I think I am up to something.
While searching for similar problems by other users, I came upon this:
"Another problem I see with this AGP graphics card is the cooling design,
which is a mistake on Albatron’s behalf. Not only is this graphics card
quite pricey, but the package and card design are also quite average. The
package features nothing more than a driver CD and two cables, there is
no DVI connector supplied in the package. The package did not really
bother me all that much as I was more concerned with the hardware cooling
this graphics card. The GPU heatsink and fan combo is very average"
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=579
Your card does not produce much heat so it does not need a
large elaborate metal heatsink. IF it had a large
elaborate heatsink designed for passive cooling you would
not need a fan on it at all, but since it is small you need
the fan. The fan itself is typical of midrange and lower
end cards, a design prone to failure due to fairly high RPM,
horizontal mounting (probably a sleeve bearing fan), and
being thin and small it will tend to wobble earlier in it's
lifespan.
There are many other 7600GS as well as other makes and
models of card with a similarly short-lived fan. It is sad
the industry still hasn't mastered a simple thing like fans.
This thread attributes the low power message to software settings:
http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t29028.html
When do you get the low power notification? I had assumed
it was when the system turns on or finishes booting, not
later in use. A multimeter measuring the voltage at the
video card connector is the next step in collecting evidence
about this, but if they have software changes to suggest you
might as well try those.
This tread attributes the low power message to overclocking (I haven't
overclocked anything but it describes the problem perfectly):
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/606903.html
I'm not so confident they know what they're talking about,
as many people who have that card did not have this problem.
I happen to have an overclocked 7600GT, even voltmodded so
it overclocks further than it otherwise would, (though a
PCIe version not AGP) and never saw low power warning except
if I forgot to plug in the power plug on the rear of the
card).
"I have the same problem, as do others.
I also have a 7600 GS, I read that it was a driver issue. I am waiting
for the next official release of drivers to come out.
That message was in 2006, I am sure they would have fixed
the problem by now. Are you using a relatively recent video
driver from
http://www.nvidia.com ? If not, do so.
I run my card overclocked, all the power thing really does is lower the
clock speeds from a cold boot (when you first turn on the pc after it
being off for a whole), to counter this I reboot straight away and
everything works fine, a tad bit annoying but my computer is on for long
periods of time so doesn't really matter.
I believe its just off a cold boot that the power problem pops up. "
There is no need to use some "power thing" to lower clock
speeds. When your computer turns on, boots, and runs in
windows 2D mode the card is using a lower voltage. When you
go into 3D mode the driver causes a voltage increase. That
is the entirety of the situation and if a cold boot causes
the problem it should be hardware not a software problem.
I will start by saying the following poster is more likely
to lead you astray than be helpful because of crucial
information missing from the post, which I will mention as
an example.
"Can I join this discussion? I bought a GS 7600 last week, and have had
exactly the same problem as the guy above. At cold start up the low power
screen comes up
When the system is first turned on or after booting to
windows?
and heaps of files refuse to load (dll's etc).
Which files? It matters. Was the system then tested for
CPU and memory stability? That should always be the next
step before speculating, especially if the dll's not loading
are not video card driver files.
If I
immediately reboot everything is fine. My PSU is rated at 450 watts which
is theoretically heaps to keep the card happy.
No info given about the PSU. A 450W PSU can't be assumed
enough to keep the card happy because generic PSU may have
fictional labeled wattage, or an old PSU may have more 5V
current than 12V. We lack all the important details.
Having written that, a 7600GS video card does not need a
strong PSU, it is a very power conservative video card
relative to most. That is one of the reasons it can use
such a minimal heatsink, low power usage means low heat.
Is it possible that the
PSU can't provide enough power at start up but once its on (as with a
quick reboot) it will supply enough wattage to keep the card happy?
Yes, but it's more likely the PSU has bad capacitors and
will soon fail. It's also possible the board or video card
itself has a problem, we can't just speculate without clear
evidence and testing.
Is a
better quality card the answer?? I've already been back to MSY and they
gave me a replacement but the same thing has happened again!"
Then no, it's probably a problem with the system not the
video card. Just to rule out drivers the old should be
uninstalled and newest installed.
It seems like this poster had a power supply problem causing
system instability. Remember there are many types of
computer problems that can have similar results. It might
be possible MSI had done something different than other
manufacturers, sometimes MSI and Asus for example like to do
proprietary designs instead of following the nVidia
reference design and maybe they made some mistake, but this
is less likely than that the system has a problem,
especially since the system later runs ok.
For now you don't need to worry about this beyond returning
the video card since it already needs it to combat the
failing fan. Once you have a replacement card you can hope
that variable is ruled out.
Since your new PSU is sufficient I would even wonder if the
old one had damaged the video card but for the time being
unless you have a multimeter and will measure voltage at the
video card side of the power plug contacts, the remaining
step is to replace the card and see if that resolves this.
