some crazy insane setup, this power suppy will slide right into your new build, and you will have saved yourself some money.

That's what I was thinking too...get the 500W and use it in a future rig. I used to run TF2 with this processor and got playable framerates (20-30s)..can this really cause artifacts?

jbj190: I can run Warcraft 3 just fine...WoW boots without artifacts but freezes up my whole system. So probably my PSU?

 

[jbj190]

Check it using speedfan or any other program that can read system voltages.

 

[Chynkinese]

Well the +12V on speedfan is reading 11.49V. +3.3V reads 3.30V. +5V reads 5.03V. That +12V seems sketchy to me lol

 

[blacksci]

Another idea also, drag that card out of your comp, go find a friend with a comp u can use, pop it in and see if your getting artifacts on your friends comp, if you are rma that biotch, if not let us know.

 

[Chynkinese]

lol blacksci...that's an idea...but it's a heck of a lot of time which will be hard to come by for me how do those voltages look though? the +12V rail seems a tad low no?

 

[blacksci]

Yeah seems a little low, id try the new power supply for sure, also what do you have in the way of your card? i just take the side of the case off, unplug my power supply from the card, undo the 2 screws keeping it in, hit that little safety button and its out, like 2 minutes total, lol.

 

[Chynkinese]

its more going to friends place and setting it up that takes a lot of time lol

 

[blacksci]

Lol, yeah thats true, thats why you pick up a case of beer on the way, to smooth things over if you get my drift, lol.

 

[mi1ez]

My last upgrade was done at my mate's. He's building a PC with all my old parts! lol! Crate of beer, football on the TV, and 2 PCs in parts over the floor. Trick is to do most of the building during the first 2 pints (which will steady the hand if not the mind...)

 

[Chynkinese]

Any comments on the +12V rail? Speedfan says it's running at 11.55V.

 

[mike99]

Fortron is good brand. How old is it? Get a cheap DVM, onboard sensors can be inaccurate. Spec allows 5% from nominal, so if that reading is correct, supply would be suspect. That 18A on the 12V is total over both rails and is for the WHOLE system, so your 400W is fine. I have 7800GT and AMD 4200+ with 2 HDs on a Hiper 400W. When i run 3DMark06 max power from mains is 230W. Check temp of GPU as ovedrheating will give artifacts. If your 12V reading is OK with a DVM I would RMA the card as faulty.

Mike

 

[Chynkinese]

Fortron is good brand. How old is it? Get a cheap DVM, onboard sensors can be inaccurate. Spec allows 5% from nominal, so if that reading is correct, supply would be suspect. That 18A on the 12V is total over both rails and is for the WHOLE system, so your 400W is fine. I have 7800GT and AMD 4200+ with 2 HDs on a Hiper 400W. When i run 3DMark06 max power from mains is 230W. Check temp of GPU as ovedrheating will give artifacts. If your 12V reading is OK with a DVM I would RMA the card as faulty.

Mike

Well my current PS is actually two 12V rails each with 14A. Is that additive since it comes from the same source? ie. I actually have 28A so it should be enough juice for my current rig? I've been monitoring the temperature and according to Speedfan/nVidiaTune it's a steady 56-60degrees Celsius.

I don't think I have a DVM lying around so I'll have to stick with the Speedfan reading. 11.55V on a 12V rail..if that's the actual reading it can only mean the PS is no good right?

 

[jbj190]

If that's the actual reading, it means that the PSU is borked. Your PSU might have 12v rails with 14A each but combined, they can only output 18A.

 

[Chynkinese]

Yea I think it's definitely bonked. And I just doubled checked my PSU..it's actually a Fortron Sparkle 400W (Two +12V rails @ 18A each). But after starting up my computer I got a message from nVidia nTune saying that the video card didn't have enough power so it got clocked down to run safely. lol greeeat. I picked up the Antec Earthwatts 500W but realized that its for mobos with the 24pin connection...mines a 20pin. greeeeat waste of time. wow i'm a moron...i just realized i can detach the 4 pins at the end to have it work with a 20pin...but i've already returned it OMFG!

 

[blacksci]

Lol go back and get it again, yes you may feel a little foolish, but its an honest mistake, what i like to call the learning curve, lol, I feel partly to blame, as i forgot to mention you can detach the 4 pin for the 20 pin connectors, thats why i said your future proofing yourself for your next build. No biggie though dude. Ill give you a example of a great retard moment i experienced just the other day. I finally got around to installing my ipod on my comp, but had to enable file sharing with the g/f's comp to get my music which was stored there. When i restarted i got my splash screen, and then it just stayed there, no matter what i did. Went to do some shopping and mulled the problem over in my mind, came home and a ingenious idea hit me, why dont i unplug my ipod and see what happens. And then there was boot, see gigabyte has q flash, that lets you flash your bios off of your usb flash card, snazzy feature. But since in essence a ipod is just a storage device, my mobo kept trying to read the information there in order to see if i wanted to flash or not, and since nothing was there for it, it just stayed on my post screen. We all have our stupid moments, just chalk it up to experience, lol.