11/1 PC problem: is it possible for a PC to crash during graphics-
intensive operations (i.e. games) if it's not getting enough power?
I have a new box I put together, and it locks up during some really
big graphics "moments"--I can't think of any other reason for it (tried
everything else I came up with.) Is this plausible? -John
\_ Yes it is. HEIL JOHN!
\_ I think the answer is "yes" ... if your power supply is too wimpy
and everything is trying to suck down maximum juice it can crash.
\_ Absolutely. My brother put together a machine with an ungodly
graphics card, and his computer crashed like clockwork. Turns out
he needed a bigger power supply. Installed it, and crash-free
ever since.
\_ Thanks, I would have thought a 450W Arctic PSU would be enough
(Asus EN6800, 2GB, Athlon 64 3500+, 1 HD and a bunch of USB
devices.) I'll get a 500+ one. Does a gfx card need more power
when displaying something like, say, a big series of explosions
in an FPS game than when showing regular gameplay? -John
\_ wow, 450W sounds plenty. but then again, vid cards (esp.
nvidia) are power whores. i have a 3200+ w/ 6600GT and a
400W PSU, and i don't seem to have any power issues. oh,
and newer MBs have multiple power connectors now (part of
the ATX2.0 standard). do you have all of them plugged in?
\_ along these lines I think a lot of graphics cards are
now having thier own direct power connections that you
can plug in for increased stability. -mrauser
\_ This one does. All power connects plugged in. My
colleague who postulated this as a possibility says he
needed a 2550W supply (!) -John
\_ Uh no, he doesn't. Unfortunately the likely answer
in your case is all XYZ Watt PSs don't supply that
much power in reality. Get a higher quality PS.
Read some reviews. And yes, high intensity graphics
that use more onchip features and require more on
board vram, etc, are going to eat more power. Also,
it is possible that you have a heat problem as well.
You've got a micro nuclear reactor inside your case
being cooled by some dinky fans. Heat can cause
all sorts of weirdness.
\_ I've got 4 120mm arctic case fans--the thing's
running at 59C under the CPU, and less on the GPU.
I may try a 450w arctic PSU, we'll see. -John
I may try a 1450w arctic PSU, we'll see. -John
\_ I had a couple of games that moved too much data across the AGP
or Northbridge and crashed the system regularly due to shitty
MB/Chipset design. Underclocking the frontside bus fixed the
problem but is obviously sub-optimal.
\_ I've had a problem in the past where in certain graphics intensive
games my computer would lock up. I called the card manufacturer
and they told me to uninstall graphics driver and reinstall.
Apparently you shouldn't just install them on top of each other.
It worked for me, you may want to see if that'll help you. |
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