ASUS HD 7770 DirectCU V2 Crashing

[kaiyoti]

I recently got the ASUS HD 7770 DirectCU V2 1GB video card.

My Computer Specs:
Windows 7 Pro

Mobo: ASRock N68C-GS
Memory: AMD Entertainment Edition 4GB 1X4GB PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz 9-9-9-24 1.5V Memory Module (Single Slot)
HD: Mushkin Chronos 120GB 2.5IN SATA3 SandForce SF-2281 SSD Solid State Disk Flash Drive
PSU: Antec Neo Eco 450W ATX12V V2.3

After installing the video card, games and video would crash after a few minutes of use. By crash, I mean the screen goes blank and monitor shows no signal detected, mouse numlock, scroll lock still works, windows does not respond to pressing power button to shutdown (at least I don't think it does). I'm always left with hard reset. I did a lot of research, googling, tomshardware forum searching... and the theory that comes closest is the PSU isn't powerful enough.

The side of the gfx box says: A Minimum 450 W system power supply (With 12V current rating of 40A)

http://www.antec.com/pdf/flyers/NeoEco450C_flyer_EN.pdf

The PSU spec shows +12V at max load of 34A and only max 408W output at 12V. Is this a clear indicator that my PSU is not enough? Is this the correct symptom?

I've tried upgrading to the proper drivers. No dice.

I just want to make sure before I run out to buy another power supply unit.

Thanks for any tips and suggestions.

Paul

 

[AMD Radeon]

theoritically the psu is more than enough for 7770, maybe you picked a defective one so the power isnt 400 in actual
go with at least corsair cx500 v2 if you decide to have a new psu

 

[Simu]

even a cx430 can handle a hd7770 fine, may be your gfx or psu is defective.

 

[kaiyoti]

Pardon my ignorance but how do you guys know if something can support the gfx.
Would the minimum requirement stated by the gfx box not be enough? The ASUS HD 7770 asks for 12V with a rating of 40A, the ANTEC NEO 450C I have only has a rating of 32A at 12V, this is officially insufficient?

 

[kaiyoti]

So after digging around a bit before I dived into another PSU. I realized that I have enabled the 4th core on my CPU through my asrock MOBO. I think that was enabled right around the time I installed CPU. I disabled this now and tried some games and movies, so far, no crashes.

Hopefully the 4th core was the issue.

 

[kaiyoti]

Nevermind, just proved theory 1 false, second theory, overheating...

When after I disabled the 4th core, I left my computer outside of my TV stand, the TV stand has no opening in the back. After playing a bit of games, I thought it was fine, I popped the htpc back into my TV stand and crashed twice after 5~10 minutes.

 

[Simu]

so its bcoz of insufficient cooling.