EVGA GTX 260 --- PS causing all of my problems?

[msdss]

I bought an EVGA GTX 260 over the weekend, and ever since I installed it my system has grinded to a hault. The hard drive spools down for several minutes at a time, my optical drive has difficulty reading discs, and just general lethargic behavior. The box on the card said it required a minimum of 500 watt power supply, so I thought I was ok with the Antec 550w that I bought. Do these symptoms sound like a PS problem, or could the card just be faulty? Putting my old EVGA 7950 GT KO back in my system seems to solve my problems, so it has to be one of the other. My system specs are:

Asus P5N-E SLI
2.4ghz E6600 Core 2 duo
4gb Mushkin DDR2 800
1 western digital 75gb raptor
1 plextor SATA DVD-RW drive
Antec Neo HE550 550w PS (http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=NTU=)
the 3-4 fans that came with my antec nine hundred case
and of course, the GTX 260 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370)

 

[scrumhalf]

It's most likely your PSU. The Neo HE 500 has 18Amps on each 12V rail, with 12V2 and 12V3 being used by the card (12V1 is for the CPU). The card requires 36A according to the specs, so it is very likely that this is cutting it too close and putting a strain on your PSU. If you have a friend with a PSU that you can test try that.

This PC Power & Cooling 750 is on sale right now for $130 (and has a $30 rebate so $99). That will give you more than enough juice for what you are running, and enough headroom to SLI 2 GTX 260s in the future if you so desire.

 

[delluser1]

It's most likely your PSU. The Neo HE 500 has 18Amps on each 12V rail, with 12V2 and 12V3 being used by the card (12V1 is for the CPU). The card requires 36A according to the specs, so it is very likely that this is cutting it too close and putting a strain on your PSU. If you have a friend with a PSU that you can test try that.

He has a 550 watt psu with a 42 amp 12v output ; http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/fullimage.php?image=4836
It uses a Seasonic oem that doesn't provide over current protection on the virtual rails, effectively making it a single rail psu.
The card does not require 36 amps , that's the power reccomendation for the entire system.

 

[scrumhalf]

He has a 550 watt psu with a 42 amp 12v output ; http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/fullimage.php?image=4836
It uses a Seasonic oem that doesn't provide over current protection on the virtual rails, effectively making it a single rail psu.
The card does not require 36 amps , that's the power reccomendation for the entire system.

Sorry, where do you get 42 amps from? I was basing my post on this:

From Antec's website:
VoltageLoad MINRange MAXReg. RippleNoise
+12V1 1.0A 18.0A ±3％ 120 120
+12V2 1.0A 18.0A ±3％ 120 120
+12V3 1.0A 18.0A ±3％ 120 120

Dedicated Power Circuitry
• Delivers safer, more reliable output to your system's delicate components. Includes dedicated voltage outputs, triple +12V output circuits, voltage feedback circuitry, and tighter ±3% regulation for improved system stability
Supports ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V systems (only 500, 550 and 650 models); backward compatible with all ATX12V systems
Three +12V output circuits provide maximum stable power for the CPU independently of the other peripherals
Accurate power rating allows NeoPower to deliver its full rated power, 24 hours a day rated at 50°C

Industrial grade protection circuitry prevents damage resulting from short circuits (SCP), under voltage protection (UVP), power overloads (OPP) and excessive voltages (OVP)"

I understand what you're saying about 36A requirement being for the whole system though.
It's possible that he's running over 50°C and losing efficiency, therefore putting a strain on the system isn't it?
If this is incorrect, please explain. If the issue isn't the PSU, what's your hypothesis, faulty card?

 

[msdss]

I really don't know anything about power supplies and or requirements for systems as this is the first video card i've ever purchased that really required large amounts of power, so I apologies if my confusion.

scrumhalf, your saying my 550 is probably not pushing out enough juice and that I probably should jump up to a 650+ power supply.

delluser1, your agreeing or disagreeing with scrumhalf? I can't really tell hehe. Also your saying that my power supply puts out 42 amps in its 12v outputs, that doesn't make sense since i have 3 at 18A each, wouldn't that be 54?

 

[msdss]

Sorry, where do you get 42 amps from? I was basing my post on this:



I understand what you're saying about 36A requirement being for the whole system though.
It's possible that he's running over 50°C and losing efficiency, therefore putting a strain on the system isn't it?
If this is incorrect, please explain. If the issue isn't the PSU, what's your hypothesis, faulty card?

When you say running over 50 degrees C (how do you make the degrees symbol? lol), is that system wide? I don't really know how I would measure that. I do know that my motherboard temp is around 30degrees celsius, and my processor is running at around 32-42 degress celsius.

 

[delluser1]

Sorry, where do you get 42 amps from?

Did you click the link I provided ?
Did you see where it says 504 watts available, below the max virtual 12v rail ratings ?

I run a more powerful system on a similar power supply, as do others here.
When we know what the psu in question is capable of, we look for other possibilities before proclaiming the psu to be the problem.

msdss, check your other thread, and in the future try to refrain from posting the same question twice.

 

[msdss]

Did you click the link I provided ?
Did you see where it says 504 watts available, below the max virtual 12v rail ratings ?

I run a more powerful system on a similar power supply, as do others here.
When we know what the psu in question is capable of, we look for other possibilities before proclaiming the psu to be the problem.

msdss, check your other thread, and in the future try to refrain from posting the same question twice.

I posted in the Power supply forum, as well as the graphics card forum since I wanted to get some ideas from both communities, casting a broader net you might say . In any case, I responded in the other thread as well, so far this one has been the most informative if not entirely too confusing =p

 

[scrumhalf]

Did you click the link I provided ?
Did you see where it says 504 watts available, below the max virtual 12v rail ratings ?

I run a more powerful system on a similar power supply, as do others here.
When we know what the psu in question is capable of, we look for other possibilities before proclaiming the psu to be the problem.

msdss, check your other thread, and in the future try to refrain from posting the same question twice.

Pfft, more coffee over here plz. Agreed, 504 / 12 does in fact = 42

As far as the 50°C, that's referring to the temp inside the PSU, not the case or mobo. DellUser1, I suggested the PSU as a place to start since the description of the issue seems to support that, and I have heard a few cases of people having trouble with that PSU and GTX 2xx cards (overwhelmingly more have no issues running those cards with the PSU, but it was a place to start).

 

[delluser1]

Pfft, more coffee over here plz. Agreed, 504 / 12 does in fact = 42

As far as the 50°C, that's referring to the temp inside the PSU, not the case or mobo. DellUser1, I suggested the PSU as a place to start since the description of the issue seems to support that, and I have heard a few cases of people having trouble with that PSU and GTX 2xx cards (overwhelmingly more have no issues running those cards with the PSU, but it was a place to start).

Had 4 cups already.
Yes I know about the temperature rating, though I didn't mention anything about it.
I haven't heard of any issue's regarding the GTX260 and the Antec Neo 550, as I stated before there are those of us running more powerful systems with similar power supplies, so I don't immediately jump to the conclusion that the psu is the issue.

 

[msdss]

I give up, I guess its time to go back and just deal with the 7950 for a bit longer

 

[scrumhalf]

Try the card in another computer.

 

[eswibl]

The problem may be the GTX 260 card temp. Download the EVGA Precision utility the fan is set to auto and my temos where going over 90C. Set it to manual and about 85 to 90 and you should be just fine. I had the same issue with my other EVGA 8800GTS card.

 

[msdss]

If the card is hitting those temps at idle at desktop then I should probably take the card back anyway hehe. Unless that kind of thing is normal?

 

[scrumhalf]

Certainly not normal. Depending on ambient temps, it should idle near 40°C. Have you tried reseating/reinstalling the card?

 

[Spitfire7]

My two cents. I wish I could say I love EVGA because they got a good thing going, but every piece of hardware I have gotten from them I have had to send it back at least once. I got an 8800GT and right out of the box fried. They sent a new one and it worked. I got a 680i mobo and I had to do a lot of things to make it work. After it worked it was fine but my audio didn't work out of the box. I had my own sound card though so I didn't really worry about it. Then I sent it back and they sent me a new 680i board. It was fried too. Then they upgraded me to the 780i board which was nice of them, but that board was fried too. I changed out every piece of hardware in my system only to find out everything was fine except for the mobo. So I got 4 mobo's from them and they all had problems. They keep sending out referbished boards too. Be careful and aware of that. It finally all worked when they sent me a brand new 780i factory sealed. Pretty lame if you ask me. I went through a lot of crap.

 

[msdss]

I hear you, my last card was an EVGA 7950 GT KO, and it had graphical errors and texture problems throughout its entire life.

Back to the situation at hand, I went and got a 650W power supply last night and it fixed all my problems. Fair warning to anyone with a 550W PS thats wanting to upgrade cards.

 

[DigitalCowboy57]

I'm running the EVGA gtx260 on a 500 watt power supply spec'd at a total of 32 Amps on the 12 Volt rail (Coolermaster) I'm also overclocking both the Tri-core AMD CPU (5%) with 4G RAM and the video card 700/1500/1100.....(plus a 10,000RPM HD)and it has given me a clean week running Folding@home as a test. Of course I am a 30 year computer geek and love to push technology to the edge too....there are plenty of poorly designed power supplies out there.....you wouldn't run a porsche with a VW engine would you?

DigitalCowboy

 

[scrumhalf]

I hear you, my last card was an EVGA 7950 GT KO, and it had graphical errors and texture problems throughout its entire life.

Back to the situation at hand, I went and got a 650W power supply last night and it fixed all my problems. Fair warning to anyone with a 550W PS thats wanting to upgrade cards.

My math may have been wrong yesterday, but the symptoms/diagnosis were right. Glad you got it working! Now enjoy that beastly card!

I'm running the EVGA gtx260 on a 500 watt power supply spec'd at a total of 32 Amps on the 12 Volt rail (Coolermaster) I'm also overclocking both the Tri-core AMD CPU (5%) with 4G RAM and the video card 700/1500/1100.....(plus a 10,000RPM HD)and it has given me a clean week running Folding@home as a test. Of course I am a 30 year computer geek and love to push technology to the edge too....there are plenty of poorly designed power supplies out there.....you wouldn't run a porsche with a VW engine would you?

DigitalCowboy

As DellUser1 pointed out, most people have been able to push that PSU much harder than msdss was, but it sounds like there was a fault in the PSU which likely affected its output/efficiency. When he added the new card, the increase in demand likely set it over the top.

 

[Meowd]

This issue cannot be just down to the PSU I have a similar system overclocked to 3GHz perfectly stable for a year or so with a bfg 8800gtx and OCZ 600w P/Supply. With a bfg gtx260 fitted it will not overclock at all and with a zotac gtx260 (192ver) overclocks a measley 2.6GHz. Both fsb or memory overclocks quickly make the system unstable. With the BFG8800GTX fitted 3.2GHz is possible.
All cards work perfectly in a p5n32-e system (do not affect overclock) but that has an enermax galaxy 850 power supply which released an artic 600w supply which I could try with the p5n-e if the power supply was the problem but somehow I think the 8800gtx will be refitted.
Meowd

 

[sgtseth]

you wouldn't run a porsche with a VW engine would you?

DigitalCowboy

Some PSUs work better than others. Also glad to hear the issue was cleared up. The PSU is always a good place to start when errors are at issue.

Also, I guess that just goes to show what you know about cars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_914