crash to desktop and low benchmark scores

[filodore]

plz help, i had an earlier post about crashing to desktop with my Powercolor
Radeon 9600XT Bravo and i have some more information on that...when i try to
run 3dmark2001se, it crashes with errors, when i run aquamark, i get a score
of only 28,263 when i know many people can get @ least 33,000 with a similar
video card and then once the test stops, the program crashes anyway.
what could be causing this? i know its not the video card, because i used to
have "not as frequent as now" ctd and it isnt the soundcard because that
helped reduce some crashes when i bought a new 1 of those.
my mobo is a gigabyte GA8ST-667 w/ a p4 2.4GHz cpu. i've got a hercules
fortissimo 3 soundcard, 512mb kingston ddr333 ram, and im running windows xp
pro now, but i used 2 use xp home and still hav the same problem. i also use
dx9b but the problem also occurs with dx8.1. if you want to know any other
of my system specs, jus post and ask what you want to know.

Theodore.

 

[Greg]

Are you using ATI Cat drivers? If so you might try disabling VPU Recover.
Also in you bios have you tried turning Fast Writes off? Also have you tried
moving any adapter cards to different slots?

 

[filodore]

Hey, I think I've figured out the problem. Is it possible it could be my
power supply? Because I only have a 300W powersupply and I took out my extra
harddrive and things seemed to stop crashing so often. I put the extra
harddrive out and put my burner back in and that also reduced crashing. I
haven't tested it a lot but it seems to be my problem. Am I right?

Also, if that is my problem, what wattage do you recommend my new power
supply to be? 400W? or 500W (is that possible?)?

I'm still getting 28,000 in Aquamark 3 but I think that could just really be
because of my video card.

 

[filodore]

Sorry to doublepost, but I tested my games and they still crash but as I
said before, not as often, so is that an indicator it is still a power
supply problem?

 

[Y-Grl]

Can be a problem. You don't say how much stuff you have connected. There is
a web site that calculates this for you but I've lost the URL. :-(

I wouldn't go for anything less than 400w using a high end AGP card though.

 

[filodore]

well i have a gigabyte mobo, intel p4 2.4GHz cpu, 512mb ddr333 ram (1
stick), hercules fortissimo III soundcard, radeon 9600xt bravo 128mb video
card, 1 40gb hdd, 1 6gb hdd, dvd-rom, cd burner, usb adsl modem, usb
multifunction printer, and usb webcam.

i looked for a similar site to the 1 u mentioned Y-Grl, but i couldn't find
any.

 

[Y-Grl]

Found it!
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
HTH

 

[filodore]

thnx 4 d site...i went dere n i was rite wif my suspicions, wif my current
comp, i need @ least 360W, im surprised im not having even more problems.
i'll b getting a new case in about a week wif @ least 400W.