Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 - System Crash

[Ashdurbuk]

I built my computer from scratch, but never had this problem before.

My computer consists of

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor
Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H
http://gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2579&dl=1#ov
4 gig DDR2 Quality Ram
4 Hard drives
500 W Power Supply

It runs like a charm, its on 24/7

Then i decided to by a new graphic card for it, so i got the ATI Radeon X1900 XT
which was runnin fine for a while, til it started to crash every time i started a game..
i figured that it was runnin to hot becouse of the funny looking built in fan..
So i bought a new graphic card, this time the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4670
That didnt help the crashes, it only made it worse.. so i figured that i probably
had to little power, since i have 4 harddrives (20 gig, 80 gig, 160 gig, 1TB)

So i disconnected all but the 20 gig hard drive.. and tried to reinstall windows
from scratch with the new graphic card installed..

Problem is, I could not get trough a whole windows install without the computer crashing..
it is like someone pulled the power cord, everything goes out at once, and the screen goes black..
no pixles or any disturbance in the picture at all..

I took the card out and the crashes stopped, so i could finish installing windows..

Since both graphics card acted the same, I figured that the only thing that could be wrong, would be the motherboard or the power supply, even tho 500W seems to be plenty.. I'm thinking of flashing the motherboard bios, but thought i would ask in here first.

What causes the crashes?

Tyvm for the input!

 

[renz496]

to me is more like your PSU is the culprit. what is your PSU? is it a generic one?

 

[Ashdurbuk]

Hello and thx for answering!

I opened up the computer box, and to my surprise it is not 500w after all..
never the less, it is a generic brand, and the only text i can find says the following

"Green Switching Power Supply"
"DC Output 680 W Max"
"Made in China"

680W seems to be enough.. but i don't know what the "green switching" is
all about

Thx again!

 

[renz496]

the most important thing about PSU is efficiency and quality. for generic PSU even though the power rating is high the efficiency and quality can be bad. i suggest you try replacing your PSU to more reliable one such as corsair's PSU

 

[wa1]

I know his PSU is not reliable, but i think any low PSU would just fine for HD4670.
Anyway, try different PSU first, if that's help then your PSU is going bad...

 

[renz496]

i know that but going for good PSU is not bad either. last time when using 9600GSO i just use 550w (250w real power) generic PSU to power up my system but i never have any trouble with it. and 9600GSO using a lot more power than 4670

 

[Ashdurbuk]

Hi again!

I just bought a "Corsair XT650 PSU" (New in box) on ebay..
im still waiting for it in the mail, might show up today..

I will install it and reinstall windows with the new graphic card,
Then i will be back to tell you guys if it solved the problem!

Tyvm for the input!