Need help, QUICK!

[stewartfan]

I just installed a 400W Corsair PSU from Newegg, along with a Sapphire Radeon HD 5770, also from Newegg, on the same order. I'm having problems though.

Problem 1: Sometimes, upon powering up, the drives will spin up, and I can hear other noises, and the computer basically turns off, except the drives and fans don't stop. The light just turns off and then turns back on after about 2 seconds, and repeats the cycle, sometimes eventually turning on. I found that unplugging the 6-Pin from the GPU and plugging it back in will fix this and make it boot up.

Problem 2: Once powered up, if I try anything graphics intensive, like everything on Need for Speed Shift, there are white, pixel-sized specs almost everywhere, and the performance is low for what it should be.

Does this seem like a PSU weakness, or a Graphics memory problem like other articles suggest?

The links to the products are as follows:

GPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102864

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

The system works fine with the 2400 in my signature, and I think it's pretty self-explanatory if you look in the signature, it's the Gateway. I have already set up the RMA through Newegg for the GPU.

 

[technuttso]

Get a better PSU.

 

[Herr_Koos]

Your PSU is not powerful enough, methinks. You should have gone for 500W or bigger.

 

[jsc]

The 400 watt Corsair is a good power supply. It's just not powerful enough here.

 

[fjiekie]

http://www.corsair.com/psufinder/default.aspx

this is a psu calculator, try it!
it will say you need at least a 450w PSU (its corsair, so its high quality, 500w min for other brands)

 

[stewartfan]

Your RMA'ing the 5770??? Why exactly??


Because your too dumb to read the power requirements (posted right on newegg) for the card you bought??

From Newegg:

450 Watt or greater power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended (600 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX technology in dual mode)

Oh and your processor is a huge bottleneck for that card.

People like you cause us to have to pay higher prices and pay restocking fees because you return stuff that works perfectly, you just have no clue what your doing.
Did you even read the box or the manual that came with the card??? Obviously not.

Ok, don't freak out on me. First, the requirements are not posted for this card on Newegg.com. Second, I was told by many "reliable" folks on this website that it would power it. And third, Sapphire told me to RMA it, based on me describing my problem. I would like to point out that I am 15 years old, and this it my first time with any of this at all.

I've already sent out the card for RMA. I'm pretty sure thats partially what this is for. I will post my results on this thread once I test out the new card. Thank you all for your help.

 

[fjiekie]

give the kid a break, think of the first time you did it...
first time is always though!

its true that RMA is useless, send it back to newegg and change it with a stronger psu.

 

[stewartfan]

Did you tell sapphire you were running a 400w psu??
Whether Newegg says the power requirements or not, it still says it in the manual and probably on the box as well.

Actually, for your reference, I have copied the conversation I had with the rep from Sapphire:
(It is in order by descending time)

---------------------
-REP-Yes thats what they need, please send that info to request for RMA service.

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:46:06 +0800
-ME-We purchased it from Newegg.com, and we got an email with "Order Detail." Is that what we need? It has the order number and invoice number on it.

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:42:49 +0800

-REP-Where did you purchase this card from? Did you get a receipt or invoice for purchasing this item?

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:31:26 +0800
-ME-what purchase receipt? I have many different documents that resemble a receipt

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:39:17 +0800

-REP-Sounds like hardware issue with the card, please provide a copy of the purchase receipt and send it to tech@althonmicro.com for RMA service.

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:37:50 +0800
-ME-I am experiencing white specs (artifacts??) scattered around the screen while playing need for speed shift and other graphics intensive games. My computer's specs are as follows: Specifications Part Number: 1015014RGateway GT5658E Desktop Computer Model: GT5658E The following table provides the specifications for the Gateway® GT5658E desktop computer. Feature Specification Processor AMD Phenom™ 9500, 64-bit quad core processor Each core operates at 2.2 GHz 2 MB L3 cache 3600 MHz system bus Chipset NVIDIA® GeForce® 6150SE Memory Installed: 3072 MB DDR2, 667 MHz, (PC2-5300) dual channel memory (two 1024 MB and two 512 MB modules) Expandable to: 4 GB (4 DDR2 DIMM slots) Hard Drive Two 500 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA II hard drive Optical Drive DVD ±RW, 18X super multi-format dual layer drive with Labelflash™ support (up to 8.5GB) Write max: 18X DVD±R, 8X DVD+R DL, 8X DVD-R DL, 8X DVD+RW, 6X DVD-RW, 12X DVD-RAM, 48X CD-R, 32X CD-RW Read max: 16X DVD-ROM, 48X CD-ROM Supports Labelflash™ on disc printing (req. Labelflash media) Media Card Reader 15-in-1 high speed digital media manager supporting the following: Compact Flash (CF) I, II IBM Microdrive™ (MD) SmartMedia Card (SMC) Memory Stick™ (MS) Memory Stick Duo (MS Duo) Memory Stick PRO (MS PRO) Memory Stick PRO Duo (MS PRO Duo) Secure Digital™ (SD) Mini Secure Digital (MiniSD) Multi Media Card (MMC) RS Multi Media Card (RS-MMC) (need adapter) Multi Media Plus Card (MMC Plus) Multi Media Mobile Card (MMC Mobile) xD-Picture Card (xD) Video ATI Radeon™ HD 2400XT 256 MB discrete video memory ***Upgraded to Sapphire HD 5770** Ports: Two DVI-I ports S-Video port Includes DVI-HDMI and DVI-VGA dongles Audio Integrated 8-Channel (7.1) High Definition Audio Network Support Integrated Realtek RTL8201N 10/100 MB LAN Modem 56K PCIe Data/Fax modem Power Supply 300 watt ***Upgraded to new 400W Corsair from Newegg Add-in Card Slots One PCI Express ×16 (graphics interface) Two PCI Express ×1 One PCI conventional External Connectors One PS/2 keyboard port One PS/2 mouse port One VGA monitor port Six USB ports (four rear, two front) One RJ-45 Ethernet LAN port Eight audio jacks (six rear, two front) Everything works fine with only the PSU installed, using the stock GPU, and everything same except PSU, so it is not my PSU. I have tried both the inbuilt 6-pin power cable, and the included molex 4 pin to 6 pin, and nothing changes. I am running windows Vista 32 bit with all updates, have installed the Need For Speed Shift Patch, and tried upgrading the drivers from the ATI website, but I am still experiencing the same results. any help would be good.
---------------------------
(This is the exact copy of the conversation, with the exception of me labeling who said what)
*I stated in the description that I upgraded it to a 400W Corsair.

I did what the people at Sapphire told me, after as accurately describing every detail of my situation, they told me to return it. If that doesn't work, then I have to buy a stronger PSU. I got the 400W because it was what was I could afford. I also posted many threads about what PSU I should get, all ending with a unanimous vote on the Corsair that I ended up purchasing.

This forum is to help people with problems with their computers, and since you are obviously just taking out whatever frustration you have with who knows what, on me (Trust me, I get enough of that at home), it doesn't seem to be in the mood of helping anyone. If there is no other information that you can share on this situation beyond what you have so impolitely stated previously, then I would like to ask you to no longer post on this thread.

Thank you.

 

[ill b ben]

Ok this post is full of crap, flame me all you want but this is bull.

First off that psu can handle this, simple as that i believe it has 42 amps on the 12 rail (atleast 40) wich could power that build. simple as that, granted its a tad on the low side so no gtx295.. but that doesnt matter now does it

Ofc if this would b any generic brand this would be out of the question, if you can try this card in a dif build to rule out any obvious errors go for that, try the obvious things reinstall drivers even certain games you wish to test. Use 3d mark, furmark for gpu testing (temps). Also about issue 1, do you turn off the main power off your pc after shut down? i know my mobo doesnt like it when i do that , so every first boot it basicly does the boot cycle twice (atleast the post)

This is a longshot but ill tell you anyways, i had an asrock mobo once that just wouldnt take my hd 2400 pro. It would sometimes boot and run for a bit but in the end unstable. Apparently it was fixed in a bios update so i got over it rather easy. Now im NOT saying go do a bios update, merely check that board,chipset etc on google if it has any issues with gpu' etc

Anyways GL,

 

[stewartfan]

Ok this post is full of crap, flame me all you want but this is bull.

First off that psu can handle this, simple as that i believe it has 42 amps on the 12 rail (atleast 40) wich could power that build. simple as that, granted its a tad on the low side so no gtx295.. but that doesnt matter now does it

Ofc if this would b any generic brand this would be out of the question, if you can try this card in a dif build to rule out any obvious errors go for that, try the obvious things reinstall drivers even certain games you wish to test. Use 3d mark, furmark for gpu testing (temps). Also about issue 1, do you turn off the main power off your pc after shut down? i know my mobo doesnt like it when i do that , so every first boot it basicly does the boot cycle twice (atleast the post)

This is a longshot but ill tell you anyways, i had an asrock mobo once that just wouldnt take my hd 2400 pro. It would sometimes boot and run for a bit but in the end unstable. Apparently it was fixed in a bios update so i got over it rather easy. Now im NOT saying go do a bios update, merely check that board,chipset etc on google if it has any issues with gpu' etc

Anyways GL,

Ok, thank you for the positive outlook! And, I did try it on a separate hard drive with windows Seven freshly installed and updated. Nothing changed, except I did have the case open and the GPU was cold when I started playing NFS, and nothing was happening on the screen like it had before.
Maybe I should be more descriptive, now that I think of it:
When I am in the desktop, nothing is wrong, it works fine watching video, and surfing the web, anything else. Now, the first time I started Need for Speed Shift with the new card (in vista), after fiddling around with some stuff, I noticed about two or three specs in the glowing orange around the selection that was pulsating in a 3D way. I chose English and noticed nothing until I got to the disclaimer that talks about "always wear seatbelts, and never race, etc." and that came about in motion like normal, and there were more white, pixel sized dots scattered around the black screen. I then got to the main menu with the car rotating with a design in motion in the background, and the car was basically swarmed with these dots, and then later, I got to the race and they were even worse. I felt the card on the opposite side of the heatsink, and it had, indeed, heated up, but not to the point of worrying about it. I tried it on Need for Speed: Underground, which should be nothing on this card, and none of the same artifacts popped up. I checked the card and it had cooled noticeably. Then, I let the computer cool (turned off) and fired it back up to windows seven, installed NFS shift, and then started playing. There were none of the warning white specs on the language selection or anywhere, even to the part where the car was on the main menu, although I had to skip that part after a few seconds, because I had to start a new career. There was a video that then played, and I started the race, and once the race started, all the white dots were back, and the card was warmed up again. I then tried the Unigine Heaven Benchmark, and got more specs. From this, it seems like a heat issue.

I do not have another setup to test, as the closest computer to this, that we have, is a Pentium 4 dell with a 300W stock PSU. We also have a couple laptops and another very small workstation desktop, but those are untestable, period. Plus, I already mailed the GPU out.

The Sapphire rep said that if he was me, he would see if a new card gave me the same results before replacing the PSU.

(sorry this was so long)

Thanks for all the help,

Alex

 

[stewartfan]

So, I got the new card, and I am glad to report that the card is working great! I can't say how much nicer it is with the new card! I can say, though, that the next investment will be that of a motherboard/CPU. The current setup is great for now, but I can see that my processor is definitely the weak link. I'm just afraid that the Vista restore partition won't be able to adapt to my new MoBo. Guess I'll just have to wait and see!

Thank you all for all of your help, it was much appreciated!

 

[Herr_Koos]

I still say that 400W could burn you at some point...