Is The PSU My Main Problem

[jamespage17]

I very often get lock ups in games and am trying to find the culprit. I have put it back to stock speeds and it still does it and my temps are fine. Newst drivers as well.

Specs-
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 OC'd 3.42Ghz.
XFX 780i Motherboard.
Kingston HyperX RAM 1066Mhz.
Zotac GTX260 216 Edition.
Corsair 450W VX Power Supply.
Western Digital Blue 320GB Hard Drive.
Antec 900 Gamers Case.
Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7.
DVD/R Drive.
6 case fans

Do you think its probabaly too weak of a PSU?, thanks.

 

[spaceboy_24]

at first glance yes..the psu seems the problem...

or your pushing your details too high..

u might want to add 1 gb more ram for optimal performance... to my opinion

 

[tarquinbiscuitbarrel]

has this always happened?

if not: try an older forceware driver.

if so: open up your case, remove the graphics card and reseat (careful you don't disturb too much dust).

does it happen in all games or only a single game?

 

[jsc]

If your PSU is working properly, your power should be fine. 450VX has a 33 amp rail.

Power consumption estimates:
OC'd CPU - 10 amps
GTX260 - 10 amps
Drives - 2 amps
Fans - 2 amps

That's less than 24 amps @ 12 volts. Figure 4 amps @ 5 volts for logic and 5 amps @ 3.3 volts for memory. That's about 350 watts.

If your PSU is working properly ...

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Kingston HyperX RAM takes a ridiculous amount of voltage to run correctly. Have you manually set the RAM speed/timings/voltage to the recommended specs in the BIOS? If you haven't, you should. Which exact RAM kit do you have?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000147&Description=kingston%20hyperx%201066&name=Desktop%20Memory

 

[capt_taco]

Kingston HyperX RAM takes a ridiculous amount of voltage to run correctly. Have you manually set the RAM speed/timings/voltage to the recommended specs in the BIOS? If you haven't, you should. Which exact RAM kit do you have?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000147&Description=kingston%20hyperx%201066&name=Desktop%20Memory

That's my first guess as well. For random freezing, issues with the RAM are an excellent first place to look. Next would be software conflicts (such as an antivirus program that tries to automatically perform memory/CPU intensive tasks like self-updating or a system scan while you're playing).

If it was an unexplained shutdown/reboot in the middle of a game, I'd check power issues first; if it was a shutdown with no reboot, perhaps a heat problem. But freezing often signals RAM or software.

 

[jamespage17]

has this always happened?

if not: try an older forceware driver.

if so: open up your case, remove the graphics card and reseat (careful you don't disturb too much dust).

does it happen in all games or only a single game?

Yeah always, and i have reseated teh card a few times. And yeah its all games.

 

[jamespage17]

Kingston HyperX RAM takes a ridiculous amount of voltage to run correctly. Have you manually set the RAM speed/timings/voltage to the recommended specs in the BIOS? If you haven't, you should. Which exact RAM kit do you have?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000147&Description=kingston%20hyperx%201066&name=Desktop%20Memory

Its a limited edition kit, and yeah i have. Thanks.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Have you also run multiple passes of Memtest86+ to test for RAM errors? I would still focus on the RAM before anything else.

 

[jamespage17]

Have you also run multiple passes of Memtest86+ to test for RAM errors? I would still focus on the RAM before anything else.

Yeah i ran it for 16 hours. No errors.

 

[tarquinbiscuitbarrel]

james, it would really help if you give more information on the crashing - because there could be a billion reasons for a 'lock up'.

what games are crashing? is it specific to some games? what settings? how often does it crash? is it random or in bits with lots of sound/special effects/loading?

 

[jamespage17]

james, it would really help if you give more information on the crashing - because there could be a billion reasons for a 'lock up'.

what games are crashing? is it specific to some games? what settings? how often does it crash? is it random or in bits with lots of sound/special effects/loading?

Well its all the games i play, l4d2, crysis, cod4, cod6 ut3 and some others. Usulay i have highest settings bar crysis and it crashes after maybe 25 minutes of gaming. All it does it stop video but the sound seems to continue. CTRL+ALT+DEL will fix it if i just cancel it, it seems to jolt it back into action.

 

[Prescott_666]

Do you have a P3 Kill A Watt? If you don't you might think about getting one. They don't cost much, and then you can see how much power your system is using, and if it is getting close to 450W.

 

[tarquinbiscuitbarrel]

does the sound continue as normal, or does it get stuck in a loop?

if the sound gets stuck in a loop then you should turn the sound off and see if that solves the problem. then it would be a case of trying to figure out why the sound is causing it to crash.

 

[jamespage17]

does the sound continue as normal, or does it get stuck in a loop?

if the sound gets stuck in a loop then you should turn the sound off and see if that solves the problem. then it would be a case of trying to figure out why the sound is causing it to crash.

Well its not realy a loop, the music coninues but i cant hear gunfire etc.

 

[spaceboy_24]

like i said you might be over estimating the capability of your graphics card.. try using medium settings and let us know what happens.

but my bets are on the psu like i said

have a look at this


http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-266005_15_0.html

 

[DJRWolf]

Corsair Power Supply Calcuator

When I ran what specs you have up it suggested at least a 550 watt PSU. Plus I have a BFG GTX260 and it said to have a 525 watt minimum PSU.

 

[jamespage17]

Corsair Power Supply Calcuator

When I ran what specs you have up it suggested at least a 550 watt PSU. Plus I have a BFG GTX260 and it said to have a 525 watt minimum PSU.

Ah interesting. Thanks.